JohnM

I can let you know what he told us, although my writting is not so good but here it goes 60% for Back 30 % for Catracts 30 % for Anxciety ( PTSD) Gaf Score of 60 20 % for Shoulder 20 % for DMII 20 % for PN ( Left) foot 20 % for PN ( right) foot 20 % for I"m not sure what it was for can not read what I wrote down I was trying to write as fast as he was talking anyways Once we get the paper work I will let you all know for sure. I am not sure about the hearing and tinntus ( ringing), or menier's disease. Also found out last week that John has PN in both of his hands Neurologist Dr. told us that, so once we get his report and letter of statement we will file for that. John is also on SSD because of his Back, and Back Surgery, So I am sure that also helped. When someone is getting a 100% do you need to keep filing when something else comes up, for example like the PN in his hands. and What good does it do for you to keep filing? These are some questions that I have now. And what about filing NOD for his hearing and Tinntus, or menier's? They only pay you 100% or am I wrong on that. He said if he gets anything he will be happy. It will not sink in until he sees the CHECK, I guess I can't blame him on that. Of Course I know he would love to jump for Joy but he doesn't want to be disappointed; But the Guy on the other ends said the check has to be autherized and we should recieve it by Feb. and then the first of every month.

:P Got the news from VA this morning 100% Will recieve the Check next month. I Thank All of YOU on Hadit! Without the help and advise I don't think we could have done it. There are a few questions I need to ask He did not say if it was P & T he gave us the run down on all of the disabilities and the ratings, It all comes up to 100% are you automatically P&T then. or do we have to file a claim for that. He had mentioned about the insurance for my wife and said all the info would be in the package we get. ONCE AGAIN: THANK YOU ALL A nice Vacation to Florida next month

d Ricky: You're right It isn't something I wanted to hear, but I guess its reality and I guess I will have to wait. I think some states are better than others. We live in Wisconsin, My brother got his in 5 months But then he only got for PTSD and didn't file for other claims at the same time. Now he's got to start all over again, this time it may take longer. John has several claims for them to rate at once, although one we put down on paper but did not write a claim for it, so for that I guess we will have to wait. I do know that they will deni the hearing and we already have a NOD written up on that. As far as independant team I was wrong it was the development team that they had said, We did recieve the VCAA letter and submitted what we have at this time in the early part of Nov. So they have everything so far. In the meantime he has an appointment with a neuroligistn ( Our own HMO) for hearing and menier's in 2 weeks and that is the one we will file NOD for. But I thank you for your responds, I sure hope it dosen't take as long as you said.

Are claim was at the indpendant board last week and now at the rating board. What is the indpendant board? and do they usually wait the 60 days our do they rate it sooner? About how long do you think it will be before we get the brown envelope

From JohnM and his wife Dianne Thanks for all of your help and hope the New Year is Good To all of Us.

Not as of yet its in the works

yes that is what I am saying but also failed to assist him after service, and still is. He goes to the VA hopital and has numerous records. Its really complicated and difficult to write everything down at this time but one of the shrinks he sees said it is inadaquate medical care and said he has PTSD and the other I am not sure what they say. But it is definite that no one from the VA has help him. and I really am not sure about the duty to assist or which way we should approach his case. Myself I still am gathering info from his medical records. and with his state of mind someone should have helped him in service and out.

Thanks Berta, I am not up on all these street drugs sorry I miss understood, I am not sure how he got hepatitus, I just came across it when trying to sort through all the records. I think he needs to file for it. I do know that he has a tatoo. and like I said lots of problems from day one and then the drinking started. In reading his SMR's what I could read because of the writting, they would give him medicine upon medicine and kind of taged him and after the assualt it got worse. My thought in this and its just my thought but at one point I think they should have released him from duty on medical basis. but they kept on sending him back to the same ship where the assualt took place and the SO did nothing, He didn't even write it down. The SO could see he was having a problem on drinking because he ordered him to take a physical for anabuse. Anyways we will have to do more checking on this hepatitus issue.

