USMC5811

How about using a process type flow chart? Starting from his entry into the military (entry physical), all his duty stations (with locations, contentions etc) along with see Binder whatever for further info.

Thanks for the info asknod

I know I submitted a letter for my husband/ and him for me when we originally sent in our claim. On the VCAA paperwork we received it states "You may also send us your own statement, or statements from people who have witnessed how your claimed disabilities affect you. All statements submitted on your behalf should conclude with the following certification "I hereby certify that the information I have given is true to the best of my knowledge and belief". After finding hadit.com - I saw this written by a former rater and questioned whether we should have sent it in or not: This is nearly a no brainer but be honest. Don’t embellish your stories with fanciful tales. Just the facts please. Be able to document everything you tell the examiner. You may run into someone like me who checked stories out. If possible have letters from people you served with, unit diary copies of incidents that occurred during your time and space, and letters from family members. Family member letters usually don’t add a lot of weight to your case because families are there to support you and examiners understand that. Which can be found here: http://www.hadit.com/thingstodoatcandp.html I have also been reading several decisions of the CAVC and have seen letters from family members mentioned in several of the cases. It seems that family letters are used by the VA for or against the vet. Several of the decisions I was reading made statements such as "this symptom or this condition was not even mention by the spouse/family member in their letter". So if one is going to write one - make sure that every contention/symptom is covered.

Have you looked at this link in regards to SIAD: http://www.dtsc.ca.g..._army_depot.cfm The Fact Sheet Proposed Facility Boundary Change - September 2006 is an interesting read This is also a good read, and mentions the transfer of land that occurred - it appears that the amount of clean-up of toxic areas depends upon what the future use (when tranferred) will be. http://www.mckennalo...sory1-26-05.pdf

I spoke to a Gulf War Vet a few weeks ago that said that he received a similar letter from his RO. He could not understand what more they wanted as he submitted medical records that confirmed several of the presumptive of GWI per the VA, his DD214 as well as copies of commendations he sent proved he was there, supporting lay person statements as to his symptoms etc. For some reason some VA workers, either through inexperience, not being educated as far as what is required in regards to presumptive conditions OR to just show a claim is being worked on (for stat purposes) are sending out these letters. Unlike claims for direct service connection, claims based on an undiagnosed illness under section 1117 and §3.317 do not requirea medical nexus linking the condition to service; rather, they are presumptively service connected when the requirements of the statute and the regulation are met. Gutierrez v. Principi, 19 Vet.App.1, 8-9 (2004). If you look at some of the cases at the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans http://www.uscourts.cavc.gov/ - you'll see most if not all of the denials because of "We need evidence showing that the following conditions existed from military service to present time" (pertaining to GWI presumptive) have been overturned. One case that shows this can also be found here: http://www.kansasvet... statements.pdf This is just my opinion and two cents but what I suggested to the vet I spoke to was to use the VA's own rules, regs, codes against them when responding specifically to the request for we need evidence showing that the following conditions that are presumptive ......I suggested he use court cases (as noted above) and such things as: CFR-2011-title38-vol1-sec § 3.317 Compensation for certain disabilities due to undiagnosed illnesses. (a) Compensation for disability due to undiagnosed illness and medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (a)(7) of this section, VA will pay compensation in accordance with chapter 11 of title 38, United States Code, to a Persian Gulf veteran who exhibits objective indications of a qualifying chronic disability, provided that such disability: (i) Became manifest either during active military, naval, or air service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations, or to a degree of 10 percent or more not later than December 31, 2011; <---------now December 31, 2016 and (ii) By history, physical examination, and laboratory tests cannot be attributed to any known clinical diagnosis. VA Fast Letter 10-01 also has pertinent info that can be used to respond back to the VA: As for them asking you: "Tell us your specific disability that resulted from your exposure so we can process your claim." If you claimed specifically one of the following or any symptoms the VA itself has worded in "Undiagnosed Illnesses" I would also point this out to them. Note: more symptoms from VA can be found in the fast letter: "Gulf War Syndrome" represents an overall classification of disabilities and diseases; it is not an actual disability in and of itself for which VA compensation benefits are payable . . . Therefore, Persian Gulf Syndrome alone is not a 'disability' for VA compensation benefits purposes and service connection must be denied. VA presumes certain chronic, unexplained symptoms existing for 6 months or more are related to Gulf War service without regard to cause. These "presumptive" illnesses must have appeared during active duty in the Southwest Asia theater of military operations or by December 31, 2016, and be at least 10 percent disabling. These illnesses include: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a condition of long-term and severe fatigue that is not relieved by rest and is not directly caused by other conditions. Fibromyalgia, a condition characterized by widespread muscle pain. Other symptoms may include insomnia, morning stiffness, headache, and memory problems. Functional gastrointestinal disorders, a group of conditions marked by chronic or recurrent symptoms related to any part of the gastrointestinal tract. Functional condition refers to an abnormal function of an organ, without a structural alteration in the tissues. Examples include irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional dyspepsia, and functional abdominal pain syndrome. Undiagnosed illnesses with symptoms that may include but are not limited to: abnormal weight loss, fatigue, cardiovascular disease, muscle and joint pain, headache, menstrual disorders, neurological and psychological problems, skin conditions, respiratory disorders, and sleep disturbances. VA’s final rule specifying that functional gastrointestinal disorders are covered as presumptive illnesses took effect on August 15, 2011. - I would point this out to them and use the VA's own wording.

