“Young Fella, Let Me ‘Splain How This Here System Really Works”

VA Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, 1993. I was 23 years old, just med-boarded out of the Navy. Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis. 30% rating. Cane, AFOs. Outside drinking a Pepsi, chatting with some older Vets.

They were looking at this young guy with a cane and these funny things on his legs and asked about my situation.

“I was a submariner but I got MS, entire right side was paralyzed for 3 months or so. Navy kicked me out. I was assigned an automatic 30% VA rating. But honestly, I’m doing a lot better now than I was six months ago.”

The Pitch
(Old Dude’s Playbook)

Vietnam vet leans in: “Young fella, let me ‘splain how this here system really works.”

Then he lays out the full playbook. Guaranteed to work, he tells me.

“Here’s whatcher gonna do”

My Response (Outwardly polite, inwardly skeptical)
“Are you serious? That’s awesome! I’ll keep that in mind.”

What I Was Actually Thinking

Holy shit, more money would be nice. I was pretty much broke, working for DoD for like $8 an hour, 2 kids. But I get MRIs every 6 months. Won’t they see? What if I get caught? Do I lose my 30%? This sounds like a quick way to get my ass busted

The Reality Check (Why Old Dude’s Playbook Doesn’t Work for MS) 

You can’t fake MS. They literally look inside my brain every 6-12 months. PTSD? Subjective. Back pain? Often invisible on imaging. Tinnitus? Only you can hear it.

But MS? MRIs show lesions. Neurological exams are objective. Progression is documented. You can’t fake brain lesions.

Diagnosis Day: Victoria Day 1992, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

• Wake up and my right side is paralyzed
• Freak out and call for the Doc
• Go to Hospital
• CAT scan → MRI → Spinal tap
• Three days flat on my back with the worst headache of my life

So let me tell you – I wasn’t going for Spinal Tap #2. Screw that.

I was thinking “Why am I going to I invite MORE scrutiny, MORE tests, MORE procedures by lying? They’re already paying me every month. I have free healthcare. Old dude is crazy.“

The Decision (Fear-Based Pragmatism, not Principle): 

I didn’t follow his advice. Not because I was noble (I was 23 and broke). Not because I was smart (I barely understood the system).

Because ↓

• I couldn’t fake a disease they could see on imaging
• I didn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to thow it out of – and couldn’t afford to lose my 30%
• I was NOT risking another spinal tap – that procedure SUCKS
• I was already living through enough medical hell

The 30-Year Journey 

So I did it the boring way:

• Documented symptoms when they happened
• Got MRIs regularly
• Filed for increases when progression was documented
• Let the documented evidence speak for itself

It took 30 years to go from 30% (25 years) → 70% (5 years) → 100% P&T.

I’m one of the fortunate ones. I lived 25 years with MS before it decided to finally get back at me. But when it did:

• 100% P&T in 4 months when I filed
• SSDI in under 6 months, first try
• 347 pages of documenteed symptom evidence
• No fraud, no lies, no looking over my shoulder
• VA Rating is bulletproof and permanent

What I’ve Learned Along The Way

That old vet was teaching me to cheat. His playbook might work for subjective conditions (PTSD, back pain, migraines). But it doesn’t work when they can see inside my brain. And my spinal cord.

I know of only one way to “beat” the VA system: document so thoroughly they can’t say no.

Not fake evidence. Not exaggerated symptoms. Not gaming appointments.

Real documentation. Real progression. Real impact. Truth.

In Closing (TL;DR)

In 1992, a Vietnam vet tried to teach me how to game the VA system. I didn’t follow his advice. Not because I was noble, but because:

• I’d just had a spinal tap and wasn’t doing that again.
• You can’t fake MS when they MRI you every six months.
• I was too broke and scared to risk losing what little I had.

Thirty years later, that fear saved me. The “shortcut” only works until they look at my imaging and realize you’ve been lying. The boring way. Document honestly, submit real evidence, let the progression speak for itself.

That’s what actually works. It’s slower. It takes patience. But it’s bulletproof. At 23, I was too scared to lie. At 56, I’m glad I was.

P.S. – Thirty years later, I built TrackMySymptoms to help veterans document the honest way. Not shortcuts. Not lies. Just systematic evidence that works.