My Return to Hadit & How I went from 40% to 90% disability rating...

[Crossfit702]

So... It's been over a year since I last visited this site... No legitimate excuse for this although I was homeless for a while.... I guess I just kinda lost faith in things ever working out, but surprisingly they did...

- Went from 40% to 90% in disability rating. The following is a summary of what went down:

50% - PTSD

20% - lumbar strain/ lower back

20% - left shoulder

20% - right shoulder

10% - left knee/ lateral meniscus tear

10% - right knee/ lateral meniscus tear

10% - tinnitus

10% - GERD

20% increased to 30% - painful scars associated with injuries and cystic acne

I know I should feel blessed to have had such an increase in my disability rating... 40% to 90% was no easy task by any means, and the $34,000 I got as payback was a nice touch without a doubt... However, I  can't help but being absolutely furious because of the following reasons:

- How the hell do I get 20% per shoulder for my injuries as a former rescue swimmer, but I got 10% per knee which was originally misdiagnosed by the VA. It then took almost 2 years to find out from the civilian doctor who fixed them that there was no ACL tear as the VA originally claimed there was in both knee. As a matter of fact, the civilian doctor said he had no idea what made them come up with such an erroneous diagnosis, and that if they had acted sooner the atrophy on my leg muscles would not still be a lingering issue almost 3 years after the surgeries...

- The lumbar strain they initially denied which is incredibly common in all naval special operations personnel from all the long swims we do with the heavy fins and gear we have to carry with us. However, when they decided to finally acknowledge it due to the condition worsening because of the knee situation they decide to give me a shitty 10% like it's no biggie...

- For GERD they gave me 10% when about 90% of my medical record is filled with visits to sick call from stomach problems due to my constant interaction with the dirty water from the Naval base harbor

- No word on my sinusitis which is by the way listed on my active duty medical record as "CHRONIC SINUSITIS" but of course they missed that part...

- No word on whatever the hell "sleep apnea" is... Although doctors constantly bring it up because of certain ongoing complaints I keep bringing up. The best part, is that this sleep apnea shit is thought to have developed because of certain conditions I was never given the proper medical care for, and one of the is "CHRONIC SINUSITIS" yet they missed it again....

- Last but not least, they decide to give me 50% for PTSD as if men killing other men was a new thing for the human species, and also because I'm always happy to put their doctors in their place during their constant xxxx ups which is sad because I'm just a former navy rescue swimmer with a limited medical education in emergency medicine (and just the basic stuff by the way), and with barely any college education at all... As a matter of fact I'm just graduating this upcoming fall semester with my business and criminal justice degree.... Yet I gotta tell VA docs here in Vegas when they are messing up, and where certain shit happens to be within the human body which is like what they cover within their first year in med school if not before getting to med school! I honestly think these docs the VA hires must have been those who graduate at the very bottom of their class in med school because how they make it from the parking lot to their offices every day is miracle in itself considering how stupid they are...

Any of you guys out there experience anything like this or close to this? Any advice in how to better deal with these "SITUATIONS" will be gratefully appreciated 100% lol!

 

[killemall]

You seem bitter when you should be thanking God and very happy.

 

There are many people here who are struggling to get anywhere near what they deserve.

I started at 0% from the VA after 7 years of Army Infantry and a medical discharge.

 

Took me 10 years to claw my way from 0 to 20 to 30 to 40 to my current 70%...

 

Im even collecting social security disibility, but still havent gotten past 70%.

 

On top of that Ive flown to other states and paid 10 grand of my hard earned money for idependant medical opinions from doctors. Imo's and ime's.

 

I have piles of evidence and then some...

 

 

But the VA screws up all the time!!!!!

 

In my case and hundreds of others who visit this site,  the VA dosent properly notify us of upcoming exams ect.  Or just blatantly ignores evidence.

 

You are at 90%!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your listing all the things theyve done wrong, but dont seem to acknowledge that in the bigger picture, 90% is extremely good.

Seems that you have been blessed to me.

 

 

[broncovet]

Congrats on your win!!!    It is awesome you  hanging in there.  Exceptionally challenging is winning your benefits while homeless.  I mean, like, what do you give VA for an address:

 

Ima Veteran

3 shopping cart, from left, under VAMC bridge (or somewhere else if I get kicked outa here)

Any town USA.

 

     I wonder if the mailman would know how to deliver your REQUIRED SOC TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS.  

      And, Im sure you can just bring your laptop with you and get online under the bridge to check your ebenefits account, right?  Of course, you wont be able to get online, and you wont be able to charge your laptop, becuase you have no electricity.  That is, before your laptop is stolen by someone else homeless.  

