skydealer

I'm in my 60s, rated at 80% but the VA has me TDIU, so I am already being paid at 100%. I'll try to explain the details as best I can. I have a TBI so I can rattle on at times... Last summer I spoke to my VA doctor about the fact that most of the people I worked with in the service are now dead and how half of them died before they were 50. Lots of cancers and tumors. I also had prostate cancer (none ever in my family) as well as thyroid and diabetes. I mentioned my exposure in 1980-84 to radiation, PCBs and mercury as it was things we worked with daily in the service. She put something in my notes and the next thing I knew I got a letter from the VA talking about the Pact Act, but it also stated that if I had already filed in the past I should use that date. So I did. I mentioned the tumors on my thyroid, aggressive prostate cancer in my 50s, and other things. I also brought up the chronic cough, lung issues, and chronic sinus conditions that have always been with me in the service. Those last 3 were filed back in 09/2011 but were all denied as not enough proof. I just received a letter from the VA and it took me a while to figure out what they did: The approved my chronic cough as being service related but they rated it at 0% with an effective date of Aug 10, 2022. I didn't understand the date until I saw it was associated with the PACT Act, and zero ratings are a common thing there. My review for the sinus claim is still marked as being in review. Not sure if they will assign that one the 2022 date or use my original claim filing date of 09/2011. So here's my question: The chronic cough was initially filed in 2011 but was denied. Now they approved it but have assigned it through the PACT Act and not my original filing. It's a zero percent rating and I'm already being paid 100% TDIU. Are there additional possible benefits having a PACT rating on a service related issue?

I'll apologize in advance here if things get confusing or I ramble. One of my injuries is a TBI and I tend to not make sense at times. In 08/2011 I initially filed with the VA for several injuries that happened while in active duty that were causing chronic problems (20+ years) with me. Everything (except tinnitus) was denied by the C&P examiner who claimed there was no medical records, despite me sending in hundreds of pages of treatments. The DAV became my representative shortly after this happened. in 2012 I sent in duplicate copies and appealed. I can't recall everything that happened between those days but in 04/2103 I filled out an "Appeal to Board of Veterans Appeals". I had left the Optional BVA Hearing section blank. Sometime in 2012 or 2013 a VA doctor who was treating me for the headaches helped me with my claim by filling out the support form. Another doctor also wrote a letter stating my headaches and memory issues were likely caused by the TBI I received. Everything else just sat in the appeal bucket. Fast forward to 2016 and this past summer I found it was being sent to the BVA. Yesterday I received a letter from both the VA and the DAV stating the Board of Veterans' Appeals has scheduled a hearing before a Veterans Law Judge next month. The DAV called it a Travel Board Hearing. At least we're moving forward though I don't know if this is a good thing or bad thing. Today I pulled out my initial claim paperwork and printed out what the have marked as "not service connected" on the VA benefits website. There's 2 items on there where they entered it wrong... right arm instead of the left arm injury that I claimed. Chronic headaches are marked as not service connected though further down I am rated for migraine headaches (claimed as chronic headaches). So I have some questions: Is seeing a judge from a Travel Board Hearing typically a nightmare? I'm in Georgia if results vary in different regions. Should I wear a suit or at least a tie? The only suit I have is something I wear to funerals. There was also a form I need to return which I need to choose a statement saying I will attend or not. Another option in the letter is for cancelling the hearing and have my records forwarded to the Board for a decision to be made based on the evidence of records. I would prefer to attend the hearing though not if it's going to be a bloodbath. I recently went through cancer surgery and I have bladder issues. Between that and my IBS I often need to head to the bathroom with little warning. I'm concerned this will cause a problem in the hearing as well. On the TBI where I am currently rated for residuals of head injury - traumatic brain injury with arachnoid cyst plus the migraine headaches (claimed as chronic headaches). Will they be re-reviewing this? Thanks for any input. I tried searching to see what to expect but I didn't find what I was needing.

Thank you for responding. All of the original claims were denied of “The evidence does not show a current diagnosed disability” with the exception of the chronic sinusitis, which stated there was no event in service. He claimed no problems even though over 100 pages of civilian medical records for treatments showed otherwise. In May of 2012 I sent back the following letter: Notice of Disagreement (NOD) Dear Sir/Madame: I am in receipt of your letter of 11 April 2012. In that letter you have denied my application for a disability rating I claimed 16 AUG 2011. Please accept this letter as my Notice of Disagreement (NOD) with your decision. My reason for this NOD is an incomplete CP exam was performed along with the examiner not reviewing multiple current civilian medical records and diagnoses. I request a Decision Review Officer Process (DRO) appeal and I request a personal hearing. I never did get a personal hearing but it turns out they did send a packet in Dec 2012/Jan2013. I did not remember this until I went through my files. Sorry about that - I really didn't think I had received back anything. Dangit - It really gets frustrating when you can't recall a lot of things. This head injury really screwed up my life! It turns out they did send me a request additional data and I sent in a Statement in Support of Claim. I also did find a copy of the VA Form 9 requesting a hearing but it was only to appeal two of the original issues, and out of that the TBI was eventually rated. I don't recall getting a docket number. SO - false alarm. Again, my apologies for not recalling any of this. The only thing I need to worry about is having my existing ratings reversed, which I hope is safe because of all the documentation, including VA doctor letters. If anything, the TBI residue is more severe than what they rated and only gets worse every year.