More then a few of us here can relate to your frustration with the system. Ebenefits is NOT always correct as far as where your claim is in the system - at least not until it shows your in the decision phase. Any movement is nice to see - but some have been in the Review of Evidence Phase for 15 months as well. How long it stays in each phase depends on soooo many things, but especially how backed up your specific Regional Office is. Have you had your C&P exams yet? I agree with you in regards to the presidential elections, but sadly we veterans are not the majority in America and to be perfectly honest even if they (politicians) did mention our plight with the VA System on their campaign trail (only to get the vet vote or active duty military vote) - it would probably just be more chest pounding = just a display with no real fixes of this horribly broken system. IMO the whole system needs to be taken apart - not just "fixed". Every few years they state the system will be fixed - claims will be processed faster and with less errors by such and such a date - but those dates keep moving back every few years as well. The one thing that has at least shown improvement - no thanks to the actual VA system - is that vets of today are more knowledgeable in regards to the system and putting in claims then they were in the past ....... thanks to fellow veterans. Tbird just posted the Monday morning report for each Regional Office on this thread - to get an idea of how far behind the RO's are check it out:

what does the letters asi stand for? I believe it is Association & Society Insurance Corp

Hey Greg that IS definitely a plus that for this reexamination they ask that you bring the medical records with you - I'd bombard them with medical records in that case. I'm leary of what some Service Rep say they have done....and what they have actually done, so I hear ya where that is concerned - the VA probably never received them. I mean really given how many years you've been service connected, how many years you've been 100% and IF they received the medical records you gave the DAV rep not to mention that your contentions are not going to disappear unless a miracle happens - it makes no sense at all, at least to me, that they would do a reexam - but the VA process and reasoning does not make much sense as a whole. I'm wondering since they stated they want your medical records at the C&P if you might be able to separate copies of the documentation for each contention/secondary, place them in chronologically order (most recent med report to oldest ) and then use stickies or index tabs to mark what you believe should be specifically reviewed by the C&P doctor (ie., attachment 1, 2 etc) and then provide that "Nexus Letter" or synopsis and refer to the attachments in the letter: Ie., Neuropathy - explain your current symptoms, their severity in regards to your daily living etc and the medical treatment/meds your receiving and then write something like see attachment 1 - which refers to all or whatever treatment records you have in regards to this contention. Heck I'd even give each contention and secondary their own folder or soft binder so that you or the examiner does not have to wade through the paperwork to find each one. Seeing how you said an NP is doing this exam - you might want to add in the letter who your doctor is and what his background/experience is if you know that info. I just looked my private doctors up on-line and was amazed at how much info pertaining to their medical education/experience etc came up. I added that info to my cover letter to dispute a C&P examination. Wishing the best for you devil dog - Semper Fi

