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Late_Sink_1576 OP t1_je9smo5 wrote

Data was pulled from documents in my military 201 file, Army medical records, and VA examination documents.

Graphics in Inkscape.

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vk6flab t1_je9sw8n wrote

It appears that you were lucky and your hearing seems to have recovered.

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cutt2010 t1_je9tvm4 wrote

We should have worn our earplugs... wait, those didn't work either.

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eagle_565 t1_je9ufx8 wrote

On the green line does it say you could hear 500hz at 0 decibels? Surely 0 decibels means no sound is being produced

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geauxtigers77 t1_je9zhrj wrote

Lol as someone going through the VA claim process right now, I feel that last part of the timeline hard

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tonysansan t1_jeafj59 wrote

Replying to eagle_565 (#2,484,104)

Two points here. First, 0 dB is the reference level of sound, in this case the threshold of hearing. This typically corresponds to a sound pressure of 0.00002 Pa, which is a very faint sound. Second, to read an audiogram, the y-axis is the softest sound heard at least 50% of the time.

So the data point at 3000 Hz of 40 dB is not a negative value. It means that a tone at 3000 Hz has to be at least 40 dB loud (about the level of a refrigerator humming) for him to hear it.

What you don’t see in a simple audiogram is that quality of life is not just about picking out tones. When the higher frequencies over the range used in speech drop out like this, it becomes harder to understand and pick out words in conversation.

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Late_Sink_1576 OP t1_jeaslwl wrote

Replying to Flowchart83 (#2,484,832)

Yeah, I was given an H-3 hearing profile shortly after returning from deployment, but never given a follow up because I was being chaptered. All of my VA numbers seemed suspiciously close to the cutoff threshold for compensation.

I’m not saying the VA lied, but I’m not saying I trust them either.

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Late_Sink_1576 OP t1_jeavhlk wrote

Replying to geauxtigers77 (#2,485,440)

My dude, KEEP YOUR RECORDS! You can appeal a VA rating decision within a year of it’s posted date. Compensation will backdate to the date of initial rating instead of the date of appeal if your rating is increased.

Also, it’s an absolutely pain in ye’ ol’ donk-oh-donk, but go through the process of setting up your access to ebenefits and iPERMS. You can access a lot of records there the vVA won’t bother to include in your case

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Late_Sink_1576 OP t1_jeb0bnq wrote

Replying to ar243 (#2,494,416)

You know, for all their failings, I have excellent healthcare. We had a saying when I was still in the service: “Where you’re going is the best place you can go, where you are is the worst place you can be, and where you came from never really was that bad”. It’s about duty stations, but speaks generally to the notion of contentment and hindsight.

Since my disability rating totals more than a specified threshold, my healthcare is free for me forever, service-connected or not. I have socialized healthcare. And it’s awesome.

I can walk in to see my doctor unannounced. I can phone in or email prescriptions I never pay for. I have not known a medical bill, copay, or premium since 2010 and never will again.

The VA has its flaws, and had made good progress since the influx of OIF/OEF veterans filled its facilities with youthful anger. The mental health care has dramatically improved. I won’t sing their praises more than that. I just don’t feel I’m in a position to really complain about the VA when medical debt can ruin your life.

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Late_Sink_1576 OP t1_jeb1jet wrote

Replying to eagle_565 (#2,484,104)

Ok, so audiograms have the y,-axis inverted to show hearing loss as a downward graph. 0dB refers to the calibrated baseline volume. Each non-zero value states how much volume must be added from baseline to hear the pure tone frequency.

Edit: u/eahle_565 asked a good question. Upvote curiosity, you pessimists bastards! Everyone who hated school or believes they’re not “math people” had a teacher just like you! 🖕

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ramblingrelic t1_jeb1mfs wrote

Replying to Late_Sink_1576 (#2,493,888)

Wait until you're issued hearing aids and they do audiologist appointments with someone that's 500 miles away, on a webcam, tuning your hearing aid remotely and you can't hear crap to begin with. Or PT in another town and you don't get an overnight...oh so many stories. Gotta love that VA! The VA advocates rock though.

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ramblingrelic t1_jeb1wsi wrote

Replying to geauxtigers77 (#2,485,440)

Hijacking. Meet with your VA advocate too. The VA hospitals have an advocate and they can hook you up with the VFW or the Legions. They can, and will, do the heavy lifting for you if you ask when it comes to paperwork and appeals.

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ar243 t1_jeb2z1f wrote

Replying to Late_Sink_1576 (#2,494,820)

Very interesting. Thanks for the insight.

Just curious, what did you do in Iraq? Like were you a tank commander or a cook or a logistics officer or something?

I was born in 1996 so I didn't really understand what was going on in the middle east at the time we invaded.

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fresh_haggis t1_jeb70kr wrote

Replying to Late_Sink_1576 (#2,495,498)

Note: Evaluations for service connection are performed by the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) not the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Folks in the VHA are the front line clinicians providing clinical care to Veterans. A service connection assessment by the VBA is explicitly NOT treatment, it is an eval to determine whether disability, injury, condition, etc is least as likely as not to be related to service. The clinical services provided by the VHA is an easy thing to crap on because who would disagree with the statement that we need to take care of Veterans. I work in addiction treatment in the VA and I wish civilians had the immediate and continuous access to addiction treatment that the Veterans at my VA are able to use. Sometimes it takes multiple 21 day residential intensive outpatient treatment episodes to achieve something that resembles recovery. It isn't perfect but a helluva lot better than private insurance (at least for MH and addiction treatment from my perspective).

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ramblingrelic t1_jeb98z2 wrote

Replying to Late_Sink_1576 (#2,496,272)

Oh those bring back memories. Tbh, the orange triple-flange ones that you screwed into your ears with the case were less effective. I always kept handfuls of the foam ones our armorer handed out like Halloween candy.

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