I'm kind of confused and concerned about this one... I submitted my VA Disability claim for multiple items way back in 2011. I got a very bad CP exam doc who denied everything despite nearly 20 years of treatment by civilian docs for some of the issues. In 2012 I appealed with a notice of disagreement. In the meantime a doctor at the VA was willing to help with the paperwork for the TBI and filled it out which sped up that portion - I ended up getting 10% for tinnitus, 40% for the TBI residuals (memory and concentration) and 30% for migraines/headaches. What is still on the original appeal is my feet/ankles & knees from an injury as well as left hand from putting a screwdriver through it. It's been sitting in the 1st stage appeal limbo basket for nearly 5 years. Fast forward to 2016 - suddenly I find out that my original disability claim has been sent to Washington DC to the Board of Veteran Appeals. Wow - what a shocker as I was expecting at least another exam. They said it will go before a judge. What concerns me is that it's my original claim, including the TBI issues. Will everything be reviewed and is it possible to lose what I have? I thought it should have been only for the items still in appeal. Is this whole " straight to the board of Veteran Appeals" right from the initial C/P disagreement a normal thing? Thanks for any insight.

They do prescribe Edex but it's only a couple of vials a month - maximum. My first prescription order was 6 vials, each intended for single use. When I tried to reorder through the VA they said I had to wait 2 more months before they can be shipped, so you get 2 shots a month. I was sure the doctor stated I would get 4 but they are now saying just 2.

I didn't know if it was proper to start a new post on this question or to tack it on a conversation that someone else started. I decided to start a new post rather than hijack someone elses. I was reading this one after searching online for VA and prostate surgery: http://www.hadit.com/forums/topic/61689-how-does-100-for-6-months-then-re-evaulation-work/#comment-368714 and this comment caught my eye: I am slated to go in for total prostate removal surgery at the VA after recently being diagnosed with prostate cancer. The surgery does have risks and I will likely have permanent side problems such as ED and incontinence. There is no connection to my cancer and my service disability as most of my disability was because of a TBI. The risks of secondary problems happening depends on the experience of the surgeon. I was told there would be a good possibly of bladder and/or bowel incontinence as well as the "other thing" and will be out of work for at least a few months. Does an 1151 apply to only service connected cancers or could it maybe be used in my case as well? I find out this week if the cancer has spread into my lower spine & pelvic area... if it has then then I won't be having the prostate surgery. But if the MRI on the lower back comes back okay then I will likely have the prostate surgery next month. Hopefully they will just need to remove the prostrate and surrounding tissue/lymph nodes, but there will be problems afterwards... no getting around that one.

Update: So the VA has agreed on the TBI and also stated there is headaches and the arachnoid cyst. They rated me on the headaches and memory problems but I don't know if the cyst would be considered brain growth. I found a post at http://www.hadit.com/forums/topic/26456-are-arachnoid-cysts-rated-as/ regarding this same question but I didn't want to jump on their bandwagon as they were asking the same question. The VA has agreed the cyst was from the TBI, but they never rated it nor denied it. They just listed it in the title of the claims. I take this as the VA does not consider a arachnoid cyst to be considered a growth on the brain?

Thank you everyone for all the replies. I got a packet in the mail this past weekend. They assigned 30% for the headaches and it goes all the way back to 2011. The headaches have always been 24/7 but they only rated for the real bad ones, which they stated were migraines. I know I should appeal, but I just don't have the fight in me to do so. It takes too much to concentrate on something like that. I do have a question though regarding this situation. I'm sure it has come up before on this forum but I could not find it. So, in my case I had an injury which resulted in several things. The VA stated it was a TBI and they gave me 30% for the headaches and 40% for memory and brain function loss. The 2nd one was written up as “residuals of head injury, traumatic brain injury with arachnoid cyst.” My question is: is it normal to have this broken up into several smaller percentages or should they have lumped together into one? Both ratings were for the same injury and so I was not sure if this was something that I could file something on to get them added into a single rating, rather than two smaller ones.

