Veldrina

it could...

yeah, i just had dbl knee surgery too (one at a time)...it;'s a killer. So are u s/c for the knees already? When u get reconstruction at the very least u should be getting par. 30.

awwww! Thank you! Yes, I still do Faire, though my show got cut this year. Good news is becuz of the break I was finally able to get both knees operated on, so hopefully I can throw myself on the floor some more next year without pain ;)

Yeah, that's almost exactly why the GAF is being done away with, it's too mutable. My GAF goes up automatically whenever I'm in the city!

Ty Gastone! Re private vs VA we will usually put greater weight on the most complete exam, so if private is missing things like dsm5 criteria or a nexus we go we it ours. Re alcohol se on day, it's all how do coordinate. If vet had symptoms of past before actual diagnosis or if post aggravated the alcohol consumption it might still fly.

there is a backlog that Sec. SHinseki had been fighting & now the new guy AND Allison Hickey are battling. Claims are "supposed" to have a turnaround time of a business week but it doesnt always happen. VSOs may not have gotten the hang of reviewing things in VBMS but that's no reason for a hang-up...at least in NY our instructions were they get a week to review & if not, onwards.

ty

etihwr on here just posted an entire thing on this that seems to be a good way to at least appeal a decision on it....u may wanna contact him

It's becuz of the symptomology, that's what bumps u up. Passive suicidal ideation, irritability with unproboked periods of violence, obsessive rituals (which can be anything like repeatedly checking locks on everything & not going to sleep till u do, or cant leave house until u make sure everything is secure, etc) can bump u up to 70 as well. Neglect of hygiene, hallucinations, weird speech etc can get u bumped up to 100% sometimes. I'm not advocating this, mind u, just saying. I DO see that suicidal ideation was mentioned however u stated it's rare & u denied it on exam, hence why it wasn;t checkmarked. Same thing with "shutting down" & not taking care of hygiene...it's not constant, therefore why it's not checkmarked. If you have other conditions that are service connected that also contribute to your inability to work & they equal a combined 70% you can still qualify for unemployability.

etihwr, Wow, that was a mouthful! :) I haven't seen any claims in my 7+ yrs of rating that had SA as a known complication of DM. We are never taught that, & if it's not one of the presumptive conditions in CFR 3.309 we don't look at it. That doesn't mean that a doctor can't turn around & say in this case it is, provided there is medical rationale. I do hope John & anyone claiming it tries & wins. They discover new complications of diabetes mellitus all the time, so who is to say it might not be in the future? I just know that as of right know, unless you have a good doc who is willing to help you out by citing those studies, it's a slim chance. This isn't to say that you can't get them back with the homework above if you appeal. Try it....the worst they can say is no. Good luck!

HI! :D THAT has a better chance since it's organic in nature. As long as you write it up as having difficulty breathing due to blockage, feeling short of breath, constant waking that causes daytime fatigue, etc it will be fine. :)

Based on this exam i would guess about 50%....however I don't see the examiner relating your stressors to service or even discussing service, which is a concern because it is otherwise a denial.

Hey all....don't bother trying to relate it to a mental disorder. Sleep apnea has an organic origin, not mental like insomnia. What you COULD try is to see if any medication could be causing the apnea. I have also been seeing a new trend re obesity being related to PTSD, in whicgh case the apnea could then be secondary to the PTSD via obesity being caused by PTSD. It's a stretch, but better than nothing. Until Obesity becomes a service connectable condition on its own, it will be difficult.

John, sleep apnea (SA) is not a known complication of DMII. SA would have to be show either in service or have medical evidence linking it to another condition. JewBacha, with the new relaxed criteria under "Changing the Game" & Waters vs Shinseki & Walker vs Shinseki, the DBQs should not have an expiration & as long as they answer the questions needed (have the rating criteria) it should be good. Captdc, I dont know about Dr. Siy, but it sounds like you were turned down for pension, not compensation. Pension is income-based, compensation is not. Do you have any s/c disabilities currently or are u still waiting because u filed? If you want, PM me & I can try to look up how they're doing.

Stanval: I think u click on my pic & it should give u option of sending me a priv. msg. Bob: u should receive it within 1-2 mo., any later & i'd start haranguing them. Re Faires, they cancelled my bellydance show :( seems there's a casino wanting to buy the property & the faire is streamlining as much as possible,. Ah well. It gives me time to pay attention to my knees & the surgery I've been putting off though, so we'll see.