G R E A T INfo Thanks Calie

Thanks for the replies, Your answers are all good and I will be able to use them. I'm going to try to keep this short. PTSD is for sexual assualt and medical problems while in military, he just now started opening up on it. he is getting a buddy letter for the sexual assualt . Not sure what a 1151 is. Lack of duty to assist, and I am not sure how to approach this. At this time it is hard to write everything down, but once you file a claim the VA has a duty to assist you in your claim ( as what I understand ) and in his case no one has helped him from begining till present. I am not sure at this time about the hepititus A & B, I have just seen it it the medical records while I was scanning through the paper work. Berta you mentioned they would deni for IV drug use. Not sure what you mean. He was put on IV's while in service Medical hospital. as far as PTSD he has had to gaf scores that I seen one was 45 and the other 50 but was never given a rating. as far as inadequate medical care. They new for at least 2 years that he was unstable and emotionally unfit for service, and actually had written it down but the continually sent him back to his ship. they also knew he was drinking a lot and put him on anbuse 3x with writing down that he needed to be supervised. his crew mates made fun of him because of him having uticaria and having a swollen face. and yes he did feel that his life was in danger especailly after the assualt and they still kept him on the same ship with that person. I hope this explains a little more. going through his records and all of his medical records since military his a big problem and in trying to sort out where to begin especially since my sister -in-law and I are new at all of this. Wish we had someone close by to help sort out and tell us where and how to begin. But your respondes are very helpfull and I thank You all so much.

As you may have read emmak is my sister-in-law and I am trying to help with her husband and son, at this time I am helping her with her son. I have a few questions to ask of all of you He has a rating for uticaria of 10%, has had the problem since 1982 while in the service, it is chronic and he has been suffering with it ever since. How does on go about asking for a higher rate? He did ask for a higher rate I am not sure what year and I am not sure if they even answered him. I had trouble reading the request myself so I don't know if they responded to it, and I think he did it on his own with out any VA Rep. With the medical papers that he recieved from his military, I went day to day and typed it all out for him to hand in, ( He has not recieved all of his Medical records ). Because of chronic uticaria he has many scar's. I feel he should ask for compensation for this would this be secondary to unticaria? Because of all the medicine that he has been on since military and VA since discharge he has now diterrating bones. Would this be secondary to his medical problems? He has also developed fibroymalgia, migraines, irritable bowel syndrome. Would this all be secondary to medication? Or can he file seperate for this? Shortly after discharge in 1985 he went to the VA hospital and found out he had hepatitis B in 2001 they said he has hepatitis C. Would this be secondary to medication? does he file seperatley for each? I also having him apply for Compensation for inadequate medical care, TDIU, Due to lack of duty to assist,PTSD, and all secondary problems due to medications. This guy has Not had a normal live since he was 18, and he is fallen deeper and deeper, In reading over his medical records from military what I could understand is that they just seemed to ignor everything at one point they had written down that he had emotional problems, to include anxiety, stress, and depression, and being an alcholic. He had to conitnually face his problems alone because his S.O. did not report it and sent him back on the same ship, He was called names because of his uticaria. I could go on but at this time I think I wrote enough, Just wondering how we will go about filing all of this . Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions I believe because of this they should compensate him from the time they had this written down,

I am not an expert on this but I would say file now, the higher your rate the better for IU rating.

It is ok to be blunt because sometimes I forget to write it down. Yes he is sober and to be honest with you I have not seen him drink since 1987 and I am around him often.

I am not really sure why SSD turns him down, I know that he doesn't have his quaters in, but he has trouble holding down a job becuase of his pain and problems then he takes off and of course because of him taking off all the time they let him go. As far as his sexual asualt at this time I am trying to link his drinking to this, and he does have a buddy who is writting a statement about this assult.his buddy and him where on different shifts and after the assualt he would not sleep in his own bunk but did sleep in his buddies bunk and his buddy would check on him through the night. but the officer told him not to say anything because he could get killed if he did, again he was on ship. and as far as all the meds he has taken through the years of service and out I am also trying to link that to his depression also. also the officer never wrote the assualt down. the only medical records he has are from the VA hospital, and they are kind of ignoring his problems and passing this off as who knows what.But this last time he almost died and his mother has talked to the physcoligist that he sees and she to has said that they are ignoring his medical problems.

