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Update 5/11! Fdc Complete With Success!

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Navy04

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Something is amiss. To have such a plethora of disabilities at 33 years of age is a non sequitur. I do not mean to say you don't suffer the illnesses but that VA continues to add to a list and not grant you a 100% schedular for one single disease.I'm looking at this as you publish it-

70% PTSD

50% TBI/Migraines

40% Residuals of Testicular Surgery

30% Crohn's Disease

30% R Shoulder

30% Scars due to multiple surgeries

20% Lumbosacral strain

10% Radiculopathy, right lower extremity

10% Left knee strain with osteoarthritis

10% R Knee painful motion secondary

10% Asthma

10% Tinnitus

10% Damage of Cranial Nerve II

A whole bunch of 0%s

SMC for Loss of Reproductive Organ

To me, it's fairly obvious that the focus should be on the PTSD or the testicular issue. The PTSD is the predicate for the TDIU as it is the only one other than the new migraine rating above

40% that a TDIU can hinge on. Navy 04 had the testicular rating of 40% prior to this but it is not a stand alone rating that TDIU would hinge on. TDIU rules are fairly easy to comprehend.

I've spent a few years at this and one thing stands out. In cases like this, one single disease/ injury is going to kill you or endanger your existence on this earth. That should be the focus of

the claims filing. This endless chain of filing for a pearl necklace of ratings-none of which will kill you- is only useful if it results in an eventual SMC-S rating. I do see that if you need A&A,

this might be helpful. However, many of the ratings you now have will never reach 100% because the Diagnostic Codes for them top out at less than 100%.

Once you become 100% service connected (or P&T TDIU), anything you die from will grant your wife her DIC-but only after ten years. That is the important facet to keep in mind.

Obviously, you will not die from many of the ratings listed. In order to keep it in perspective, you want to concentrate (if possible) on a claim to up your PTSD to 100% or the

TBI/migraines. Or, if you can, get the residuals of Testicular surgery up to 100% schedular.

Here's an extreme example. It takes 22 single 10% disabilities to get to 100% but it will never get you Permanent and Total. VA will always come back and test you via C&Ps and hound you

to the grave in the fond hope of reducing even one to reduce you below 100%. VA is very predictable in this regard. If they do succeed in reducing you below 100% for any period of time,

and you later get back to 100%, the DIC 10-year clock has to be reset.

Navy 04 is 33 years old. I spent 22 years at this and I'm still not finished. I'm 64 and I began in 1989. He doesn't need VA in his life until he's 55 or older. Focus on the one (or more)

disease/injury than actually has a 100% schedular rating in the diagnostic code and make that the focus of your battle. Some say PTSD will not kill you. I disagree. For two years after I

came back from Laos and Vietnam, I debated sucking on the lead lollipop. The urge, thankfully, has gone away in the intervening 42 + years. Pick your battles wisely.

Edited by asknod
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P.S. Crohn's disease, which I suffer, is, in and of itself, almost a guarantee of 100% schedular disability. I've had five operations, had my ileum and 94 cm. of small bowel gradually cut out, have short bowel syndrome and permanent diarrhea/fecal incontinence. It is the one disease that is going to kill you or cause you to end up with an ileostomy or colostomy eventually. Time to get a nexus letter going from an independent gastrodoc. J1VO

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Asknod thank you very much for those smart words, which is why you are a heck of a lot more knowledgeable then I am. I am actually having some kind of Esophagus/upper intestine here soon, and looks like another Testicular Surgery as I developed another Tumor. I have been dumb founded for a while now. Trying to learn as much as you helpful guys on Hadit. I know that if I was 90%, that IU would be granted easily. I was granted SSDI in less than 10 weeks just on the PTSD and Bone issues. Crazy thing is that I have a handful of conditions that I have not even applied for that would be granted. Just don't know what is going on with VA, and with 4 FDCs and over 30 C&Ps in the last 2 years, has been such a hard journey. As with Crohn's, my surgeon told me last summer that I need to have my Colon removed soon, as the risk for Colon cancer has gone up tremendously since I was diagnosed in 2009. I am so lost, I have been real good at Opening Claims and submitted Evidence and getting the conditions granted SC. I can not be 100% Schedular and IU, Right? I have to be one or the other? What would be the best route to go bud. I just keep hoping that when the VA reviews me in March 2018, that I become Permanent. I know that my age has something to do with it, but gosh, how sick do I have to be for Permanent. The VA pays my wife the Highest Tier to be my caregiver, which again was approved fast, and I left the Navy in Feb 2013 Medically Retired for Crohns Temporary, and a few months ago with the First 18 month review, made me Permanent Medically Retired without having to Conduct an Exam due to my Crohns being so bad in my VA medical Records. I will agree with you that, my last 2 Civilian GI DRs, while I was active, were far more detailed and worried about my health then the Damn VA. I had 11 Endoscopies and Colonoscopies since 2009, and I have only had 1 thru VA since they took over my Care in April 2013. Sorry for the rambling, and thank you so much. I hope that along with you I can come up with a plan. I am tired of being Scared and Watched by the VA, I am getting Emotional writing this. I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me, just want the Govt to take care of what they caused, that's all.

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Hope you get that P&T soon. I am just seeing now how it really changes things with those extra benefits.

Keep up the fight.

OSC

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Got it. Your game plan has to be the Crohns. It's service connected, it's the proximate cause of many of your health issues. It's an autoimmune disease and reflects what is horribly amiss in your body. Put a fork in all the extraneous back,neck, knees etc. Let them ride unless you have an inordinate urge to self-flagellate. Get the workups from the gastroboys and present it as a fait accompli. Your core of your being and life will be compromised with a colostomy/ileostomy. I know whereof I speak. I had an ileostomy from 5/2009 to 3/2010. A colostomy is no different but it's on your left side. It's the end of life as you will ever know it, sir. Infections. Leaks. Soiled clothing. Soiled sheets. Hell, I can't list it all here. Regardless, it's 100%. You do not have to wait for that. Be proactive on any one of your diseases that lead to permanent and total. I could have filed for the Alloderm they patched me up with but what do I need with another 100% 1151 claim? I sure didn't need the extra 40% I got last month for Fibro but it was a strategy that paid off way too late. I now have the SMC I sought from 1994 without it. You need to focus on your future and your wife/family. I prepositioned for 38 CFR 3.350 (f)(4). I suggest you do the same now rather than wait until you're my age to do so.

Always remember one thing. This is a game of peanuts. VA gives you a small pittance for what they got out of you in war. You gave all. You get peanuts back. File for pecans, almonds, Brazil nuts, walnuts or whatever, but file for the expensive 100% ones that you earned. You have no idea what that Crohn's has in store for you. I suggest you either take your protein pill and put the helmet on or consider that Remacade drug. I doubt VA s going to cotton to the idea if $5,400 a dose every six weeks though. Plan ahead like your life depends on it because you have no idea of what a $hitstorm you're sailing into. The only thing you have going for you is you're Navy and know how best to be sailing around in the Poopy Sea. Best of luck. You will need every ounce you can summons.

Edited by asknod
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