My two cents...if nothing else adding my comments/questions will bump the post so that other more knowledgeable members might see it and respond. After reading both M-21-1MR, Part III, Subpart IV, Chapter 3, Section B which explains to VA personnel when an Examination or Reexamination should be conducted/considered AND reading 38CFR 3.327 - Reexamination the only thing that I could come up with for the reason why they might be doing a reexamination after you've been service connected for 36 years and at 100% for 14.9 years is that perhaps because you are using a private physician/health care and according to what I read from you are no longer using (have not for the last 15 years) the Veterans Health System so they don't have access to your medical records (unless you've submitted them) like they would if you were using VA's Healthcare. In 38CFR 3.327 it does state "that reexaminations, including periods of hospital observation, will be requested whenever VA determines there is a need to verify either the continued existence or the current severity of a disability. Reexaminations will be required if it is likely that a disability has improved, or if evidence indicates there has been a material change in a disability or the current rating may be incorrect. As for the "Nexus letter" that your wanting to write for the C&P examiner to "speed things up". First you need to go to the C&P appointment with the mindset that the C&P examiner might refuse to read your letter as most of them are instructed by the VA as to what the VA wants them to do during the C&P exam = nothing more - nothing less. I had one C&P examiner that was willing to look at what I brought and another that refused to look at anything I had. Usually somewhere on the C&P exam notification that is sent to you - it states not to bring records etc with you. Since your being seen by your private MD a few days before the exam perhaps you could have him/her fill out a few Disability Compensation Questionnaires (DBQ's) for the contentions that VA has said they intend to do the reexaminations for. DBQ's for most contentions can be found here: http://benefits.va.g...abilityexams/ Doing this in my opinion would serve two purposes: 1. You could bring them with you just in case the C&P examiner is willing to look at them - as DBQ's are almost identical to the forms that the C&P examiner will be filling out at the examination and your treating physicians comments/answers might just help "speed things up" 2. If he refuses to look at any info during the C&P exam you will already have them to submit to the VA if they propose a reduction or if you feel that the VA examiner's conclusions do not represent the current severity of your condition. You stated that proteinuria is something that you no longer suffer from because the VA doctor put you on a low protein diet BUT that you have other complications such as hypertension, ED and depression. I'll assume that your private physician diagnosed the hypertension and ED and is treating you for same so there are medical records for these conditions and he might be willing to do DBQ's for them as well if needed. Like I said this is just my two cents - hopefully someone else will respond soon.

First time I saw that number was when someone posted it the other day in a thread. I searched around the internet in reference to the VA Office of Case Management and its phone number. From what I read they have 2 phone operators. Their job is specifically to handle claims that are old and/or hardship cases as defined by the VA. If a case is not old according to what I read...they will tell you the same thing the 1-800# tells you. People have gotten a hold of numbers to RO's/Raters etc and posted them on various forums from what I have read....the next thing you know people are barraging those numbers with calls and the number gets changed....hopefully people will only use the Case Management number as a last resort when all other means have failed or cannot reasonably be employed ex. their case is old (2 years should definitely qualify as old for an initial claim/upgrade) and there has been no movement or they have a hardship case as defined by VA. I don't meet the qualifications yet as having an "old case" - mine will be only 15 months old this month. I hope the number is used correctly so that those with older cases or hardship cases that have seen no movement will be able to utilize it BEFORE they might end up changing the number.

I'm sorry that your going through this Warren. I don't have PD myself, I just wanted you to know that I care and am very sorry that your feeling down. Please don't give up. I really hope if there is a member on hadit.com that has PD they will respond soon. In the meantime...have you tried any of the on-line support groups such as http://forum.parkinson.org/ I know for me it is easier when I am able to talk with a fellow vet about problems, but perhaps until a fellow vet responds you might want to try one of the "civilian" forums - might even find a vet or two on them.

Sorry again Inthewind - just had to laugh at this post - almost but not as funny as you dropping the phone in the toilet. Relax and enjoy your win! When you get a chance you might want to change your 50% to 100% on your profile here:)

