Tampabud

All; A Navy Veteran, and Florida Wildlife Officer, died tragically last Wednesday in Tampa, Florida. He has no surviving relatives except for his two young daughters. The folks that are handling his burial have no idea that, as a Veteran, he qualifies for burial at a Vet memorial (right?). I am a Veteran and at least know of the benefit, but have no idea where to turn to offer help to those arranging his burial. They have started a GoFund Me page to help out, but have already started the process of having him buried thru a civilian funeral . Is it too late to have the VA help? Where should I direct the efforts to see if the VA can help, if at all? Please send me a message on here or reply to this post, I'll check in the next several hours. His name was Greg Patterson, you can google his name and add "Tampa" and you should see several stories about his death. Thanks all

I received my rating of 40%, and the VA sent me the Declaration of Status of Dependents form (21-686C). In section III it asks for the name/DOB/SSN of my children and what their status is... The note in the box right above where you put in the info says: "If any child is claimed as "seriously disabled" (item 14h) it must be shown that the child became permanently unable to support him/herself before reaching age 18. Furnish a statement from an attending physician or other medical evidence which shows the nature and extent of the physical or mental impairment." My daughter has down syndrome. I went looking for anything in writing that classifies down syndrome when it comes to claiming her as a dependent with special needs, but couldn't find anything. Does anyone here have any experience or know where I should look for info regarding this? Should I just claim it and send in her "diagnosis"? Thanks for reading.

I checked my benefits letter from ebenefits this morning, and I am greatly relieved and beyond appreciative of the 30% rating my left shoulder received. I have issues with the date they assigned (Feb 2014) when I had originally filed back in April of 2013... now to add my right shoulder as secondary and fight from there. Thank you to the Hadit.com family for the support and advice over the past year.

Veteran's current diagnoses: Posterior superior labral tear, supraspinatus tear and cubital tunnel syndrome are a progression of his service connected disability. In the absence of an MRI initially, his diagnosis was made clinically and did not reflect on his MRI findings of a labral and supraspinatus tear. The cubital tunnel syndrome is a new finding which occurred after his laproscopic surgery and is related to his left shoulder condition and or tretment of his left shoulder condition. What does this mean? Is this the proper wording for my request for increase (shoulder sprain and bicep tendonitis) is what I originally was given 10% for. Thank you.

On my ongoing claim for increase in compensation, ebenefits shows the "evidence requested from others" as past due. The evidence requested shows it was sent to a VA medical facility, and was due yesterday, Sept 3rd. Will their failure to apparently submit evidence to their own agency slow my claim down??? I have been battling this for a long time, and am fed up with how long this has taken. I was told at my 2nd C&P exam, again, that they had everything needed and there was no need to submit anything else (I brought it all along with me just in case). I have submitted gobs of evidence and had two separate C&P exams for the same thing, and both exams say the same thing.

It has also resulted in a lot of pain for me... my only recommendation to you is if you decide to go thru with the surgery, pray you live close to where the VA does the PT.... AND MAKE EVERY APPT. Listen to the PT therapist and do not overdo anything. This was my second shoulder surgery so I knew what had to be done. I am unable to sleep most nights at this point, and have panic attacks when the sharp pain catches me off-guard. An example? This morning I put the milk back in the fridge using my RIGHT arm... for whatever reason, I felt a twinge in my left shoulder and then extreme agonizing pain that startles me every time. I let out an audible AAAAHH then make every effort to recover and gather myself. It is embarrassing when it happens in front of other people. Oooh, forgot to mention I've had TWO shoulder surgeries on the right side. The recovery period is lengthy, it will take over a year to get things back to semi-normal... but speaking from experience (three shoulder surgeries at this point) things will never be the same.

My experience has been miserable. Not only was it a "failed" surgery, the post-care (as posted above) has been non-existent and I am STILL waiting for my rating increase claim. I have had two subsequent C&P exams for my shoulder, and they have yet to make a decision regarding my claim. I have very limited movement of my left arm, which is also my dominant side.... I am still rated as 10% for shoulder sprain and bicep tendonitis.

