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rpowell01
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Posts posted by rpowell01
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I had a medical opinion completed by Dr. Bash last year and the VA still denied everything. What I find funny is on the DBQs that C&P Examiners do it reads that "This is not an medical opinion"...So, if an MD specialist such as Dr. Bash writes a medical opinion but the C&P Exams report reads "This is not a medical opinion" then how can deny the claims? A lot of these raters just don't know what they are reading and don't know what they are doing. Bad thing is they are going to get hit with a lot of CUEs because of this.
I also found out some of the so called MDs that the VA is using for C&P Exams are not even license and/or had their licensed suspended indefinitely. How is this legal that the VA is allowed to use these doctors who don't even have a license? I heard this from great source but my memory is killing me because I can't even remember who told me this. Is this legal?
BTW there is an Orthopedic Surgeon in Tampa at Florida Spine Institute that will do the DBQ for you. They charge $300 and I think he will write an opinion also. There is a sign on the door or in his office about this. I am going to do call about this and see what he does.
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Well EMG just about a month ago showed L5-S1 bilateral radiculopathy in both my legs so I think its nerve pain or even nerve damage.
They won't give me Cymbalta, I already asked about that earlier this year. I guess I don't like the Gabapentin is making me feel more than anything. There are days it does help and days it doesn't. I can safely say I get one good week every 3 months. I heard this is normal for people with DDD?
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I take 3200 mg of Gabapentin per day. It appears its just not working. I have an appointment with Pain Management next week and I am going to request that they give me Lyrica which I have taken some time ago for shingles and it helped.
Will they give me Lyrica if I tell them the Gabapentin just is not working? They know I am pain because I constantly complain on Secure Messages to them. They won't do surgery because they said my condition is complex that surgery will not help but make it worse.
What do I do besides telling them my pain level is a 10 all the time. I don't want the opiods unless I have to go that route because I don't want other health problems later on caused by them.
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Well I just received some paper work from SSDI and they transferred my stuff to another location to setup a video hearing appointment which should be around December or January. One thing I noticed on the document is that it read if you are having problems on getting your Doctor to fill out paperwork related to your SSDI then you can ask the ALJ to subpoena that requires a person to submit documentation or testify at your client's hearing. I am wondering how deep of a hole could I dig by telling the ALJ that my PCP from the VA won't fill out the requested paperwork my attorney ask him to fill out? I could open a can a worms....
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Okay the existing medical condition is on the "Problems List" the VA has. I pulled it from myhealthevet...
I just don't know why they won't fill out these reports. Its kind of wrong if you ask me. I guess I will see if my private PCP will help me do them since the VA is so lacking doing stuff like this. I keep all my medical records in a huge binder so this will help when I go see my private PCP soon.
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But the VA doctors will not do this. They said it needs to be done by a VA social worker? Anybody else had to do this like this? If it was a private PCP they would do this. I guess I could take all my VA medical reports to my private PCP and talk with him about filling out the paperwork. He was the one who first diagnosed the DDD in 2007 after I started having a lot of headaches after picking up heavy stuff or standing for a period of time.
Your advice is needed. This is just the Attorney paper work they need which shows the diagnosis/problems lists. They obtained all my VA medical reports from the VA already about 3 weeks ago.
Also, I hope this means I am getting close to see a judge...
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I purchased an inversion table about a month ago or so. It helps while I am on it but like every other conservative treatment it comes right back after I get off from. But its just enough to get that pressure off of my mind.
I get about 1 week every 3 months of good days. I am thankful for that.
I lost about 1 1/2 out of my spine since getting out of the Army and all the pressure on those nerve roots is a pain in the butt....I sit here at times wondering if my life is even worth living anymore but I know a good hour with my family as they get home is what makes those thoughts go away.
I will be okay because He who lives inside of me is greater than he who lives in this crude world.
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Okay I will take a chance and give the VSO a copy of Dr. Bash's report to take over there.
