VA Benefits & Documenting Injuries: Don't Leave Money (and Health) on the Table

Welcome to this special episode of Exit Buddy: Veteran Stories to Guide You. We’ve pulled together powerful moments from three standout guests around one of the most important topics in military transition: VA benefits and the critical importance of documenting injuries.

If you’ve ever pushed through pain with “Vitamin M,” skipped sick call, or thought “it’ll be fine,” this episode is for you. You’ll hear raw, honest stories about denied claims, transition injuries, chronic pain, nervous system burnout, and why claiming what you’ve earned isn’t optional — it’s essential for your health, your family, and your future.

These are hard-won warnings and practical roadmaps straight from veterans who’ve lived it.

Featured Guests:

• Rob Fuller (U.S. Marine Combat Engineer) on the long-term cost of toughing it out and relying on Motrin instead of medical documentation.
• Patience Ulstad (Army Veteran, 82nd Airborne) on feeling “27 going on 70,” finding holistic reset tools, and the power of getting your VA benefits immediately.
• Jessica Ruttenber (Retired Air Force Pilot) on letting go of ego, documenting injuries for your family’s future, and addressing mental health alongside physical claims.

Key Takeaways:

• Document everything while you’re in or right after separation. Build that paper trail now.
• File for VA benefits early for better outcomes and potential back pay.
• Address the full picture: physical injuries, chronic pain, and nervous system health. You’ve earned the support.
• Do it for yourself and your family. These benefits are not handouts.

Links to the Full Featured Episodes:

• Don’t Tough It Out: A Marine’s VA & Vitamin M Warning (Rob Fuller)
• Nervous System Reset: From Combat Ready to Calm Within (Patience Ulstad)
• Breaking Barriers in Aviation & Turning Passion into Nonprofit Purpose (Jessica Ruttenber)

If this episode resonated, share it with a fellow service member or veteran who’s transitioning. Thanks for listening to Exit Buddy: Veteran Stories to Guide You. Take care of yourself!

Subscribe to our LinkedIn newsletter, Exit Buddy: Veteran Voices, to stay updated and connect with other listeners and guests.

#VeteranStories #MilitaryTransition #ExitBuddy #VABenefits

Visit us at https://exitbuddy.buzzsprout.com to learn more about the show.

Have feedback or questions for us? Email us at ashleyjones.creative@gmail.com.

Transcript

Ashley Jones 00:00
Welcome to a special episode of Exit Buddy. Today we're talking about one of our favorite topics that has come up many times over our past two seasons. It's VA benefits and documenting injuries. I'm Ashley Jones, producer of Exit Buddy, and host of today's special compilation episode. But like I said, across our seasons, one message kept coming up loud and clear. You've been trained to tough it out and push through the pain while in the military, but that mindset can cost you big time later on with your health and benefits. So today we're pulling the most powerful moments from three veterans who've been on our show in the past, and you'll hear raw stories about denied claims, transition injuries, chronic pain, and why documenting everything and claiming your VA benefits is one of the smartest things you can do. These are warnings, but also roadmaps straight from the guests. And to start us off, here's Marine veteran Rob Fuller on the real cost of toughing it out and relying on vitamin M instead of documenting your injuries.