Thanks my spelling isn't the greatest without the spell check I don't take any offense to corrections

At this point I am not sure. He has a lot of medical problems which did start in military. and after he got out he in 1985 he has been in the VA hospital x a mount of times, he has boxes of VA Hospital records. He was just 18 when he enlisted,he is now 43. his medical problems start with hives ( uticaria) back pain (as they put it ) He was sexually asualted and then started drinking heavily. He reported the asualt but they never wrote it down. They said he was an acholic and gave him meds for it. he has had numerous medical problems while in service had a car accident and hit his head on the winshield ( he was the passanger ) but was drinking. Since his enlistment in 1981 he was in and out of hospitals and all they actually wrote down is uticaria. when he was discharged he never had a physical and on his discharge papers nothing was written down about all of his illnesses Uticaria-Back- Leg- Sinus ( which was down on enlistment papers) which he has had several sinus surgeries. I sure could use some help on connecting his problems with military. He has never really had a job, he can't hold a job down because of the uticaria and his back problems, he has had trouble getting SSD, they have turned him down neumeros times. This last time he was in the hospital his kidneys started to shut down, put they did get them working again and basically they said he had a virus of somesort.. Anyways I could go on but to connect all of his problems related to all medication and service is going to be a big task. I would appreciate any help I can get

I am helping my sister-in - law with her Son's and on his last discharge from the VA hospital they have written down that he has HTN & IBS can you tell me what this actually is? He also takes around 16-19 Meds and he is have a hard time getting any VA Compensation. After reading some of his VA SMR I am sure that we can connect all of his problems with Mitary Service.

JohnM's wife here! OK I am emmak's sister-in-law, she has two Veterans she is working on, Husband and Son. for now I would like to get some help on her Son, We are waiting for John at the rating board and nothing else to do. Her Son was in the Navy aboard DDJ44 Pratt. Looking for info one this ship and where the records maybe also medical records. Does anyone know what carrier battle group she was part of from 1981-1985? He has several medical problems and only rated 10% VA is not reconizing the other problems that may be related secondary to his first especially with all the medicine he has been on for 20+ years that is breaking his system down. I will be going over to their house today, and help sort out his medical records and see where and what we can do. Question I have is once this is done should we fill out a form to support his claim again? There is again 20+ years of medical paper work to go should this all be submitted again? Remember VA is not helping in anyway! And there are some medical records missing from the ship plus he was also Medivaced off of one to another for the initail medical problem. Also something that had happened on board the ship might not have been documented down, even though he had went through chain of command. Thanks for any info

Nathan; It sounds to me like they deni hearing loss, and tinnitus often, John is at the rating board now, but the way the Dr. for C&P wrote down for hearing loss, tinnitus and Menier's I have written down an NOD for John. This is how I started it it may help you and others also. I did a lot of research before I started the Nod. I served on active duty in the marie Crop june of 1966 to June of 1970 and re-elisted October of 1970. My enistment exam dated Feb. 19636 indicate normal hearing there where the other exam noted in my records. During my active duty I was exposed to loud noise from helicopters, pistols rifles, and machine gun, rockete and mortar attacks. I was also engaged in combat with the enemy while in active service as a helicopter arieal gunner. My Mo was helecopter hydraulics. and I exposed to jet engines and gun fire continually while in active service. I served in Vietnam for 12 months. My miltary discharge certifcate state that I recieved the Vietnam service medal and combat action ribbon and naval combat air crew wings. I contend that my current hearing loss is the result of these noises while in active service. I content that I was not advised on my rights to file a claim for hearing loss or tinnitus My service medical records show that when I entered active service in 1966, the audiological evaluation stated pure tone thershold ,the service medical records state that in 1968 I had a mild hearing loss in both ears.re-enlistment exam in 1970 indicate mild hearing loss in both ears and so did the final discharge exam in 1972.While I never complained of the ringing in my ears it has persisted. With that benig said, I was not treated for tinnitus while in service but the onset of my tinnitus was in service.and tinnitus may not reasonably be disassociated from the noise exposure in service.and the neurosensory componet of my service connected hearing loss. my tinnitus is proximately due to the service connect sensorineural hearing loss. When I was examined for the pupose of separtion from service in 1972 the diagnois included high frequency hearing loss Section 38 U.S.C.A. 1110 State service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggavated by wartime servic. and section 38 C.F.R. 3.303(d) for tinnitus is established.