My friend that is going there with me he got his 100% SC for PTSD a few months ago and was sent a letter (not the award letter but after) stating that VA now considers him P and T and is scheduled for no other future exams. I hear that that is because he was over 55 when he was rated. Is this true? Below you will find the answer to the over 55 question but also note what I bolded, underlined and italicized in the first paragraph of 38 CFR 3.327. When it comes to the VA the word permanent is a misnomer as they can elect at anytime to review any claim. If a vet has been at 100% for 20 years and over then my understanding is they cannot be reduced. I am searching for verification of that in VA rules right now to ensure I am correct in my belief. I believe if you read 38 CFR 3.95(b) it states this. 38 CFR 3.327 - Reexaminations: (a) General. Reexaminations, including periods of hospital observation, will be requested whenever VA determines there is a need to verify either the continued existence or the current severity of a disability. Generally, reexaminations will be required if it is likely that a disability has improved, or if evidence indicates there has been a material change in a disability or that the current rating may be incorrect. Individuals for whom reexaminations have been authorized and scheduled are required to report for such reexaminations. Paragraphs (b) and © of this section provide general guidelines for requesting reexaminations, but shall not be construed as limiting VA's authority to request reexaminations, or periods of hospital observation, at any time in order to ensure that a disability is accurately rated.(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501) (b) Compensation cases--(1) Scheduling reexaminations. Assignment of a prestabilization rating requires reexamination within the second 6 months period following separation from service. Following initial Department of Veterans Affairs examination, or any scheduled future or other examination, reexamination, if in order, will be scheduled within not less than 2 years nor more than 5 years within the judgment of the rating board, unless another time period is elsewhere specified. (2) No periodic future examinations will be requested. In service-connected cases, no periodic reexamination will be scheduled: (i) When the disability is established as static; (ii) When the findings and symptoms are shown by examinations scheduled in paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section or other examinations and hospital reports to have persisted without material improvement for a period of 5 years or more; (iii) Where the disability from disease is permanent in character and of such nature that there is no likelihood of improvement; (iv) In cases of veterans over 55 years of age, except under unusual circumstances; (v) When the rating is a prescribed scheduled minimum rating; or (vi) Where a combined disability evaluation would not be affected if the future examination should result in reduced evaluation for one or more conditions. © Pension cases. In nonservice-connected cases in which the permanent total disability has been confirmed by reexamination or by the history of the case, or with obviously static disabilities, further reexaminations will not generally be requested. In other cases further examination will not be requested routinely and will be accomplished only if considered necessary based upon the particular facts of the individual case. In the cases of veterans over 55 years of age, reexamination will be requested only under unusual circumstances. Cross Reference: Failure to report for VA examination. See Sec. 3.655.

Your very welcome Georgiapapa....sometimes it just takes a little while - considering how many new posts appear daily for an elder or one of hadit.com more experienced vets (of which, I am not) to help answer a vets question. But from what I've seen - they are very good at ensuring that questions do get answered - just might take a day or two. Semper Fi! Best wishes that your claim is resolved quickly and accurately.

I don't have personal experience with your contentions in regards to a C&P but I can tell you from personal experience that for some reason NP's are being used more and more by VA rather then specialist for C&P's. This is from a Fast Letter that the VA put out: Please note that a specialist is only required in limited situations such as dental, vision, hearing, and psychiatric examinations, as indicated by M21-1MR III.iv.3.A.8. For all other types of examinations, a generalist clinician may perform the examination. For example, an office may order a cardiac examination, but it should not generally request that a cardiologist (a specialist) conduct it. See FL 10-32 As Pete992 pointed out in another thread " Get a medical specialist opinion (IMO) prior to filing a claim or at least prior to your C & P exam and get it in your records. DO NOT let the C & P examiner's medical opinion be the only medical opinion in your file. Get treated and get the evidence that you need to win your claim, try to get enough evidence in your file to support your claim that VA has to grant it the first time." His previous post as well as others can be found on this thread which speaks about FL 10-32: Kudos to you for having the foresight to submit IMO's from both your oncologist and from your neurologist to the VA. I think many of us here question why a NP are conducting such exams......... The DBQ's (Disability Benefits Questionairres) are very much like the forms that the C&P examiner fills out - almost identical except that the DBQ's do not have the "more likely, less likely" sentence/phrase in them but a good IMO should have that - as you noted yours do. Not only have I submitted IMO's from specialists, I have also asked them to fill out the DBQ's as well. DBQ's for most contentions may be found here: http://benefits.va.g...isabilityexams/ . I believe in trying to keep the "benefit of the doubt" rule on my side. More about the benefit of the doubt rule: VA claimants have the burden to prove their claim to the VA, that is, when a person makes a claim to VA that person has the responsibility to present evidence that will establish entitlement to the benefits that person is seeking. When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, VA will give the “benefit of the doubt” to the claimant.” 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102 (2010); see Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 53, 55 (1990) (the benefit of the doubt standard is similar to the sandlot baseball rule that the tie goes to the runner). For information about M-21-1MR III as I just noted the link in my paragraph is not working......you should be able to copy and paste this: www.benefits.va.gov/warms/docs/admin21/m21.../ch03_seca.doc

Congrats InTheWind! Always great to read when a vet has succeeded in obtaining what he deserves and has earned from service to our great country. Thank you very much for sharing the information about your claim process - I'm sure it will help others who are still waiting and looking at ebenefits for answers. Sorry but I had to laugh about you dropping your phone in the toilet - I'm a visual type person and could visualize that happening:) Congrats again and thank you very much for your service to our country!