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Coming up for a Reduction Hearing. Bring with me to the hearing is a lot of evidence to include new ROM measurements taken on July 2.
I talked with my contact at the State of Florida Veterans Services at the RO. He stated that it's normal for me to bring the new ROM measurements for him to view them. He will then take them over to the Hearing Office (Coach) to see if they will make a determination before the hearing.
I was told to NOT allow them to do this because this is another way to screw the vet.
Need your advice on how to handle this.
Thanks in advance.
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Tampa VA appears to be swamped with Travel Pay and they don't have enough people. I don't know why other hospitals you can go to the window and boom your done. In Tampa you still have to fill out the form. They are about two months behind currently and no telling if they will ever get caught up.
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Even with theblazes XLS file its only 94%
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Well after finding out the VA Surgeon refuses to do surgery on my L5-S1 I am in need of some advice. The EMG contradicts my last MRI and the surgeon REFUSES to go by the EMG. I am in a lot of pain in my legs, feet and toes. Is there ANY procedure were they can go in deaden those two nerve roots? I am willing to give up everything to have to to just go in and cut those things in half. I would rather deal with NO pain instead of this torture!!!!
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Congrats!!!! It took 4 years to have a hearing with a judge? I thought it was a 2 year wait..WOWzers I hope I don't have to wait this long. Its been a year for me and hopefully I will get a hearing date soon...
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I am so sore today in my whole spine. I do my best not to cough because of the pain that goes down my arms and legs.
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I ended up with the stomach flu last night, first time in years, and of course my stomach decided to spit out the worst of the worst. During this it felt like I bulged or herniated a disc in my thoracic spine. Can anybody relate to this happening to them, those with spine/disc issues.
I don't know what is worse the flu bug or the pain not being able to breathe properly. The pain is around T1, one of the many areas I have problems.
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So if the VA uses their own doctors like they do then its NOT an independent examination as the regulations read.
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Its my understanding that an RO is suppose to send veterans to have an independent C&P exam. If an RO is part of a system say as in St Pete, the Bay Pines system, how can they send a veteran to have a C&P exam in the Bay Pines Region only and not other regions such as Tampa or lets say Orlando. Wouldn't this be a conflict of interest because the word independent?
I am just curious about this because I see the RO using doctors in their system is a conflict of interest.
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i have had a bad back since the mid 70's when i fell down 2 flights of stairs (and broke the fall after the first flight). i was awarded 10 percent when i was medically discharged in 1988. the va gave me IU almost 2 years ago this december. but here is whats wrong with my back.
i have degenerative disc disese and osteoarthritis in my entire thoracic spine; my neck is badly messed up; i have spinal and foraminal stenosis; a slipped vertebrae and a couple of bulging discs in my lumbar spine beside degenerative disc disese and osteoarthritis. i also have radiculopathy on top of this, i also have inflammatory arthritis. my pain meds are much stronger than yours.
Actually what people don't know is Osteoarthritis might be considered non-inflammatory but the process of it creates inflammation. Its a catch 22 thing. The VA RO will try to use this against the VETs but I guess they don't read medical journals where it shows OA does have inflammation even though its considered non-inflammatory.
Something like RA is inflammatory because that is what its disease is based on. OA causes inflammation because of the proteins that are sent to the OA area. So, OA does cause inflammation.
Your stuff sound exactly like mine. Do you get pain in your chest muscles? BTW if you have inflammatory arthritis in your thoracic spine I bet you 110% its actually traumatic arthritis from the fall and somebody diagnosed it wrong. I could be wrong but this is exactly the same thing as me, in a way. I hyper-extended my whole spine and this is the cause of my issues.
I found bring myself down off the Gabapentin then bring myself back up helps a lot. The mornings are the worse for me, instead of the normal 30 minutes medical journals say it takes to get out of bed for people with OA it takes me 2-3 hours. They don't take into consideration the extent of OA disease...
