Help With Dilemma

[diver]

Ok everyone here is my dilemma. As some of you have read in the Vocational rehabilitation forum I am slated to start school on April 7th and I have turned in notice to quit work on March 20^th. I cannot take back my notice so I am going to be unemployed whether I want to or not. I was scolded by my VA rep for letting the schools VA counselor get the requested information. Unknown to me the VA vocational rehab councilor wanted me to do all of this without help. This caused me to stress out so much and made me so angry that I wanted to drop the training and forget about it. I have been told by many people that I should put in for TDUI. I am 50% for depression and 40% for lumbar strain. I kept refusing because I wanted to be able to work if I want to. After getting so angry and stressed about it I am second thinking the TDUI. With everything that I have said about leaving my job and voc rehab should I put in for the TDUI and SSDI?

Thank you

Diver

[Navy04]

I think that TDIU and SSDI is a good option for you, but they don't like to see disabled Vets going to school. I have multiple degrees and was actually working on my Doctorate Degree when I had to resign from job and school. Remember that the Govt likes to think that if we are smart, we must be Cured or not sick. They want us to be dumb old Vets!!! Only you can decide it is worth you rocking the boat. God Bless and good luck

[diver]

I have been putting a lot of thought into TDUI and SSDI I think that while I am in school for voc rehab I will apply SSDI. Being 90% and having a lot of different things that cause me daily pain I think I have a fair chance of getting it. I really don’t know anything about how to go about it but I am sure there are plenty of people here that are more than willing to give me pointers on what and how to do it. After I am done with SSDI I will file for TDUI and see where that goes. I am just tired of always being in pain. All I know is when I take time off from work I tend to be in half the pain. I hope that if I get the SSDI and TDUI I can have a better quality of life. I will officially be out of work on 3/20 and then I will start filing on the 21st.

[Buck52]

If you have more medical evidence that warrants an increase try for the 100% rating P&T.

if denied ask for TDIU...if you can't work because of your SC disability's?

Either way good luck Buddy

Buck!

[Pete53]

You should put in for TDIU I would dance a little if asked if you quit. Just tell them you had too IF THEY ASK

[diver]

I will because it would be a true answer. I have no choice but to leave. One is because of school but the school is because I can't keep working like I am. When I started my job I was only rated for my knees and my back for 20% lumbar strain. Now I am at 40% lumbar strain because of having to lift equipment and bend over equipment. I am doing the school with vocational rehabilitation because I need the money to pay the bills. Afterwards I will do my best to work but sitting for long periods of time is not fun. If I get ssdi and tdui I will keep working until I hit 100% p&t

[Navy04]

If you get IU or SSDI, you most likely wont be able to work bud. The Govt don't like for Vets to rock the boat, or work when they are receiving Disability income and benefits. Only you can decide what is right for you. Good luck

[rpowell01]

diver just curious I read that you are 40% for lumbar strain? Your case appears to be like mine in many ways. How long ago did you injured your back? You do know that with a high rating like that does how that lumbar strain will eventually turn into DDD or DJD or both like mine. I have more DJD than anything. A few years ago my lumbar gave out for no reason and now I live in a lot of lower extremity pain. The VA would not tell me why even though their EMG showed lower bilateral radiculopathy.

Finally after a few years I had enough of the VA and went to a private surgeon. Just last week he sat down with me and told me exactly why. I had herniated a disc in my lumbar spine that healed itself but it damaged my nerves permanently. I asked if they will heal and he said after 2 1/2 years they should have healed if they were going to heal, so he said NOPE. NOPE? Seriously!!! After he walked out I actually teared up in the room. But hey it is what it is.

If I was you I would try for TDIU and SSDI, I have both and well I can say I am doing a lot better now than before I was granted both. Yes you will get bored at home not working but look for projects to do around your house. Trust me I know, if you don't it will haunt you big time like it did me. This past summer in 2014 was one of the rainiest summers I can remember here in Florida. I was stuck in BED the whole summer because of the rain. Its like a bad dream when your in severe pain but you can't do anything and the meds I take doesn't touch it. Up late hours in the night to get myself so tired I have no choice but to go to sleep.

Trust me, TDIU and SSDI are good financially but you best prepare yourself and really find projects you can do.

