wutzthedeal

So it's official; today is the "next" official re-opened claim day (even though I think I should get 10% backpay back to 1994 for the false EPTS claim, and 30% back to the wrongful reduction in 2006; this is why I want representation; don't want to screw this up!).

To answer both of the last two posts; it had been about 4 years, six months between the increase and the decrease, so I JUST missed that 5 year mark that would have probably saved me. I feel like such an idiot... should have never asked for an increase. And I went to ebenefits online and found out I do not currently have an open claim; they're last decision came down in 2010 (I don't even remember getting a copy of this) based on one exam at another doctor who, once again, rammed my heel up into my butt while I screamed like a little kid. Then called those flexion numbers out for his assistant to write down. So what I'm thinking about doing now is going ahead and opening up a new claim to set the "backpay date" to as early as possible while trying to find good representation this time. Does that make sense? And then go for who; American Legion rep or some type of private VA Lawyer like Rep 4 Vets?

Hey guys; I've used this forum and its information on and off since 2001 and I'm very thankful for all the guys who put in tireless efforts to help veterans. The guy that helped me the most, Flip Heilig, is one I've lost touch with but he was like a VA claim marathon runner; always pushing, pulling new case studies, sending and re-sending requests, he helped me so much. Anyway, now I'm lost. I'll make this as short as possible (not sure if that's a good idea based on some other posts I've read, but I think this helps get the forum "routing" right): I served AD USAF 1990-94 in support of Desert Shield/Storm. I had hurt my knee before coming in; MEPS made me have it examined to make sure I could still join and the ortho. doc said the knee was completely healed and healthy. With maybe 2 days left in basic training, I completely blew the knee out, popped the ACL in half, crushed the medial meniscus. They drained and braced it so I could graduate, and told me to get follow up help at my first permanent base after tech school, which was Langley, so I did. 1992: arthroscopic knee surgery with partial, crushed medial meniscus removal; acl deficiency noted. PCS to Eielson AFB, AK, followed docs orders to get ACL reconstruction consult up there. Got that, got the ACL reconstruction at Ft. Wainright Army Base in 1993. Since then, the knee has become gradually worse, with extreme varicose veins popping up on the back of the leg behind the knee, arthritis diagnosed most recently by the VA as "moderate arthritis with degenerative changes." The initial award was 20% less 10% EPTS (I presume that meant injury or episode prior to service, which I have disagreed with since I got out in 1994 since that MEPS doc had called me 100%). Because of Flip's help, I got the knee rating where it should have been and a scar over my eye added in from a butchered cyst removal to take me to 50%. That was around 2001. Around 2006, I was having trouble climbing stairs and filed for an increase, so I got a C&P exam--I made the huge mistake of telling that doctor that I was having a good day and was on my meds, but ended up getting reduced to 20%. I was shocked, as I had not even claimed the huge, painful scar that was over my knee that causes me not to be able to kneel at all. That doctor also was evaluating my flexion/extension and although they are supposed to stop on flexion, I believe (sliding your heel toward your butt) when you experience pain, he rammed my knee into a bent position beyond my groans of pain (even though I was having a good day) and wrote down that %, instead. I had no idea he was doing this. Of course, I was still working through all of this. I had also blown my back out in 2001 but could never prove that was due to my favoring my left leg for daily use rather than the injured right. Since then, my conditions evolved, and now I have fibromyalgia, severe spinal arthritis, moderate knee arthritis and a few others that I don't think would affect a VA claim. When the VA came down with their 20% reduction from 50% decision, they sent a letter to ask if I wanted to appeal. Of course I did, but could not make it to the appeal hearing because I had no transportation and it was 100 + miles away. Since then, I've done some letters to congress and the VA response was pretty much, "He asked for a hearing but didn't show." So I filed again for an increase and the VA said they were processing it. Haven't heard back in a long time. I don't even know if I HAVE an active claim right now. SO, I decided to re-join the American Legion in hopes of getting help (I was a member for some years before but never used my benefits or even coupons) so I got in touch with a rep. for here in Virginia and he referred me to some offices. This just happened over the past couple of days. 1. Given my situation, would your next move be to get the American Legion rep., to get a lawyer, or to do some type of requests/submissions to the VA on your own? 2. I don't ever want to "game the system," so I do not want anymore than the guidelines say I'm entitled to, so I'm not looking for ways to "beat" the VA, yet I feel like they have beaten the hell out of me at this point; judging by my conditions posted, what percentage would you be comfortable with to feel like things were square? 3. Has anybody else gotten so deep into claims/counter-claims and such they they just got lost? That's where I am. Your help and advice are appreciated and thank you to my fellow vets for your service.