Hot water is good for the muscles where ice will help bring down the inflammation. I usually have to try both until one gives me some kind of relief...Hot water does help bring that blood up through the spine which is needed.
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I could be wrong but these C&P examiners are NOT raters and them telling you that stuff could cost them their jobs...
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Okay here is the answer and I now understand both Dr. Bash's and your answer J:
"Medical practitioners often refer to osteoarthritis in the spine as spinal arthritis, degenerative joint disease, or arthritis of the facet joints. Spinal arthritis is relatively common and is most likely to occur in people over age fifty. It represents an ongoing, degenerative process in the spine, and may be associated with a number of other degenerative spinal conditions. In particular, osteoarthritis is associated with degenerative discs in the spine. Degenerative discs and osteoarthritis often occur hand in hand because the disc and facet joints (the joints in the back affected by osteoarthritis) are both part of the same three-joint complex. It is thought that degenerating discs can place undue stress on the facet joints, thus over time leading to degeneration and formation of osteoarthritis in the facet joints (also called zygapophyseal joints). This may be why the two degenerative conditions are so often seen together."
http://www.spine-health.com/conditions/arthritis/osteoarthritis-complete-treatment-guide
I still laugh at my C&P exam report when the C&P examiner brought up a 2007 MRI that showed "Multilevel Spondylosis" then later took something from another MRI (bits and pieces of the report) where it said Degenerative Changes.....Then on her "Opinion" she says I don't have arthritis. I know I am killing this topic but I find it funny. She contradicted herself and gave NO rationale to her opinion.
I can't wait for the Reduction Hearing and JBasser knows why...
I was wanting to fight I had OA and didnt' understand the DDD part. Now I understand. I have BOTH. One caused the other.
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So why did Dr. Bash tell me that OA and DDD are the same thing when it comes to the spine? Is it because they work hand in hand with each in the spine so they consider it the same thing?
I got this off the internet somewhere:
"Osteoarthritis of the spine occurs when there is deterioration in the discs between the vertebrae"
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I've researching the difference between Spinal DDD and Spinal Osteoarthritis. I never knew that when it come to the spine that DDD and Osteoarthritis was the same thing. So, anything you read on MRIs that deals with the spine if you see stuff like: Degenerative Changes, Degenerative Disc Disease, DJD and Osteophytes, they are basically the same thing.
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Vync was this in Tampa?
They gave me a schedule and it was stuff like heated pool, walking, PT (which I can tell you this will be out of the question for me), classes, Rec Therapy, Adaptive ADL....
I will attend it, if I don't like it in the first week I will withdraw from it. Unless I get left in the waiting room then I will say no from that point forward...
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I received a draft from Dr. Bash. He apologized for the lateness. After reading it he is showing them that there is a CUE waiting if the Regional Office approves the reduction. Not just one CUE but many. They made a lot of mistake and they are sinking...He is ripping them apart in this letter.
Good news on top of that he did use the new ROM measurements I did on July 2 whenever I flew up there. I know this is what they are looking for. Also, Dr. Bash stated that they didn't even mention my April 2013 MRIs which show severe DDD/OA in both my neck and back...And on top of this the RO nor the C&P examiner even mentioned my radiculopathy in my arms I have. I had TWO EMGs conducted on my arms, one private and one VA. They both came back with the same results, bilateral peripheral radiculopathy/neuropathy. Per DeLuca these issues actually have to be taken into consideration and neither the examiner nor the rater did that.
I don't need an attorney at the BVA level, I know how to write up legal stuff. I worked in law enforcement for a long time....I seen the inside of the court room many times and watched case after case. Plus, I am studying the Veterans Benefits manual which has everything there is to know. Most attorneys utilizes this manual to do their homework.
Radiculopathy...
in Medication – Prescription Drugs-Health Issues
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Not here I lost 30lbs after I started taking it. But they finally heard me and started giving me a higher pain killer than Tramadol.