free_spirit_etc

Good luck! And thanks for continuing to fight!

Yes. As long as it is postmarked by the date it is due, it is timely. But if you are cutting it close on time, they seem to like to tell you that it was received after the deadline. You shouldn't have to tell them what the law is, but you often do have to tell them. I had an NOD considered "untimely"for the same reason. I filed an NOD over my NOD being considered untimely. "3. I disagree with the fact the VA used the date my Notice of Disagreement was stamped in their mail room (November 26, 2012) as the date of filing, rather than the date of mailing as designated in Title 38: 20.305, Computation of time limit for filing, which states: “(a) Acceptance of postmark date. When these Rules require that any written document be filed within a specified period of time, a response postmarked prior to expiration of the applicable time limit will be accepted as having been timely filed…” .... Title 38: 20.305 - Rule 305. Computation of time limit for filing, further states: “(a) “… In the event that the postmark is not of record, the postmark date will be presumed to be five days prior to the date of receipt of the document by the Department of Veterans Affairs. In calculating this 5-day period, Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays will be excluded.”

Okay! It worked this time! Nice speech, by the way... (and I teach Public Speaking....).

Good luck TBird! I just tried making a donation and it told me my credit card was declined. I called my credit card company and they said it shows the funds were released but that the receiver reversed them.

Women in funky attitudes will do that every time...

Thanks S63!

Happy to hear that!!! I was just wondering how you were doing the other day...

http://www.index.va.gov/search/va/bva.html Type in search words you are looking for. It should pull up results with those words and phrases. Then you can use FIND (Control F) to go to those words in the document.

If only it were that simple.... Sorry you have to go through that Navy.

Good luck with your claim! And keep up with the treatment. Hopefully, you will be able to slow some of the progression. Chronic back pain is no fun at all. :(

That is good news LIL-ROB! Hopefully they will follow through correctly. But keep on top of it!

S63, I thought you said the VA granted you secondary for kidney cancer based on articles you sent them connecting kidney cancer to Hep-C - with no exam and no doctor's statement. So I don't know why you would think the VA could not give secondary connection to someone who has two medical opinions in their favor, without sending them for a C&P. I don't mean to generate an argument about how they didn't rate it correctly, as this is someone else's thread and is about someone else's claim. I am just saying you should know the VA can grant secondary service connection without a C&P if the evidence in favor of granting it is strong enough. They did it in your case.

Mont36, It sounds like you have already done a lot of preparation. I don't know much about FDCs, but I know that meghp knows a lot about them. He's got a lot of wisdom in that area. Good luck with your FDC!

Airborne, If I have bad nightmares, I can't go right back to sleep, or the same dream wants to come back. So sometimes it helps me to get up just for a bit. I have heard that it is good to get up and drink a glass of water before you go back to bed. Have you considered sleeping with a light on when the dark is bothering you?

Bevo, Welcome back! And good luck!

Hollis, Please keep us posted. Take care of yourself.

I got an email from John Dorle in November. We had contacted Dr. Bash at one point when my husband was alive, and John was following up to see if we still needed any assistance. It was a nice email. What was interesting was Jonh said he was a VSO. Does anyone know if he represents claimants as a VSO?

Good luck Shyne-I!

This is such good advice!

http://www.va.gov/vetapp03/Files/0336576.txt

This is a link on reconstructing lost medical service records: http://www.cufon.org/CRG/CRG/Lostmeds.html

You can also submit requests online at http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/index.html I submitted my request for my husband's service personnel records online, and faxed them my signature and copy of my husband's death certificate. I received an acknowledgement of my request by email, and received the records a few weeks later.

I had the same feeling. That was why I struggled so much deciding whether to revoke my POA. When my representative didn't want to present my case on the theories my husband and I had advanced, it was difficult for me to effectively present my case at my hearing, as it seemed it would be disrespectful to the representative to "go around" him on that. It just seemed like proper protocol would be that you do not show disrespect to your own representative during your hearing. And even after the hearing, I struggled with whether I should revoke his POA, as I wasn't sure if that would put me in a worse position, regardless of whether my representative was effectively representing me or not. But when I called to let the representative know that I had received the records he had requested me to get, and he said he had already submitted everything to the judge, but refused to send me a copy of what he submitted, I sent a letter to revoke his POA. I don't think anyone should have to be represented by someone who is rude and dismissive to them, and who refuses to send them copies of evidence supposedly submitted in their behalf. Revoking his POA after the hearing meant I revoked it after the damage was already done. But I didn't trust him to not sabotage my claim, and I wanted to try to prevent any further damage if I could.

It is kind of ironic that the VA has to afford you due process, but your representative does not. I put in my letter for motion for good cause to revoke my POA while my appeal is at the BVA "I believe there appears to be a significant personal conflict between the representative and myself that has had a detrimental effect on my ability to fully exercise my due process rights in respect to my claim. " In your case, how can a VSO appropriately represent you if they can't even bother to read three sentences you wrote to see what you actually said? That is really sad that veterans are represented by such people under the guise of being helped.

"Careful scrutiny of this discrepancy is recommended as a result." That doesn't sound good. But then again, he also said treatment has been beneficial. If treatment is beneficial, wouldn't you be able to function better sometimes, even though you have extreme symptoms at other times?