John, I quoted the ratings schedule for diabetes above to show u how we rate. The fact that u r on oral injections or might require insulin more than once a day has no bearing on the 20%. The only way to bump it up is if u are specifically told by a doc that u must avoid strenuous exercise in order to not have a hypoglycemic episode (regulation of activities).

7913Diabetes mellitus Requiring more than one daily injection of insulin, restricted diet, and regulation of activities (avoidance of strenuous occupational and recreational activities) with episodes of ketoacidosis or hypoglycemic reactions requiring at least three hospitalizations per year or weekly visits to a diabetic care provider, plus either progressive loss of weight and strength or complications that would be compensable if separately evaluated 100 Requiring insulin, restricted diet, and regulation of activities with episodes of ketoacidosis or hypoglycemic reactions requiring one or two hospitalizations per year or twice a month visits to a diabetic care provider, plus complications that would not be compensable if separately evaluated 60 Requiring insulin, restricted diet, and regulation of activities 40 Requiring insulin and restricted diet, or; oral hypoglycemic agent and restricted diet 20 Manageable by restricted diet only 10 Note (1): Evaluate compensable complications of diabetes separately unless they are part of the criteria used to support a 100 percent evaluation. Noncompensable complications are considered part of the diabetic process under diagnostic code 7913. Note (2): When diabetes mellitus has been conclusively diagnosed, do not request a glucose tolerance test solely for rating purposes.

Ryder, I PM'd u before seeing this, but if u didn't drill then a letter should be enuff. If worse comes to worst, maybe a letter from the reserves indicating u did not partake in any drills for that year.

Even working for VA I still have no clue what some acronyms are....BBE? I would probably get a better idea if I could see the claim, but if u feel the effective date should be earlier, u need to submit evidence showing 1st diagnosis for PTSD. Hubby is Vietnam vet....was he boots-on-the-ground? (in-cou8ntry service)? if so, does he have diabetes or other comlications of Agent Orange exposure? Re kidney, when was this & what was the previous condition before it was removed? It COULD be related to Agent Orange as well. If u like, PM me & let me know.

No, it does not include secondary. For secondary conditions it just has to be shown that your s/c disability is causing the 2nd one. ie your left knee is secondary to right since you overcomepnsate with it. As long as doc links it ur good. Changes in gait have been known to cause back issues so i would def. put in for that I'm not too sure about the left hand medial nerve ...even though it was caused by a fall due to ur knee, the nail gun is an outside factor. I say try it, since it's not a definitive No until u try & get told no. As for the PTSD, I know it's difficult to talk about ur experiences, but just remember the mental health docs are specific to VA issues & won't be asking u things like 'does this have to do with ur mom' or anything....they have a better understanding of folks have gone through, & if nothing else, it might be good to unload. Rooting for ya!

Substance/alcohol abuse is not a disability per se, but is usually attached to the Axis 1 for things like PTSD or depression/anxiety. Unless a doc specifies the abuse was directly due to PTSD (or whatever), the VA is reluctant to rate it, because if you develop something.....say cirrhosis of the liver due to alcohol abuse.....and it's part of the PTSD (PTSD with alcohol abuse in remission) then it technically can be claimed secondary to your PTSD w/alcohol abuse & they will have to grant the cirrhosis.

Actually they've made it easier to claim PTSD since the fear-based thing & lowered the "credible evidence" criteria for MST (military sexual trauma). I'm glad the stupid GAF thing is gone, we barely ever looked at them unless we were in a real bind as to what evaluation to give. Here's a secret: when claiming PTSD, always say u have sleep disturbance, hypervigilance, must constantly check perimeter/locks/windows/do full sweep of house or place u r in, and that you are highly suspicious of ppl (NYers have that one down already). That will usually get you a higher evaluation. You never heard this from me, i was never hear **disappears into shadows**

hi kelly! :D

Biggie, I am PMing u.

^ Things can be yanked from "ready to rate" status if they deem something is missing. That something could be a number of things, from some development that wasn't done to an examiner not giving an opinion on something. Considering the huge bottleneck we have right now with exams, esp. QTC exams (i have a newfound hatred for them), I'm putting my $$$ on an exam screw-up.