Sorry folks; in my attempt to keep it short, I left out some of the connecting items. I'll start from the bottom. 1. 71M10: The orthopedic doctor probably was paid by the government, and not the VA. My point was that the knee was called 100% healthy at a private ortho doctor that MEPS sent me to while I was up there to clear the knee. There were no limits, no ROM issues, no swelling. So when I snapped my ACL in basic and crushed my medial meniscus, that was new. So how is that aggravating an old injury, just because (me, being stupidly honest again) admitted that I had hurt my right knee over the summer? And I did ask for a hearing; it was the last straw effort, hoping I could get a ride or get to the hearing which was ~200 miles away. Anyway, I'll take your advice and push forward with Rep4vets unless someone suggests otherwise. 2. donna68: I guess I should have included that he did max the knee out at 40%. The 10% was for the scar over my eye. He noted all limitations in ROM, laxity, and stability as well as what caused those limitations (arthritis). He even put the x-ray up on the wall light to show me all the arthritis (and that was in 2002... 10 years ago... you can imagine what was in 2006ish... and now...). Nobody yet has considered that 8-inch long scar over my knee. It's like a burn or a cut; as soon as you stretch it or put weight on it (like kneeling) you are shocked with pain that's just miserable. I guess I haven't been tough enough or maybe frank enough to just say, "Hey, this scar is a major source of pain, above and beyond the inner knee pain." It's like a super duper thin sheet of skin... they really opened me up; I had the record that year at the Army base (I was AF but we had no surgical facilities at Eielson in AK for big jobs so we went to Ft. Wainright). 23 staples. They even let me take some out when it was time for that. 3. Berta: I don't even know what a C file is although I've read enough on these forums to know I need mine. Is it just medical records? I have those. And, no, they didn't determine anything had "healed." THey just cited ROM stuff and laxity and those typical knee details, but the guy who did it was killing me. The first doctor stopped when it started hurting and called the ROM numbers there (which is what I believe the regs say you are supposed to do). I used to ponder getting something to say the knee led to the back... I asked a VA doctor about it and he said it would be hard to say the knee most likely led to the back. I have never asked a private doctor about it because I rarely see them and had presumed they would say the same, but I'm learning now. I'll be asking them. It makes sense that if I was using my left leg more to get weight off of my right one, over the course of years, and then I suddenly have a ruptured disc from lifting a skimpy pc monitor that something had been weakened or displaced. And now, after the surgeries, the spinal arthritis has been determined by the VA, as of Feb. to be moderate-to-severe. Which means severe. I think the knee should still be at 40. Each major scar should be 10 for 20. And maybe the back should be linked. Hope I've answered your questions and thank you all for your input so far. I appreciate what you put in to helping people on these boards.

Hey guys; I would have posted in a more specific forum but my question covers a rather wide range of topics (from TDIU to ratings time limitations to legal reps). Long story very short; served USAF 1990-94. Blew knee out in basic. Had 2 surgeries: 1st: partial crushed medial meniscus removal and notation of acl deficient (snapped) knee Langley, 1992 2nd: full bone-tendon-bone graft acl reconstruction, Ft. Wainright, 1993. Although I was on a 6 year enlistment, my surgeon wrote up the paperwork that made me 4t (not worldwide deployable) and offered me an out with a small severance pay and a "20% less 10% EPTS" rating, because they say I injured it before enlisting, which is true. And there is the first problem; a private doctor, orthopedic, paid by the VA, checked me out at MEPS and called the knee 100% healthy, and that's in my records. Doesn't that make any new injury a NEW injury? So why the 10% subtraction? Been fighting that on and off since 1999. Around 2002, with help from this forum and a close friend, I get my C&P and jumped to 50% with the VA doctor claiming that I had major arthritis in the knee and the condition was degenerative (which I always took to mean "doesn't get better; might stay the same if you're lucky"). I was happy. 2006 or so, the pain got a lot worse and the bone grinding started. I went for an increase, thinking I could at least get 60 or 70 and maybe take a shot at TDIU. I got reduced to 20%, and if that isn't bad enough, here's the fun part... I have a scar over my eye from a hasty cyst removal; that got me 10% in both cases. The other scar is sensitive and painful (on my knee) yet I didn't get anything the last time as the rating suggests. The doctor for that C&P seemed like a bitter guy. I'm honest, and I had recently been given some pretty good pain medication for my back which helped with my knee. I told him that; I told him that that day was a good day. I had letters of support from people that had witnessed how my leg had affected my life. Even while on the pain medication, when he went to bend my knee by pushing my heel toward my butt, I let out the predictable yell almost the second he started, but he kept pushing until I tried to jump off of the table using my left leg; he then used that as the ROM (range of motion). My degenerative condition had somehow been healed by the angels. The other tests involving flexibility and laxity and that type of thing were apparently all normal, according to him. All any human needs is one look at an MRI of mine to know that's all wrong. The first sign is the bones making contact in the knee joint. So I appealed, but couldn't get to the hearing (had no money, no car). Over the past few years I've written a few letters and otherwise grown very tired with the fight. Finally, most recently, I got in touch with Alpha Veteran's Disability but had a bad experience with an employee there who blamed me for not getting in contact with him when I had received no calls or letters after 6 months and finally complained; least professional person I have ever dealt with in the business world. Now, I've filed with Rep4Vets and I don't know how that's going to go. So that's about it: 20%-10% (10%) raised to 50 for degenerative conditions that magically turned regenerative and dropped me to 20. I hope I haven't put too much out at once. I read other posts and believed that getting the whole story out, in as few words as possible, was the best way to go. Please let me know what you would do next or what I've done wrong so far.