Rob Fuller 01:01
Oh my gosh! I messed up in every way, shape, and form on the medical side of things. I have just gotten denied for the third time for my VA benefits, just a couple days ago actually, which really hit pretty hard. One of the things that I and every Marine does this, at least most of the Marines I was in with, they tough it out. They drink or eat that vitamin M, Motrin, and they just deal with it. And what you don't know in your 20s and early 20s and late teens is that all of that comes to bite you in your butt later on in life. When I was in, I barely documented. I barely went to medical ever. It was a negative for me. Like you're missing out. You're letting your fellow Marines down by not being available, and it was rough because there's such a stigma about going to medical for anything that I don't have anything documented. And so, as I was getting out, the transition team says, "Hey, go get a full workup and stuff like that." But that stigma is still there. I don't want to do all that, and because of that, I have quite literally nothing wrong with me getting out of the Marine Corps. And so, what that translates to is all the things that were service related are not documented. So, I don't have a way to go back in time and fix that. I have to find a doctor that will conclusively say that this happened during this time. It might be unimportant, but like during my time in the Marine Corps, I lost all the feeling in my feet. I cannot feel the bottoms of my feet at all. I have permanent nerve damage, and that never really bothered me a ton because I could walk farther and I could run farther, and it was like it didn't bother me. And Motrin was the easy way out when it did hurt. And so I have gone back to the VA and said this happened while I was in the Marine Corps. This is nerve damage, and they're like, yep, you have extensive nerve damage, but we have no documentation saying that it was while you were in the Marine Corps. So sorry, you're denied. And I had some PTSD stuff while I was in too, and that was not documented. So they're not claiming that as well. Like so, every little thing that bothered me a little bit, even a tiny bit, I should have at least gotten seen for, and I didn't, and that is hurting me now because all of that is coming back to bite me. Like I said, VA benefits is a huge differentiator, and I mean, I'm not looking for more than my share of things. I think there are a lot more people that are worse off than I am in every way, shape, and form, but I am afraid that as my feet get worse, my wife, who is not 6'4", 240 pounds, is going to have a hard time one, slapping me around anymore, but two, like helping me with what I need as I either can't walk or otherwise. And without VA benefits, I have to rely on either my savings or insurance or stuff like that, and it's just not as good. And so, I screwed myself by toughing it out. And I hope that just anyone hearing this who's still in or exiting soon, please understand that you might not feel it right now, you might not hear it right now. You might not understand what's going on in your head right now. But go get seen for everything. Complain about literally everything. Even if you don't go for VA benefits the minute you get out of the military, you may want to 10 years from then, and you don't want to be in my place. You don't want to be where they're denying you just because they have no documentation of it.

Ashley Jones 04:44
To hear more from Rob and his full story, be sure to listen to the full episode. You'll learn how he built a thriving cybersecurity career and community after service. So check out his full episode. You can find the link in the show notes. Now our next clip comes from Army veteran and former 82nd Airborne Paratrooper Patience Ulstad. Let's listen now as she shares her experience with both transition injuries and the power of resetting while still claiming what you've earned.

Patience Ulstad 05:10
I couldn't physically do the same things that I could do when I joined the army after hitting the ground hard, jumping out of airplanes. My body felt broken, and I couldn't run. I really didn't have a lot of stamina, and I did have a lot of pain. I had regular daily migraines along with physical joint pain all over my body, so I had to find another way to make it in life. I was only I think 27 at the time when I transitioned out, but I felt like I was 60, 70 years old. I just felt broken, so that led me to holistic therapies, and specifically yoga. It led me to yoga. I'm not here touting yoga as the cure all for migraines, but for me, that was my experience. I haven't had a migraine since that class, and that feeling good hasn't left. It actually sparked something inside of me to go learn more about this mind-body connection. Learn more about what I can do to make myself healthier and to make myself feel good and to have myself feel like me again in this body.

Kathleen Smith 06:29
What is one piece of advice you would give for our audience as they prepare for their transition?

Patience Ulstad 06:36
Get your benefits. I know you've already touched on that, but you've earned them. It is a benefit. It's for you. It's created by our country for the people who serve, and you've earned it. So please, please, get everything documented in your medical record, and go sign up for your VA benefits immediately. It will only serve you in the long run. There are so many programs that I didn't even know existed beyond medical care, beyond getting a rating for whatever disabilities you've walked out of the military with. There's career assistance. There's entrepreneurial assistance. There's so many things that the government offers you because you served, please do that. And number two, to your point about the people with prior service or military service being adrenaline junkies, I'm not going to say I was fortunate to have had migraines, debilitating migraines, and physical pain, but that's what set me on the journey. And being geared at a 10 all the time, being on high all the time, is going to deplete your adrenals. And eventually, sooner or later, and nobody can predict when, but eventually, your body's going to say enough. So I would also encourage, before your body says enough, before your body throws up that brick wall, go explore the lower range. Go find out what it's like to gear from a 10 to a two. You don't have to stay there. You can come back up again, but expand that range for your health and longevity. It will serve you.