One year and two months since having service-connected surgery on my shoulder, the VA has given approval for my Physical Therapy. Yes ladies and gentlemen, 14 months after surgery, I finally get to rehab my bad shoulder thru proper physical therapy. For a bit of history regarding the shenanigans I've had to deal with, read the cliff notes below: June 2013 - Surgery at West L.A. hospital. 1st week of July 2013 - Fee based PT requested (I live 1.5 hours from where they wanted me to go for PT) Mid August 2013 - Follow up with care nurse regarding PT, says be patient the fee based office is swamped. 1st week of November 2013 - Approval for fee based PT comes thru (except the paperwork was missing the charge codes for the PT office to charge to) Immediately tried calling/faxing/IRIS to get the code... to no avail 1st week of January 2014 - Finally get a reply from Sepulveda fee based approval office, the original referral had expired, I needed to go back to the doc to get another referral for fee based therapy. Mid April 2014 - Attend appt to request fee based therapy, Doogie Howser lookin' doc says expect a phone call from Triwest. Mid August 2014 - Still nothing, no mail, no call from anyone. August 21st, 2014 - Second C&P exam, Doctor Harvey can't believe how long the process has taken. The next day I get a phone call from a boss at Sepulveda regarding my PT. I get a profuse apology and direct numbers to several "bosses" and am recommended to see patient advocate. August 27th 2014 - I JUST RECEIVED MY FEE BASED APPROVAL LETTER WITH THE PROPER CODES FOR PT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!

Well, the results of my C&P exam are in... MITCHELL CRITERIA ADDITIONAL LOSS OF ROM SHOULDERS DURING FLARE-UPS OR WHEN THE JOINT IS USED REPEATEDLY OVER A PERIOD OF TIME IS DUE PRIMARILY TO PAIN WHICH SIGNIFICATNLY LIMIT FUNCTIONAL ABILITY LEFT SHOULDER FLEXION: 0-80 DEGREES LEFT SHOULDER ABDUCTION: 0-70 DEGREES LEFT SHOULDER EXTENSION: 0-20 DEGREES LEFT SHOULDER EXTERNAL ROTATION: 0-10 DEGREES LEFT SHOULDER ADDUCTION: 0-40 DEGREES The exam notes also talk about the fact I still have not received PT after my surgery back in June 2013. Another mention was made regarding the numbness in my 4th and 5th fingers (something tunnel syndrome) We'll see how long it takes them to make a decision.

I have the same issue with the sleeping and pain, only it is a daily issue. Pain in the butt that is for sure. The shoulder is the only joint in the body that has such massive amount of flexibility and movement... so any tears or issues are devastating.

My expectation is 40%, as my flexion/movement is severely limited to less than 90 degrees and it is my dominant arm. Your C&P exam results reflected a greater range at 170+, so that alone puts you in the 10% range.

C&P exam was yesterday... again. I even had the same doctor as I did the first time around. Michael Harvey. He is a very nice person, and was very polite and professional with me. The exam results should reflect the same as they did the first time around. I will wait and see when they become available in myhealthevet blue button. He even gave me some recommendations regarding dealing with my physical therapy issues (over a year since surgery, still no PT because the VA sucks at their job). I am hoping they will finally rate my claim and close it. It has been a long and arduous journey to this point.

It looks like a possible 10% to me. Your flexion/abduction results are within +-10% on your right shoulder which is the one that has the identified problems right? I have had shoulder surgery myself, and have severe pain that limits my ability to move my arm altogether. The max rating I could foreseeably receive is 40%. You seem to have decent movement and mobility of your arm, thus the possible 10%. Since you are right arm dominant, that may be a factor in the rating as well. Does it bother your sleep patterns? My shoulder issues have destroyed my sleep pattern due to pain.

Hello everyone, I wanted to "bump" this and ask that you read over my cliff notes about 3-4 posts down regarding my ROM flex @ degree angle. They VA has decided to perform yet another c&p exam after re-opening my claim, and adding an 1151 claim from the surgery. My next C&P exam is scheduled for the 21st of August. If anything, my shoulder feels worse now, but we'll see how this goes. ***It is important to note that I did not open the 1151 claim, the VA did.******

I originally filed in April 2007 and was granted 10% service connected for bicep tendonitis. Over the years the pain remained, and I was finally given an MRI in the early parts of 2013. I subsequently found out I had a torn labrum with other related damage, filled in with scar tissue and muscle build-up. After the results were read to me, I immediately filed for an increase. The claim was closed in February of 2014, one month after my C&P exam which shows enough evidence to qualify for 40%. I called, I submitted IRIS inquiries and even went to the VA office at the Federal building in Los Angeles. It was determined that the claim was closed on accident, or clerical error. They re-opened my claim with a new expected closure date of August 2015. I reasonably expected them to put my claim back toward the top of the pile and go ahead and give me a rating... instead I get the same canned response of "it is under review, and with the current backlog, your expected closure date is blah blah blah" I'm just frustrated. I would appreciate someone taking a peek at my claim and forwarding it to the deciding official for final closure on the subject. I have submitted all evidence, had the C&P exam etc.