Help make the forum even better!

[DreamsEnd]

I'm investigating the VA topic. Seems to be dozens of sub-topics that I'll definitely need help with.
Here are three dozen topics that probably should be addressed. I'm definitely not an expert on all of these.

Basic Requirements: 90 Days Active Duty, ALS Diagnosis, DBQ
Your First Visit to the VAMC: PVA, DAV, VARO, State VA Office
Benefits Upon Diagnosis: ChampVA, Mortgage Insurance, Life Insurance, 100% P&T Compensation
As You Progress: SMC Levels of Compensation, Aid and Attendance and Housebound Compensation
Personal Equipment and Supplies: AFO, Cane, Walker, Wheelchair, PWC, ROHO, Utensils, Boost Plus, Eye-Tracking Computer
Home Equipment: Toilet, Shower, Lift, Sling, Hospital Bed,
Home Modifications: Ramps, SAH, HISA
Van and Conversion Program: Trade In
VA Payments for Non-VA Emergency Treatment (Fee Basis)
SCI and the ALS Team of Physicians
Palliative Medicine
Hospice: Community Living Center, Hospice at Home, Crisis Care, Oxygen, Morphine
Benefits Upon Death: Memorial Svc, Nat Cemetery Svc, DIC, Chapter 35 DEA

This is GREAT! I have been all over this forum and the web trying to find one place that pulls together accurate information for Vets! Bless you.
Don't forget some older Vets also have TriCare for Life, a different ball game.
Some sort of rating where PVAs and VA Hospitals are better. We know this because we are/were full-time RVers: Manchester, NH PVA got my husband in VA SCI Clinic in 3 days! Prescott, AZ 6 freaking weeks to get in with a Priority One Status.
I've thought a whole separate forum within the forum just for vets. So we couple help each other. Was told yesterday that recent not-yet-published research indicates VEts 4-5 times greater not 50 or 60%. Have not been able to verify. Current estimates 6,000 active Vet Pals currently.

Thanks for staying on this forum to help others.

Sherry

 

[Atsugi]

Just checking in to let you know I'm working on the veteran sticky. Any suggestions are very welcome. --Mike

 

[affected]

Started on the anticipatory planning stuff.

Nikki I'm not sure now if anyone put up their hand for the newly diagnosed one. If no one does when we finish the one I'm working on I'll take that one too. Anyone wanting to jump on it in the meantime should see it as available

 

[Nikki J]

Thank you all so much for jumping in like this!
Tillie as far as I know it is still open and that is really great of you to volunteer. Think there was a recent thread with that theme maybe you could use it as a starting point?

 

[Clearwater AL]

I've read all the replies... the VA sticky would have to be huge to cover the just the general topic. I believe if a sticky is more than 2 paragraphs... they won't read it. It may be best just to list where Veterans can get information. I recommend their county Veterans Service Officer. Many of the Vet organizations (DAV, AMVETS, VFW... except the PVA) today have become just another middle man in filling a claim. (I am a Life Member of the DAV and had to have them taken off my claim... everything went smooth after that and I won the claim.) The Adjudication/Award/Benefit Package of a claim filed with the VA is so complicated the sticky would have to be huge.

Being the Forum seems to be nearly besieged with anxiety patients that one needs to be first. Again, more than two or three paragraphs and they'll click off it.

Hope this all works out and hopefully they will read (and heed) the Stickies you all come up with first... before they post.

 

[Nikki J]

Al
The DIHALS sticky is almost ready to go. The author did a fabulous job. It is in final edit now.
The other stickies are designed to be really informational and I think people with a diagnosis are when they are ready going to read every word and refer back when they need to. For most people ALS comes out of the blue and there is a lot to learn fast.

 

[affected]

I agree that the stickies for the 'real' members can be as long as needed to cover the topic.

eg if I was a new CALS again and didn't know what I should be starting to do and I found a sticky on anticipatory measures, I would read the whole thing.
because I have no VA connections, I wouldn't read that sticky for more than a couple of paragraphs, but that won't matter, I don't need that information.

Combining and refining the DIHALS ones is brilliant for just that reason. Most of them may read a bit through 1 or 2 stickies and then just want to jump in and type their anxiety. By having just 1 single sticky we may get more of them reading a bit more.

Time will tell...

I am using good information that's already been posted here Nikki, this place is a goldmine!

 

[Atsugi]

The VA sticky (first draft) covers everything I wish I knew way back when. It's 9 pages as a Word document.

Nikki, I have a couple questions about formatting:
Do you want active links to other websites, or just URL's that can be copied and pasted into a browser?
Do you want plain text or shall we use fonts and sizes and italics and bold and such?
Shall I make internal links within the document so the table of contents is clickable?
Are tabs allowed? Bulleted lists?

For me, it's easy any way we do it.

 

[affected]

Mike, I think formatting will make them far more readable, but sadly word formatting is not the same as the type of formatting (based on html) the forum uses.

So you will have to sit and apply the formatting again once it is uploaded sadly.

I think it will be worth the effort though if Nikki agrees we should use it. That's why we do word processing, it makes chunks of text more readable

 

[Nikki J]

Make it as user friendly and readable as possible. I think links are necessary. Mike this is a lot to ask but going forward for as long as you choose to be here could you check that your links are still working every few months and work with the moderator of the time to fix broken ones? That was one problem I found with the old stickies that links no longer worked.

 

[Atsugi]

Yes. Fortunately, I've noticed that VA is very good with link maintenance.

It takes some effort to keep it readable, but it is totally doable.

I'm half done.

 

[nebrhahe53]

Kay, Pecas, can you get back to me with changes?

Neil

 

[Atsugi]

I need a veteran to read through the Veterans Sticky I just wrote. Any volunteers?

 

[MaxEidswick]

I will, gladly, Mike -- I should be fully back online this weekend -- I am on one of my laptops, but a 13.3" display cannot compete w/ my 4 30" monitors :-0

 

[Nikki J]

Thanks again to everyone who is pitching in. Now where do we put them? Anticipatory I believe goes in general discussion. The others are newly diagnosed but maybe all should be in general as it is the most visible subforum?