Ashley Jones 08:25
So sorry to interrupt Patience. She has such a phenomenal story. If you want to hear that, do check out the show notes. That link to her episode is there as well. So our next clip comes from retired Air Force pilot Jessica Ruttenber. Let's listen now as she talks about overcoming barriers and why documenting injuries is so important for your VA benefits and future.

Jessica Ruttenber 08:48
Bottom line: Let your ego go. You are trained to serve nonstop, and if you were like me, you had many injuries. One, because you didn't want to let your team down, or two, because I wanted to keep flying, and if I admitted A, B, or C, I might lose my flying status. But when you don't document this, you're not setting yourself up for success later in life. So maybe that knee injury doesn't bother you too much now, and maybe you heard it playing football during fitness after work, and you don't consider it an actual connected injury. But I promise you, the military has worn and torn your body. You've taken care of America. Let America take care of you. And if you don't document this, then you can't get benefits. And if for nothing else, do it for your family. Do it for your kids. Because when you get above a certain percent rating, you get more money in your retirement, more benefits—not just in dollars, but in hiring process. If you want to work for a government job, or certain states give certain, like you don't have to pay taxes for property. Or for your license plate when you renew it, all these things are gonna add up. I'm just gonna say, suck it up, Buttercup. You are owed this. Now is not the time to be like, oh, I'm fine. And if you're listening to this and you've already done that, you can still go back and you can still claim it. You have up to a year after you separate, if you started the process, that they will back pay you. After that year, you're just going to start getting the extra additional pay from that moment on.

Kathleen Smith 10:31
So you just shared a really good piece of advice. Is there one more piece of advice if you could go back and give yourself a piece of advice?

Jessica Ruttenber 10:39
There's a lot of stigmas. I think negative stigmas about mental health, and I waited. I think too long into the process because I didn't really consider it an issue, and I really wish that I would have searched for help sooner. I was going through a difficult time in the transition, and quite frankly, I got lost in the system because asking for help six months prior to retiring—I was already too far gone. So I would say you really need to account for not just your physical transition as far as VA benefits and like what are you going to do when you get out for income, but also mental health. That starts with an exit buddy, but also talks about—for me, I had a warning trigger alert here, but my dad died. But just before that, my nephew—my sister had found him dead in his room from a drug overdose, and I was in it during a very difficult time, and I didn't. I was too prideful. I didn't want to ask for help. So, find a way to address your mental health. Whether you're in a good place and you just need some battle buddies, maybe you can go to the VFW where you're going. Look ahead, but start looking for that support. Whether you need to go to mental health like I did, and I just straight up had to go to mental health and say I am not okay, and even then it still took months to get into the system. I guess I thought it would be like TV when you walk in and you say I'm not okay, and we got you from here. But it's actually a process, or just connecting with other veterans in your community, even if they're not in the same service like the VFW, just address that mental part, whether it's mental health or if it's just kinship with somebody else in your community.

Ashley Jones 12:34
Well, that's all I've got cued up for you today, everyone. Three powerful insights from Rob, Patience, and Jessica. The throughline is clear: don't wait, don't tough it out alone, and don't leave your earned VA benefits and health support on the table. To recap, a couple key takeaways that I would really hope for you to put into action: document everything while you're in or right after. Get your injuries documented, build that paper trail now, and file early. The sooner you start, the better your outcomes and potential back pay. And be sure to address the full picture. You've earned the support to heal and move forward. Do it for yourself and your family. These benefits are not handouts; they are deserved. If this episode hit home, share it with a fellow service member who might need to hear it. Your stories guide us all. Thank you for listening to Exit Buddy: Veteran Stories to Guide You. Take care of yourself. You've already done the hard part. Until next time, Exit Buddy out!