I received my Veterans Choice Card back in November because the clinic I tried to get scheduled in was over the limit for new patients. Back around the first of the year I tried to use it. Here's how it went. When you call it is not the VA you are talking to - it's some inept insurance company. I requested to see a doctor as soon as possible. Nothing too dramatic, just that my blood pressure was way out of whack and I had a bad sinus infection. So I called the first week of January to try and get an appointment with a regular doctor. Veteran's Choice Card (VCC) said they would call me back within 3 days. By the 4th day I called again. This time I was told it could take up to 2 weeks. I waited another 2 weeks and never received a call back. So I called once again. First they told me that I never called, then I got transferred to someplace else a few times, and finally I got to someone who acknowledged that I did call a few weeks ago. They said they would figure out what was going on and get me an appoint. It is now February. I call again. Same runaround. By the 23rd of February I finally called a local doctor and went it. I'll just pay for it myself. The doctor I paid for out of my pocket ran some blood tests and found a few other things wrong. At the end of the month VCC finally lets me know they have me scheduled. I keep the appointment and see what I would call probably one of the worst doctors I have seen in my 55 years on this planet. Totally ignored anything that I said, came up with the weirdest conclusions after seeing me for about 3 minutes. By that time my right arm and chest was in pain and she said it was bursitis or a gluten allergy. Sigh. She hands me a business card and refers me to an Orthopedist. Prescriptions? No - she said I had to pay for them myself. She does not forward prescriptions to the VA. The referral? I went there and have spine damage which is cutting off nerves. The 3rd world doctor that VCC sent me to didn't go any of the paperwork right and now the VCC refuses to reimburse me for the close to $1000 in doctor fees that I have racked up so far just in the referral the VCC doctor sent me to. Apparently VCC doesn't allow referrals unless it is run through their system and you are willing to wait another 3-6 months. My sinus thing turned out to be acute sinusitis and I had to go to a different doctor and, once again, pay for it myself, to get it taken care of. They put me on steroids and antibiotics as it had spread into my lungs as well. The VCC doctor said it was just allergies, which was 100% wrong. Her diagnosis? Go to Walmart and buy some Claritin. I did - it didn't do squat. I tried telling her it was not allergies and that I had been tested for everything possible in the past at some of top centers in the US, including the Mayo Clinic. Nope, she said. I think she tells every patient they are allergic to gluten. Maybe she gets kickbacks from the local funeral home. Veteran's Choice Card sucks. You folks are not missing out on anything by not having it. The VA clinics here in the area of Atlanta are great, they are just too backlogged to handle the load. I got stuck paying for the referrals and ended up also just going to another doctor to get what I had taken care of.

Update - There appears to be a paperwork screw-up and I'm not sure how to handle it, though it does answer a lot of questions. I was confused as to where this 2013 claim came from that I just got rated for. Well, it turns out that when I mailed in the VA form 21-0960C-8 (headaches form filled out by a VA doctor) they took it as a new claim, even though I had mailed it in as support for my 2011 claim. The dates match up exactly. I tried calling the VA today but could not get through to a real person. Should I resubmit this form? It has everything in it for my 2011 claim and it is all in writing and signed by a VA doctor. This is the form I submitted:: http://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA-21-0960C-8-ARE.pdf

