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100% TDIU - Permanent and Total: TBI and general Question
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commodog
Hello all,
Edited by commodogEver since suffering a cold knockout from a vehicular fall, and down the side of a levee/cliff during the invasion of Iraq (14-20 feet, directly on back of head: ACH was worn at the time, and NVG's [AN-PVS5's] were on my face.), I have had a variety of cognitive issues and total behavioral personality change.
I am already 100% Permanent and Total (as the title says), and diagnosed with mTBI and PTSD, to which the majority of my award is granted towards PTSD.
My LOC (Loss of Consciousness) was probably around 30 minutes if you consider me "coming to" briefly from time to time (being fireman carried by my TC, and then lifted by said TC, MOPP gear, M16 and all into the bench seat of a 5-ton) and being pushed on the shoulders as I lay in the fetal position, in utter confusion (I couldn't even "think" straight), on the bench seat by my TC who kept trying to get me to stay awake while he concurrently drove.
I'm filling you in with this cursory amount of detail so you guys can get a feel for my background and situation. (Circumstances and type of injury.)
What I want to seek your guys advice on, is this:
I have a memory/focus issue that seems to be getting worse.
I do things that seem to be gaps in processing tasks.
For example:
- Driving - Briefly lose "awareness" (presence?), but come to seconds later.
- Daily routines or tasks:
(a) Leave house, forget I locked it. Get out to car, can't remember whether I locked it. Go back to door, door is locked. Go back to car, can't remember if I locked it. (If wife is in car, she reminds me almost always as soon as I get in car.)
(b) Make coffee - Fill coffeemaker with water, insert coffee grounds, turn on, walk away. Come back to coffee all over floor several minutes later. Forgot to put in cup or pot. (Put something in stove, and totally forget about it until it's burned.)
(c) Have a difficult time coordinating tasks, and find myself extremely frustrated when doing so.
(d) I sometimes go into long segues or overcomplicated verbiage. Internally, I feel like I'm struggling to say what I mean, and everything seems to "run together". My doctor wrote something to the effect of "This is either a sign of his cognitive dysfunction, or he is avoiding questions/conversations.", of which I assured said doctor it is not the latter.
I have talked to my psych doc, and my doctor is telling me that these symptoms sound TBI-related, and put me in for a "Second Level Evaluation" with polytrauma.
I have been to polytrauma before, and they did what I think was a best-case effort, and I went back to work. (Was driving a concrete truck at the time, and eventually got fired for , frankly, being forgetful/inattentive. Am now staying at home and doing home improvement projects to keep me busy/"fulfilled')
I have to admit, I have a bit of fear about what the reality could be, as I am fairly young (early 40's), and have children and a wife.
My questions, are as follows:
- Does my doctors assessment that my apparently degrading cognition and processing is related to my TBI seem reasonable? Are they stretching? (I know *some* of you have psych degrees, or have seen this thing before.)
- Could going back for more second-level polytrauma assessment affect my current rating?
My wife is currently an honors level student (Deans List, Presidents List, and Academic honors), utilizing Chapter 35, and a state tuition waiver for spouses of those 100% P&T, and I do not want to ruin her frankly amazing pursuit of her degree.
Any insight whatsoever will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Commodog
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vetquest
commodog, If any of us could work again we would. There is an independence in working and earning our own keep. It just comes with the territory of giving our best to our country and being inju
commodog
Thanks, brother. I really needed this today. I will continue to pursue treatment as I usually do.
Berta
Have you applied for SSDI? This award should help with that.
16 answers to this question
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