A Hello And A Question

[Old Soul]

Hey y'all! I have been reading this site for a while now and finally took the time to register. The posts I have read on this site have been immensely helpful and I hope by joining the ranks that I can help pay some of that back to other vets. I am an avid outdoorsman who lives in Central NC. Married (for now at least), 2 kids, 60% SC, SSDI (for the same issues I have applied for IU), movie lover and whole bunch of other stuff that I can't think of right now. Warning - long post!

I'd like to post a timeline since I got out of the Navy in 1994 that will hopefully provide enough info for someone to help put my OCD brain at rest. Here goes:

1994 - Honaroably discharged after an accident that caused me to have 9 1/2 hrs of brain surgery. No rating - just wanted out after the long ordeal I had been through.

1994 - 2005 - A blur. As the Grateful Dead said "Livin' on reds, vitmin C, and cocaine". Got sober from crack and booze in Feb of 2005. This is where the depression etc started to hit me bad. I had been self medicating since the surgery. Even my VA shrink is convinced that my issues stem from them playing with my computer...

2003 - Hospitalized twice for what I now know to be panic attacks. (Documented in medical records and with VA)

2003 - 2009 - Suffered through anxiety, depression, anger, headaches, dizziness, and a bunch of other crap.

2009 - Lost my 5th job in as many months. Went to VA and enrolled healthcare services so I would have access to medical and mental care. Was advised to go and see about compensation. I was awarded 60% and was surprised and thrilled!

Jan. 20011 - Applied for S/C for anxiety, etc. - denied due to lack of evidence

Oct. 2012 - Went to see DAV officer to see if they could help. They helped me file a claim for IU, Anxiety, Increased headaches, "mental condition", and dizziness.

March 2013 - Claim denied.

April 2013 - Hired an attorney and filed NOD.

Sept. 2013 - Awarded SSDI for the same conditions listed above.

25 June 2015 - Received letter from VA that a large payment had been authorized for my attorney (Good news!) because of a decision made on 5 June 2015.

1 July 2015 - Received letter from attorney that he had gotten same letter that I did and though he did not have SOC, had a "good guess" of what happened and what I would be receiving in back pay.

- Appeals page on eBennies is down for maintenance as I am sure you all know. (GRRRR!)

20 July - Spoke to VA rep and was told that my appeal was awaiting authorization and had been since 25 June. Rep told me that there was an estimated close time of 23 August 2015.

24 July 2015 - Daily check on eBennies for a change in my AB8. I notices that all of the items in my appeal are now listed as new claims with an expected completion date between 01 Aug. 2015 and 22 Oct. 2016!

Now I am nervous and confused and you are probably tired of reading and asking yourself why you just wasted 10 minutes doing so :) If you have made it this far, thanks! Anyone got any ideas besides the VA system, eBennies especially, stinks and is way too overloaded?

[Old Soul]

Thanks, everyone, for your input!

So, as of this afternoon, ebennies has be listed at 60% but being paid at the 100% rate due to unemployability!! Yee haw! I did not get P&T this go around as I am scheduled for a review in June 2020, but by then I should have the dots connected that this condition isn't going anywhere as my VA shrink told me yesterday. I haven't seen any back pay yet, but I am walking on air regardless!

Do any of you know where I can find a list of all the benefits that IU entitles me to? I don't want to be greedy, but I don't want to lose anything either. And since I live about 30 mins from Fayettville, NC, base privileges sure would be nice! Thanks for any info you might be able to provide!

[pwrslm]

Does IU provide bennies for independent living under VocRehab?

[Old Soul]

Got my monthly pay via DD yesterday.... And a whole lot of back pay to go with it!!! Now I am just waiting on the brown envelope to see what they have to say! Wooooo Hoooooo!

[broncovet]

Since you indicated you had an attorney, these are good questions for him/her. You indicated you spoke with a "VA rep". I would humbly suggest, that, if you have an attorney that you speak to him, and not VA. Why? Well, you need to understand the VA is going to use all you say against you. Everything.

There are a couple things I wish I had not told VA. But I did, and now, VA cites those against me. This is why you hire an attorney.

Here is an example of what VA used against me. I applied for VA bennies in 2002, and my vso took all my dependent information and sent it in.

VA shreds my dependent information.

So, they finally award benefits in 2005 as a single person. In 2006 my VSO asked for my dependents information AGAIN. So, again I submitted it.

Shredded again.

In 2009, I sent my paperwork AGAIN.

Shredded again. But, not before they award DEA chapter 35 to my dependents, the VA says they know nothing about.

In 2012, my appeal (in part) for dependent retro made it to CAVC. AGAIN the CAVC wanted me to resubmit dependent info. I did it again.

In 2015, they said they did not pay dependent retro as the record is absent my sons birth certificate. I looked in the RBA and, yes, its not there. Shredded again.

Unfortuantely, I said something in one of my dependent submissions something about not knowing about dependent info. What I meant was I did not know what VA did with all my paperwork, but they used it against me..saying if I did not know about it, then how would I have submitted dependent info 8 years ago? Well, I did not need to know..I had a VSO, remember, and I just signed and sent in the forms he put in front of me.

The VA twisted what I said, taking it out of context, to indicate I had never sent in the dependent forms in the first place, to "cheat" me out of retro.

[harrysday]

congrats

[Pete53]

Congrats your attorney earned his fees. I hope that the VA paid them.