Is A Head Trauma Seen The Same As A Tbi?

[skydealer]

I got whacked in the head while in the service and lost consciousness. Several months later my military medical records I was being treated for chronic headaches with migraine like symptoms though the medication I received looked like it was for tension headaches. Last military records shows me complaining of a dull headache.

That was 1983. I never knew about applying for anything with the VA and for the past 30 years I’ve been seeing civilian doctors for chronic headaches, memory loss, insomnia, but mainly for the bad headaches. A CT scan showed a brain cyst on the left side and I’m currently still being treated.

Should I be looking at this as a TBI? I did apply for compensation for the chronic headaches but I got denied as they said there was no current diagnosis so I was wondering if I labeled it wrong.

[skydealer]

Another update - another letter arrived today:

Today's letter stated basically what the previous letter stated but this one also states "Service connection for headaches remains in appeal". Seeing that my military medical records shows that I had chronic headaches after receiving the TBI you would think this would be the easiest of all to show it was from the injury. I guess appeals can take years, it just seems odd that it is just sitting there in limbo.

[Berta]

I am assuming that the arachnoid cyst was evident in a CT scan or MRI.

Closed head trauma and TBI are basically the same thing. It is not unusual to have this type of cyst due to a head injury.

What bothers me is why they didnt find it before. But then again this type of cyst is often a minimal and not serious affect of brain trauma.


"They originally denied the head pain claim as they said there was no proof of it being service connected. Now I have a letter stating the VA finally admitted the TBI occurred and that I now have a cyst on my brain where the injury occurred. But that seems to be a completely separate decision and claim... something that I have no clue as to why it would be a separate claim."

If the original claim you filed was for the same head trauma, was denied and never appealed you might have basis for a CUE claim

In the rating sheet for that older claim did they give any SC rating at all for the head trauma?

If they rated as NSC at least at 10% that would be a basis for a possible CUE claim.

Were you ever given a CT scan or MRI in the past by VA or did you get one for the re opened claim you were just awarded?

(I am assuming this award was due to a re opened claim.....?)

[skydealer]

Thanks for the response Berta. I'll try and answer the best I can.

Yes - the cyst showed up on an MRI. I'd been seeing various neurologists regarding the severe headaches and they have me periodically get another MRI (or CT scan... can't recall which it is) every few years to make sure the cyst isn't changing size. I have had a lot of those over the years on my head. At the time of the TBI I don't think I was scanned. I had really bad memory losses back when the head injury occurred but my 1980s military medical records didn't show any CT or MRI. I would lose days or weeks at a time. I still have problems but they seem to be more short term stuff.

I have never heard of a CUE until now. Clear and Unmistakable Error? That sounds like something I need to read up on before doing as it sounds pretty severe.

On my original 2011 claim the C/P exam doctor was less than polite, to put it mildly. He had no documentation, neither civilian nor military, even though it was all sent in prior to the exam. So he nixed everything stating something along the line of insufficient evidence.

I don't think this is a reopened claim but I'm sure I didn't submit any new claims requests since 2011. The only thing I can tie this to is the VA form 21-0960C-8 Headaches (including migraine headaches) Disability Benefits Questionnaire which the VA doctor filled out back in October 2013. This was mailed in to help support my 2011 headache claim but for some reason the va.gov website shows that on October 2013 a new claim was submitted for the head injury which was described in the above VA form.

The DAV was helping me with the original claims back in 2011 but I had moved out of state so I had not been in contact with their office for a couple of years now. This latest rating also states that I'm represented by the Disabled American Veterans.

[Berta]

OK, No cue, this is still the original claim.... I think

I regret I am completely confused.

"The letter explains that they came up with the 40% because of my impairment with memory, concentration, executive functions.

Should I submit this VA rating as new evidence on my original claim? I don't want to do anything that might make me lose what I have (if that is possible) but at the same time they seem to have gone off in a completely different direction as far as the TBI and have ignored my original claim that was submitted several years ago."

Did you ever file a TBI claim that was denied and never appealed?

Or is the recent decision on the same claim you might have filed years ago ?
Today's letter stated basically what the previous letter stated but this one also states "Service connection for headaches remains in appeal".

I assume they awarded the 40% but then deferred the headache claim.

In December you stated here:
This kind of conflicts with civilian reports that state migraine and tension headaches. Headaches are 24/7/365 and the migraines can come as far as once or twice a month to several times a week. The memory loss can be embarrassing and I know it is bad when I am talking and people can't understand what I am trying to say. That is frustrating because I feel like I'm talking normally."

Does the VA have your non VA medical records?