 

        Obviously VA's " homeless program" was a big help to you...they delay your claim until you are homeless IS the program.    

       You are an inspiration to others...I wish I had your name for the next time I see a homeless Vet with a sign on the street.  

 

Edited July 23, 2017 by broncovet

[Crossfit702]

On 7/22/2017 at 7:34 PM, killemall said:

You seem bitter when you should be thanking God and very happy.

 

There are many people here who are struggling to get anywhere near what they deserve.

I started at 0% from the VA after 7 years of Army Infantry and a medical discharge.

 

Took me 10 years to claw my way from 0 to 20 to 30 to 40 to my current 70%...

 

Im even collecting social security disibility, but still havent gotten past 70%.

 

On top of that Ive flown to other states and paid 10 grand of my hard earned money for idependant medical opinions from doctors. Imo's and ime's.

 

I have piles of evidence and then some...

 

 

But the VA screws up all the time!!!!!

 

In my case and hundreds of others who visit this site,  the VA dosent properly notify us of upcoming exams ect.  Or just blatantly ignores evidence.

 

You are at 90%!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your listing all the things theyve done wrong, but dont seem to acknowledge that in the bigger picture, 90% is extremely good.

Seems that you have been blessed to me.

 

 

I would like to start this by expressing my gratitude for your service as a fellow veteran. You, of all people do not deserve to be going through this especially after having a medical discharge.... Don't get me wrong, I do feel blessed. However, at the same time I do feel a need to speak out in regards to the VA's constant unprofessional conduct in the handling of disability claims because the fact that you and other veterans are worse off does not imply that my cases were handled correctly... I too, got a shitty deal and dealt with several denials and eventually had to get an attorney to get things moving as they finally did. My deal was simply less shittier... 

However, I too understand your reasonable frustration with my complaints because I too saw people get a way better deal then I did immediately (most which I know personally), and they did not actually deserve to even get 10%. For example, I was a rescue swimmer for the Navy. A job like that as you can imagine comes with its hazards and things happen, and it's quite understandable that someone might be banged up after a couple of years doing that just like it's understandable for infantry. However, there were like 5 girls from my boat that got 100% disability on the basis of their "sexual trauma story." Two of them I didn't know, but I did know the other 3, and I also knew the story that got them that rating which was complete bullshit because the people they accused weren't even in town when the alleged events took place! Plus these girls got around and around and around... 

Yet, people like us who actually did our jobs have to get in line and wait! Because god forbid we don't take these ladies' stories seriously. The worst part is that there are fellow female veterans who actually went through some sort of sexual abuse but are too disturbed to talk about it. Plus the schedule is full for like months because some chicks on a boat want to tell a story to make money! That's what really gets to me, and to me just being better off then most is not good enough. I too used to think the exact same way until I started college as a criminal justice major, and found out how badly we were all getting screwed. Therefore, I took my situation to one of my professors (a marine veteran), and he set me straight! He told me to not allow my guilt to make me one more victim of the VA, and that the fact that I wasn't getting screwed as badly as others did not mean I was not getting screwed also. 

If u have any questions or anything don't hesitate to ask, and keep fighting them. That's the key according to my professor. Just become an insane pain in the ass at your local VA hospital, and take matters up to patient advocates because that's another thing that helped me out as well

[Navy04]

Glad  to c you are back on the site, and you got an increase bud. As far as your conditions go, I only got 10% for my knees, even though I had 2 surgeries on right and just waiting to get older to have both replaced. As far as the GERD, I have severe Crohns disease, yet I only rated 30%, about to have shoulder surgery, only 30%, about to have back surgery as well, only 30%. PTSD at 70%, even though served in both OIF/OEF, multiple injuries there, Military put me in Mental hospital for 100 days, yet again on 70%. Sorry for the rambling, what I am trying to say is the VA will always low ball all of us. Vets think that it is so easy to get to 100% SC, as you can tell from my Signature I have alot of high %s and health issues, and it still took alot to get 100% VA. Good luck, and GOd Bless, and hope now you got you a good place to live. 

[seminoles]

I actually had a ounce of empathy for you until you had the audacity to go "THERE" about MST.  You have no idea how hard it is to prove and be awarded ptsd due to mst let alone 100%  IF you think someone "got around" doesn't mean anything about whether they were sexually assaulted and who assaulted them and when you actually don't know unless you saw their claim, and all of the notes in their medical/VA records, etc.  You have zero right to accuse any man or woman of falsely claiming mst.