Tonight I’m going to talk about why I want to make an appeal about my 0% disability rating from the Army. The main reason comes down to pain.
I’ve been in varying amounts of pain every day for the last ten years. I don’t let it limit me too much, but more than an hour and a half of standing and walking around puts me in a bad place so I avoid that as much as I can.
This pain means I also couldn’t do what the Army trained me to do when I got out – be a mechanic. Instead, I took a very low paying job as a bank teller because that’s all I could get at the time with no degree and little experience.
I usually blame myself for this pain. I could’ve protected my back better. I could have not tried lifted as much as I did and I could have had better form.
But really, am I responsible for getting hurt while doing my job? I find it hard to convince myself of that.
I still don’t know what I’m going to do about this appeal.