You stated:
"There should be a good documented history. It was well documented in my military medical records, including the chronic headaches."
and
"The only thing I can tie this to is the VA form 21-0960C-8 Headaches (including migraine headaches) Disability Benefits Questionnaire which the VA doctor filled out back in October 2013. This was mailed in to help support my 2011 headache claim but for some reason the va.gov website shows that on October 2013 a new claim was submitted for the head injury which was described in the above VA form. "

I hate to suggest going back to the DAV but I am thinking they could clarify all of this for you and make sure VA has ALL of your private medical evidence, as well as your SMRs.

I thought at first that You have a deferred claim for the headaches (migraines) but the letter states:"Service connection for headaches remains in appeal". so it must have been denied at some point and you appealed it.

Did youi ever have a past Migraine/headache claim that they denied and you never appealed, but then re opened???

I am lost. Can you scan and attach here the award letter Reasons and Bases part and the evidence list (cover your C file ,name and address prior to scanning)

Others will chime in here....too....maybe I am reading this all wrong.

[skydealer]

Your confusion is my fault. I seem to get that a lot from people when I try to explain things. That seems to be part of the head injury. Sometimes I am told I don't make much sense. I'll try my best to start from the beginning and go all the way through.

1. Got injured in the service in the 1980s. Head injury, documented in my medical records. Military medical records also show months of treatment where I was complaining about chronic headaches. It was a blunt force injury so there was no open wound but I was knocked out and would lose consciousness several times in the following days. I think they x-rayed me but I do not recall them doing an MRI at the time.
2. Got out of the service in 1984 - still had 24/7 head pain, sometimes bad. Still had memory, sleep, and various issues as I kind of developed mood swings.
3. I spent years and thousands upon thousands going to civilian doctors and neurologists. Tried everything I could think of but nothing worked and at some point you get to where the attempts at a cure seem to be as much of a pain as the headaches themselves... so I would stop seeing doctors for a while. Besides, it got too expensive.
4. This went on for decades. In and out of doctor offices. Then in 2011 (??) I was told that since it was an active duty injury I should contact the VA. I had never heard of this before then.
5. So I filed a claim. I went through my medical records and filed a claim on everything I had happen in the service that I had continued to see civilian doctors on. I think that was a huge mistake on my part. The CP exam doc saw my list and blew up. He then denied everything, no matter what records were available. That was a real bad day.
6. I appealed the big issues. The DAV also took up my case but they are kind of useless. I had not heard anything from them. I think they just wanted me to sign up so I would get their magazines.
7. I ended up changing VA locations as I moved to another state.
8. The VA doctor in Georgia filled out a VA form 21-0960C-8 (listed above). I turned that in thinking it was against my head injury/ headache claim.
9. Sometime in the past year or two I saw a civilian doctor who asked me a bunch of questions about my headaches. This was an appointment set up by the VA.
10. I do not remember opening a new claim. I'm sure I did not open a new claim but suddenly I had a claim appear for "residuals of head injury, TBI with arachnoid cyst". I would never have come up with that so I have no idea where it came from.
11. A few months ago I got another appointment with a VA doctor. She was a CP doc and this was a mental one who had me draw clocks and count backwards and name animals.
    
    All this I thought was for the headaches but it turned out was for other things associated with the head injury.
    
12. In January of this year I get a letter from the VA: "Service connection for residuals of head injury, traumatic brain injury with arachnoid cyst has been established". Okay - so they finally admitted I was damaged in the service and have brain issues. They gave me 40% just for the mental loss. The letter states the headaches are still in appeal.
    
13. That should be it. The 40% was issued for memory, attention, concentration, executive functions. No rating on the actual 24 hour headaches or days that I can't do anything because of the pain and the fog. It's not easy to do things... it took me a month to figure how to type this. That sucks - as I know I used to be good at things.
    
14. I'm not sure if I should resubmit the VA form 21-0960C-8 as it seems like the applied it to the mental phase of the injury and not the physical. I don't think the cyst on the brain has any weight for anything.

Should I call the VA to ask or does that cause more problems? I have no idea what all to file or if I should file additional claims. How do you prove that I cannot sleep for days because of the headaches and confusion? I'm concerned because I'm really not able to work anymore. I can't drive at night because the newer headlights really set of some bad headaches. I just don't know what the next step is and so any guidance is appreciated. Thanks.

[skydealer]

Update -

There appears to be a paperwork screw-up and I'm not sure how to handle it, though it does answer a lot of questions.

I was confused as to where this 2013 claim came from that I just got rated for. Well, it turns out that when I mailed in the VA form 21-0960C-8 (headaches form filled out by a VA doctor) they took it as a new claim, even though I had mailed it in as support for my 2011 claim. The dates match up exactly.

I tried calling the VA today but could not get through to a real person. Should I resubmit this form? It has everything in it for my 2011 claim and it is all in writing and signed by a VA doctor.

This is the form I submitted:: http://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA-21-0960C-8-ARE.pdf