I would suggest that ANY paperwork that you submit in reference to your claim be submitted directly to the VA by yourself with signature requested/proof of receipt and also give a copy to your Service Representative. If you want your service rep to review what you are sending before sending (recommended if your unsure if it will hurt or help your case) then have them review it, but I would still send it myself if they agree that it will indeed help your claim and just tell them that you prefer to do this yourself. One should always make a copy of any paperwork submitted for their own files - I actually keep the original and send everyone else copies. When you receive the card back from USPS or whatever service you use (USPS,FedEx, UPS) to send the info, attach that card to your copy for proof of receipt by the VA. With most services you can actually track what you sent on-line and download/print a copy of that as well. If you hand anything into your Regional Office in person - I would request a receipt as well...even if they are just willing to date stamp a copy of what you are submitting. I'm not saying that in the cases already posted that the items were not submitted by the Service Rep I just personally feel much better if I KNOW that it was done by doing it myself and having proof that it was indeed done. If you note on the bottom of most of the letters you have received from the VA...if you have a designated service rep on record....the VA will also send a copy of whatever they sent you to your service rep...well at least they annotate on the bottom of every letter I have received that a copy has been sent to my Service Rep. There is a reason they do this (CYA) so why not do the same. Anything I receive from the VA by mail....I also keep the envelope that it was sent in and attach it to the paperwork because the post office places a date stamp on the envelope. My Regional Office, Winston-Salem NC, has been very good at posting what it receives from me on ebenefits - usually within 1-2 weeks I have seen it posted in the "Evidence we received" section. Each RO is different but when I send things myself, there is no doubt in my mind that it was sent. Given my RO's history thus far, if I did not see it posted within three weeks....I'd send it again. If resending the info to ensure that the VA is in receipt of pertinent info sends my claim back in the process...so be it.....but I would hate to think that my claim was denied or low-balled because they were not in receipt of the info I had and I'll now have to spend 2-4 years or more in the appeals process.....Just my opinion and two cents...

The highest percentage that you may receive is 10% for tinnitus - 10% total not each ear. As for the others.....without knowing the severity of each of your contentions it is impossible for one to even guess what your ratings for each will be. The process for determining ratings for disability compensation benefits uses the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) to assign the level of severity of the disabilities. The best thing to do if your wondering where you might stand in regards to rating of your contentions is to look at the VASRD http://ecfr.gpoacces...0.1.1.5&idno=38 Almost all of the items listed on the VASRD explain what symptoms or degree of severity is required to obtain the various percentages for that contention. The raters take into consideration all the documentation found in your SMR as well as the C&P's you'll more then likely receive for the contentions. Hearing is a bit hard to decipher using the VA charts listed, but if you have a copy of your hearing test and have trouble figuring out the hearing chart to see if you rate a percentage...just post your results and I'll assist you.

I think the STAR program would be a good program...kinda like ebenefits......only problem is as you pointed out is it has been proven that most RO's are ignoring the recommendations they are given - if the RO's would implement the recommendations by STAR as well as the OIG then veterans would not be spending years in the appeal process along with years of frustration. I definitely think a system of checks and balances are needed, but when the OIG is continuously telling RO's each time they are audited what they need to fix in their system to bring their accuracy percentages up (thus helping vets in the long run) and there are obviously no repercussions when they do not fix the problems...it continues...as it has been and us vets pay the price.

STAR ( Systematic Technical Accuracy Review (STAR) program)is explained and talked about here: http://www.va.gov/OI...100324-Finn.pdf My opinion from what I have been able to read (which is mostly OIG reports) is that the OIG is probably doing a review of your RO. Once again from what I read they request claims based on various contentions and require the RO to submit a certain amount of claims for each contention. I think in theory it appears to be like the IRS system where certain claims are randomly pulled and then reviewed for accuracy. Luck of the draw.......In theory the STAR Program is suppose to be a review of how accurate claim processing is at each RO percentage wise.