BTW I never met anybody with 40% rating for a lumbar strain, lumbar DDD yes but not for lumbar strain. If its that bad you better prepare yourself for the Osteoarthritis (DJD). Trust me bud it doesn't play games with you.

With you the best and hope you get approved for both.

[diver]

rpowell01 thank you for the reply. Yes I do have 40% lumbar strain and also I was diagnosed with DDD of L5 S1 with a 4mm bulge. I have been having problems with what feels like pulled muscles in both butt cheeks along with my left leg tingling and going numb. This was all diagnosed the week after my QTC exam. My claim for sciatica was denied because the QTC examiner stated that lumbar strain does not cause sciatica and that there is no diagnosis of sciatica. I am in the process of rectifying that by getting the drs to make a diagnosis instead of just treating the problem. They denied my hips for the same problem no diagnosis. As for how I screwed up my back was through my injured knees from over 20 years ago now. the VA gave me lumbar strain about 10 years ago now. I think the knees is what caused my back however the va does not have it as secondary so there must be something in my service records that indicates an injury or its presumed from being a medic and always carrying extra and lifting people.

Diver

Edited February 27, 2015 by diver (see edit history)

[Navy04]

I agree with everything RPPowell stated above bud.

[john999]

What you don't want is to be jobless, and not have TDIU or 100%. You should not think too much about getting 100% or TDIU and somehow working. It will get you in a bind. Your age is a big factor in the real world. If you are over 50 you will probably be unemployable even if you get ten degrees from voc rehab. I got TDIU when I was 51. I had been approved for Voc Rehab when I was 30%, but I was 47 years old and I was making 50K a year at the USPS. I knew I could not make it to regular retirement. I had a secure job, but due to undiagnosed chronic pain issues, depression and job harassment I put in for disability retirement and all the rest. Actually, I waited too long and got fired. No money for six months!!!! When you get over 40 it gets much harder to start a career if you have a disability and you have two severe ones. The best job for disabled person is self employment, however, if you get TDIU that goes away as well. These are hard decisions any way you look at it.

John

[63SIERRA]

I would get a second opinion on the lumbar strain, you likely have a bigger problem, especially that they rated you 40 for it. The va likes to put the wrong diagnostic codes on ailments to deny you care and manipulate data.

[diver]

It has been one of the hardest decisions that I have ever done. I am 41 and 90% disabled. I am in pain daily from the chest down. I know that I will hurt much less if I have the ability to recover for a day or two after doing something. I am over wait and am unable to do much to lose the wait because by the time I get off work I am hurting so bad that I just want to go to bed. I try to not take my pain meds because I am too young to kill my kidneys and liver. I want to have a bit of a life before I just can’t do anything. I want to be able to take out my boat and fish every once in a while and fish off a river bank for salmon a few times a month. As of now I spend the weekends in bed just trying to heal so I can work the next week. I will not be working after 3/20 so I can go to voc-rehab and that will give me 18 months to try to get the SSDI then TDUI. If I get the SSDI I will be able to pay my bills so I can stay home and not work. I hate the thought of not working because of how young I am but I don’t think I have a choice. If I was able to stop working when I was only 60% I don’t think that I would be at the 90% I am at now. I don’t know if I will make it but I think that it is definitely worth trying. All I can do is try and see what will happen. thanks

[diver]

I would get a second opinion on the lumbar strain, you likely have a bigger problem, especially that they rated you 40 for it. The va likes to put the wrong diagnostic codes on ailments to deny you care and manipulate data.

I did only have the lumbar strain for 10 years but now I have DDD of L5 S1 and I am being treated for a bulging disk and sciatica. Unfortunately the MRIs that showed the disk bulge was done after the C&P. the x-ray was done before the MRI and I think they ignored it or just decided to rate it under the lumbar strain. The 40% was for lack of movement. During the exam I am never able to move much. The more stressed I am the more I hurt. Works well for exams. It makes it easy to show the worst days for pain. I have an exam on 3/4 for my hips and I will try to get them to make a diagnosis for hips and sciatica. I will also check with them on what diagnosis I have so that I can fight with knowledge. Needless to say I am rated for 50% depression that’s what pushed me to the 90%.

[Buck52]

diver,

just a suggestion,

when ever you mention your pain always use chronic or disabling before the word pain!

VA sometimes don't think of what the word pain means!

JMO

Buck!

[diver]

I had never thought of that thanks for the idea