Nathan; It sounds to me like they deni hearing loss, and tinnitus often, John is at the rating board now, but the way the Dr. for C&P wrote down for hearing loss, tinnitus and Menier's I have written down an NOD for John. This is how I started it it may help you and others also. I did a lot of research before I started the Nod. I served on active duty in the marie Crop june of 1966 to June of 1970 and re-elisted October of 1970. My enistment exam dated Feb. 19636 indicate normal hearing there where the other exam noted in my records. During my active duty I was exposed to loud noise from helicopters, pistols rifles, and machine gun, rockete and mortar attacks. I was also engaged in combat with the enemy while in active service as a helicopter arieal gunner. My Mo was helecopter hydraulics. and I exposed to jet engines and gun fire continually while in active service. I served in Vietnam for 12 months. My miltary discharge certifcate state that I recieved the Vietnam service medal and combat action ribbon and naval combat air crew wings. I contend that my current hearing loss is the result of these noises while in active service. I content that I was not advised on my rights to file a claim for hearing loss or tinnitus My service medical records show that when I entered active service in 1966, the audiological evaluation stated pure tone thershold ,the service medical records state that in 1968 I had a mild hearing loss in both ears.re-enlistment exam in 1970 indicate mild hearing loss in both ears and so did the final discharge exam in 1972.While I never complained of the ringing in my ears it has persisted. With that benig said, I was not treated for tinnitus while in service but the onset of my tinnitus was in service.and tinnitus may not reasonably be disassociated from the noise exposure in service.and the neurosensory componet of my service connected hearing loss. my tinnitus is proximately due to the service connect sensorineural hearing loss. When I was examined for the pupose of separtion from service in 1972 the diagnois included high frequency hearing loss Section 38 U.S.C.A. 1110 State service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggavated by wartime servic. and section 38 C.F.R. 3.303(d) for tinnitus is established.

John has had a hearing loss since military and went for a C&P exam Oct 13th Here is what she wrote. enlistment examd dated 00/ 00/ 00 Normal hearing. Discharge exam dated 00/00/00 mild hearing loss. there is no evidence in the c file indicating the presence of tinnitus or hearing loss at the time of discharge. three othr hearing exam ere noted in the record for mild hearing loss. examiners medical opinion: Veterans bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus is not caused by or a result of his military servce. then she goes on to say discharge exam indicate norma hearing sensitivity at all frequencies except for a mild hearing loss. the veteran did not report hearing loss or tinnitus upon discharge from the military and has filed some 34 yeras after his discharge. It was the military that told him he had a mild hearing loss. It states mild hearing loss, she is counter dicting herself. He has also filed for menier's because of his vertigo and loss of balance. The regional office request for a C&P and instead she gave her opinion and said no hearing loss no menier's. You can bet your sweet ? that he is filing for a NOD. We have it all written out and just waiting for a rating, plus he will be seeing an HMO Neurologist next month and we have the paper work witten out for him also to give us his opinion on if it is " at least likely or not" This guy worked on helicopters, flew in helicopters, used all of these guns M 1,14,16 and so fourth and yet she said it is not military related. Plus its on discharge papers. Oh can she say it is not? Plus he has lived with this tinnitus, both ears never new what it really was, just knew he had the constant ringing. Plus he was never told about compensation, did not know about it till June of this year. On the fact that he never reported it for 34 years what a bunch of BS plus she used the excuse of occupational and recreational.

I am trying to find anything that leeks necrosis of the bones to AO, especially knees and hips ( knee replacements have not worked and is diagnoissed with necrosis) Hope it is spelled right.

Thanks Brandy: We are at the rating board now and thats what I was hoping for but wasn't sure. I call the 800 # once a week and didn't know if I had to talk with someone or if it would give us the info. But now that you said that We can keep trying till it tells us what we get.

when you call the 800 # go through the recording and it ask if you are calling to verify the status of your claim and then ask for file # recording comes back " We are not able to access your account at this time." Will you always get this recording? Do you need to talk to some one or will it tell you the status of your claim if you have been rated? So far we have had to always talk to someone and I am just wondering why the recording will ask for the file # and then say we are unable to access your account at this time. If you have to talk to someone about it I would think that they should remove that part. Just my thought, but is that not why we call once in a while to find out the status. Thanks for the info

I request for my military records and medical records, Marine Corp, Got my miitary records within 2mos, medical records they said I would have to ask somewhere else. VA Rep said we should wait on them cause it would cause a back up for us