What exactly do they mean by "With incapacitating episodes having a total duration"? NOTE: For VA purposes, an incapacitating episode is a period of acute symptoms severe enough to require prescribed bed rest and treatment by a physician or other healthcare provider (For example, temporary bed rest required for a retinal condition.) http://www.vba.va.go...60N-2-ARE.pdf I just have to add this - your question asked exactly what they mean by the definition of incapacitating episodes. That is tough because if you look at the case of Wisniewski v Shinseki (United States Court of Veterans Claims) you'll find that the Board has trouble defining what exactly it means and it will show the VA's definition of incapacitating episodes changes depending on diagnostic code. http://search.uscour...eefa1749/1/doc/ If the above link to the Wisniewski Case does not work you can find the case by doing the following: Go here: http://www.uscourts.cavc.gov/ Then click on Case Information Then click on Decision and Opinions A prompt will come up reading: Search the ISYS System for Decisions and Opinions - Click on that and then type in Wisniewski in the search box provided. What I would personally do is keep a diary/log of the times you were placed on bed rest by whatever physician as well as the times where your incapacitated but did not have a doctors order but your symptoms/pain/etc were so severe that it affected your work or daily living. If your unable to write because of your condition - a recorder always comes in handy and later you can have it transcribed. Documentation is sooooo important when dealing with the VA...rather then trying to recall things (times/dates) from memory. Just my opinion......

Just my personal opinion and two cents...... I would think with a IMO/Nexus letter provided by a physician/specialist linking gout as a secondary (assuming your already service connected) to hypertension and/or the medications your taking for hypertension - you could claim it as a secondary. I believe gout falls under DC 5002 Gout can also appear as a secondary disease or complication of other medical conditions, such as: Metabolic syndrome (a combination of obesity and hyperuricemia) Leukemia Inborn errors of purine-pyrimidine metabolim Polycythaemia Intake of cytotoxics (chemical substances or venom) Obesity Diabetes Hypertension Renal disorders Hemolytic anemia Which was found here: http://www.disabilit...-fl-lawyers.cfm Results from the New York Veterans Affairs Gout Cohort, a database analysis of 575 people with gout in the VA system, found that the average gout patient has four or five comorbidities. In their sample, nearly 90% were found to have hypertension, 60% hyperlipidemia, and 40-50% chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and coronary artery disease (Am. J. Med. 2011;124:155-63). Also some hypertension medications have been proven to cause a high uric acid level/ gout. http://health.nytime...edications.html The VA does prescribe the drug Benicart HCT to some hypertension patients. One of the side effects of Benicart is: The most common side effect of BENICAR and BENICAR HCT was dizziness. Other side effects of BENICAR HCT included upper respiratory tract infections, more uric acid in the blood, and nausea. http://www.benicar.com/ There are two types of types of gout; primary and secondary. Primary gout has an unknown cause but in all likely hood is the result of a combination of genetic (others in the family have gout), hormonal, and dietary factors. Secondary gout is caused by medications or medical conditions which increase the blood levels of uric acid.

I don't have a similar issue, hopefully someone who does or is more knowledgeable about the subject matter will post with their opinion though. Knee Contentions (Joint) can be rated under several different diagnostic codes - each having their own tests. After typing in Chondromalacia of the knee (Runner's Knee) here: http://www.uscourts.cavc.gov/ and searching previous rulings concerning Chondromalacia at the US Court of Veteran Appeals it appears the following codes were usually used or considered for this contention: DC 5257 deals with stability, DC 5260/5261 deals with limitation of flexing of the leg, limited extension of the leg 5251 deals with cartlidge issues Diagnostic Codes 5002-5010 deal with various arthritis (ROM is checked here). The schedule of rating disabilities may be found here: http://ecfr.gpoacces...0.1.1.5&idno=38 I'm not a doctor and don't possess the knowledge to decipher what your personal results are = your MRI results and X-Rays. No doubt I could probably search the internet to find out what each sentence means but...... If it was me, I would take the results to my own Primary Care Provider and ask them if they could translate the information into layman terms so that I could understand the condition of my knee. The Disability Benefits Questionairre (which is almost if not identical to the paperwork a C&P examiner fills out) for knee contentions (to include all the diagnostic codes listed above) is located here: http://www.vba.va.go...9-ARE.pdf I included this so that you could view what will be tested in order to find out the severity of your contention and what the raters will use to determine your rating in most cases. Semper Fi!

glad you were able to finally find your Benefits Explorer. Not surprising that it would not list the IU...probably no space for it when they designed the program. You will never read me write that ebenefits is always correct....but most who have success stories have stated that they observed the change via the AB8 (Under Downloadable Forms) or Benefit Explorer. On the Explorer most say they find new pages that open up for added benefits etc when they get 100%.

Congrats! Wonderful news for you - relax and enjoy as much you can. Thanks for your service!