ptsd I Am Rated At 50% And Happy About That But...

[Burt]

I received my rating for hip, back, knee and hearing... and dont get me wrong i appreciate the 50% rating i got right out of the chute first time through. the money is a god send and i feel like less of a sponge off my girlfriend but my question is this... when they rate you for your problems do they really look at you as a person or a collection of problems. all of my issues are service connected... im not looking to get anything i dont deserve but still i wonder when they look at your claim do they see a person or a collection of issues that dont seem "that bad" individually. however when you put them together they make life nearly unbearable. i have a knee that is just shot irrepairable meniscus tear that locks up, swells and causes constant pain. acl issues and arthritus. i have to wear a brace to even walk on it. so that prevents me from walking a lot, and standing a lot. my l1 2 3 4 and 5 vertibrates are narrowing and bulging and i dont really know what all is going on with them because my pcp informed me they "dont do backs" so the only person that has looked at my back at all was my comp and pen examiner who did xrays. that makes it almost impossiable for me to sit for long or to stand for long and sometimes it makes it impossiable to lay or sleep plus it causes aching shooting sciatica pains up and down both legs that absolutly makes me want to just curl up and die... nothing makes this better nothing! then the hip... again the only person that has looked at it is my comp and pen examiner who took xrays and told me i have spurs and probably soft tissue problems that he cant detect on the xray and that i should see someone about that and the back problems as soon as possiable... i am in the process of changing my pcp to a different va clinc because i have issues that they pretty much refuse to even look at. when i had my first doctors visit i answered honestly all of her questions but what she put in my records was not what i told her... she contridicted herself throughout the entire thing... do you have any joint problems? yes lots of them... but in the paperwork it says i said no... yet that same day she put me in for an orthopedics referal for knee pain! are you depressed? yes wouldnt you be doc? im 45 i cant jump out of the back of my truck, i have to pay a 12 year old to snowblow my drive way and i cant even crawl under my peice of shit car to put a muffler bandage on the exhaust pipe! i have to have my poor girlfriend (who i still dont know why she stays with me) help me in and out of the bathtub and on and off the xxxxxxx toilet... all the while she does all the cooking, cleaning and money earning because im xxxxxxx useless!!! that poor girl has no life because she fell in love me a worthless peice of shit that cant even get off the xxxxxxx toilet without help... so yeah i am xxxxxxx depressed just al ittle bit wouldnt you be? and in the paperwork she writes NO DEPRESSION! i have sinus infectons about 5 times a year and i have had since a peice of hydraulic equipment exploded in my face literally and hyrualic fluid was shot into my sinuses through my nose and eyes... is that service connected? i have no idea.. i didnt apply for it because she said well just come see me when you get sinus infection i give you antibiotics... my left foot was broken on duty and it aches and swells on the rare occassion my freaking kee doesnt hurt so bad i can stand long enough to get THAT effect! is that service connected? i dont know because when i asked her about that she said it probably didnt heal right and that was it... so i didnt file for that. is my depression service connected? i didnt file because she said i am not depressed so i dont know... i know this though... i wake up every morning and curse the fact that i woke the xxxx up... because i am in constant pain and useless to the entire world and NOT waking up would be the kindest thing i could do for myself and this poor girl that sticks by me for unknown reasons. why do i feel that way? because i have ptsd? no because im an unhappy person? NO! because my body is destroyed and i have to live with that for the next god only knows how mnay years!

im sorry for ranting... my questions are this...

do they reallly look at you like a person when they rate you? or do they look at the individual things seperatly? because any one of these by itself would be ok but when you combine the things i have already been rated for i can hardly even function let alone get and keep a job.

i didnt apply for compensation on things that are wrong and things that i have military medical records and can prove because i was afraid if my va pcp didnt seem to be worried about them then nobody else at the VA would care either. do any of these things matter to the VA and should i file for them or try to get help with them?

i am severely depressed because of my service connected problems.

my left foot was broken while on duty in 1988 and aches and swells sometimes

i have bouts of sinus infections many times a year i feel as a result of being nearly drowned with hydraulic brake fluid while on duty

i have sleep apnea and my pain wakes me up throughout the night.

my back was rated at 10 percent but i have nothing but the comp and pen examiners diagnosis and xrays no mri or anyting

my hip also was rated at 10% but again the only va staff thats ever looked at it was my comp and pen examiner

i am also afraid, if i apply for more will i look like im ungrateful and maybe lose what i already have?

if i tell someone at the va how i REALLY feel, will they lock me up in a rubber room for fear i will hurt myself?

[NavyWife]

You should definitely go back to the American legion since they helped you with this claim. Don't worry that they are too busy! This is their job.

You should file for Depression. but you want to file it as "secondary" to whichever of your service connected disability's you feel is causing the most depression. When you file something as "secondary"it basically means that the depression was not caused in service but it was caused by another disability that WAS incurred in service.

This Va stuff IS confusing, Even more so once you get into the land of NODs and appeals. That's what The American Legion should be able to help you with.

[Burt]

you guys are so helpful and i appreciate it! i have a nod ready to send just like you guys suggested, here is my new barrage of questions i will make them bold to make it easier... i see that i can do all this stuff pretty easily myself right through my ebenefits account.

Broncovet you said:

(Always specify DRO or no DRO or it just delays it. Even when you specify, expect it to take 3 to 4 years.)

i dont understand what you mean so im not sure which way to go on this one and just to be sure this initiates an "appeal" correct?

in my claims window on ebenefits i have a lot of options adding new claims, requesting higher percentages and adding secondary conditions

this is what i am planning on doing will someone look this over and tell me if it seems like the proper way to do it?

i am going to add depression as a secondary for my knee because it either caused or aggrivates most of my other conditions and i really am depressed because of it.

I am going to ask for an increase on the back problems that is rated at 10%

i am going to add a new claim under foot pain for the foot that was fractured on duty that is now arthritic and swells and hurts

I am going to add sinus problems for the sinus issues i have had since the hydraulic fluid incident on duty

I am going to add a secondary claim for sleep apnea (i think... i do have apnea but there is also an issue with the pain waking me up when i move in my sleep so im not sure if that is the way to go or if i should file it under sleep problems)

Special care and attendance - i didnt know what that was until i was filling out the claim and it popped up on my screen... i printed the paperwork for it but i wanted to get your opinnions on whether or not that is something i should do.

I am going to file for special care and attendance because i cannot function on a daily basis without julias help. i cant put on my brace because my back hurts to much to bend over the same with my socks and shoes. i cant put my pants on like a real person because the knee wont bend enough and the hip hurts and because i cant bend over far enough to dress my lower half. i cannot get in and out of the bath tub alone and although i can sit on the toilet by myself i often need help getting back up.

ill be honest with you guys just like i was with my comp and pen examiner i CAN put my pants on alone if i use my cat collar and coat hangers... i wear a cat collar on my left ankle and i have 2 wire coat hangers that i have bent up so that i can hook them under the collar and move my leg around and eventually get my pants on without help.

does this fit the bill for special care and attendance in your opinnions?

I also downloaded the form to claim unemployable, BVA forms, the special aid and attendance form and also a form for handicap plates.

These forms should i take them to my VA doctor or do i need to get them filled out by a non va doctor?

the form for special aid and attendance

the BVA forms

the form for unemployable