Your confusion is my fault. I seem to get that a lot from people when I try to explain things. That seems to be part of the head injury. Sometimes I am told I don't make much sense. I'll try my best to start from the beginning and go all the way through. Got injured in the service in the 1980s. Head injury, documented in my medical records. Military medical records also show months of treatment where I was complaining about chronic headaches. It was a blunt force injury so there was no open wound but I was knocked out and would lose consciousness several times in the following days. I think they x-rayed me but I do not recall them doing an MRI at the time. Got out of the service in 1984 - still had 24/7 head pain, sometimes bad. Still had memory, sleep, and various issues as I kind of developed mood swings. I spent years and thousands upon thousands going to civilian doctors and neurologists. Tried everything I could think of but nothing worked and at some point you get to where the attempts at a cure seem to be as much of a pain as the headaches themselves... so I would stop seeing doctors for a while. Besides, it got too expensive. This went on for decades. In and out of doctor offices. Then in 2011 (??) I was told that since it was an active duty injury I should contact the VA. I had never heard of this before then. So I filed a claim. I went through my medical records and filed a claim on everything I had happen in the service that I had continued to see civilian doctors on. I think that was a huge mistake on my part. The CP exam doc saw my list and blew up. He then denied everything, no matter what records were available. That was a real bad day. I appealed the big issues. The DAV also took up my case but they are kind of useless. I had not heard anything from them. I think they just wanted me to sign up so I would get their magazines. I ended up changing VA locations as I moved to another state. The VA doctor in Georgia filled out a VA form 21-0960C-8 (listed above). I turned that in thinking it was against my head injury/ headache claim. Sometime in the past year or two I saw a civilian doctor who asked me a bunch of questions about my headaches. This was an appointment set up by the VA. I do not remember opening a new claim. I'm sure I did not open a new claim but suddenly I had a claim appear for "residuals of head injury, TBI with arachnoid cyst". I would never have come up with that so I have no idea where it came from. A few months ago I got another appointment with a VA doctor. She was a CP doc and this was a mental one who had me draw clocks and count backwards and name animals. All this I thought was for the headaches but it turned out was for other things associated with the head injury. In January of this year I get a letter from the VA: "Service connection for residuals of head injury, traumatic brain injury with arachnoid cyst has been established". Okay - so they finally admitted I was damaged in the service and have brain issues. They gave me 40% just for the mental loss. The letter states the headaches are still in appeal. That should be it. The 40% was issued for memory, attention, concentration, executive functions. No rating on the actual 24 hour headaches or days that I can't do anything because of the pain and the fog. It's not easy to do things... it took me a month to figure how to type this. That sucks - as I know I used to be good at things. I'm not sure if I should resubmit the VA form 21-0960C-8 as it seems like the applied it to the mental phase of the injury and not the physical. I don't think the cyst on the brain has any weight for anything. Should I call the VA to ask or does that cause more problems? I have no idea what all to file or if I should file additional claims. How do you prove that I cannot sleep for days because of the headaches and confusion? I'm concerned because I'm really not able to work anymore. I can't drive at night because the newer headlights really set of some bad headaches. I just don't know what the next step is and so any guidance is appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks for the response Berta. I'll try and answer the best I can. Yes - the cyst showed up on an MRI. I'd been seeing various neurologists regarding the severe headaches and they have me periodically get another MRI (or CT scan... can't recall which it is) every few years to make sure the cyst isn't changing size. I have had a lot of those over the years on my head. At the time of the TBI I don't think I was scanned. I had really bad memory losses back when the head injury occurred but my 1980s military medical records didn't show any CT or MRI. I would lose days or weeks at a time. I still have problems but they seem to be more short term stuff. I have never heard of a CUE until now. Clear and Unmistakable Error? That sounds like something I need to read up on before doing as it sounds pretty severe. On my original 2011 claim the C/P exam doctor was less than polite, to put it mildly. He had no documentation, neither civilian nor military, even though it was all sent in prior to the exam. So he nixed everything stating something along the line of insufficient evidence. I don't think this is a reopened claim but I'm sure I didn't submit any new claims requests since 2011. The only thing I can tie this to is the VA form 21-0960C-8 Headaches (including migraine headaches) Disability Benefits Questionnaire which the VA doctor filled out back in October 2013. This was mailed in to help support my 2011 headache claim but for some reason the va.gov website shows that on October 2013 a new claim was submitted for the head injury which was described in the above VA form. The DAV was helping me with the original claims back in 2011 but I had moved out of state so I had not been in contact with their office for a couple of years now. This latest rating also states that I'm represented by the Disabled American Veterans.

Another update - another letter arrived today: Today's letter stated basically what the previous letter stated but this one also states "Service connection for headaches remains in appeal". Seeing that my military medical records shows that I had chronic headaches after receiving the TBI you would think this would be the easiest of all to show it was from the injury. I guess appeals can take years, it just seems odd that it is just sitting there in limbo.

Update (including a rating): I think my VA paperwork in the system is a total mess. According to the VA eBenefits website my original compensation request is still open and is in level 1, which is the same status since my first appeal in 2011, at least depending on which section of the website you look at. One part says I don't have any open appeals but when I go to the Appeal Status link it shows up as "appeal pending". Now here's the odd part: I received a letter in the mail yesterday stating they rated my head injury at 40%. But what they rated me at was not what I submitted. Can a VA doctor submit a different claim form? My original claim was for the head injury with constant headaches, including memory loss. What I got rated on was "Service connection for residuals of head injury, traumatic brain injury with arachnoid cyst". This seems to go with the VA form 21-0960C-8 that the VA doctor filled out back in 2013 but it still doesn't address the headaches. I'm at odds as to what to do. Should I submit this decision on the headaches/migraine claim or should I just let it sit where it's at? They originally denied the head pain claim as they said there was no proof of it being service connected. Now I have a letter stating the VA finally admitted the TBI occurred and that I now have a cyst on my brain where the injury occurred. But that seems to be a completely separate decision and claim... something that I have no clue as to why it would be a separate claim. There seems to be so many ways this can go. It seems like the cyst would fall under the 4.124a-8003 rating but they did not look at that for a rating nor did they have any reference to the headaches 24/7. The letter states: The letter explains that they came up with the 40% because of my impairment with memory, concentration, executive functions. Should I submit this VA rating as new evidence on my original claim? I don't want to do anything that might make me lose what I have (if that is possible) but at the same time they seem to have gone off in a completely different direction as far as the TBI and have ignored my original claim that was submitted several years ago.

I think that I'm caught in an endless loop. About a year ago I was sent into a civilian doctor to get a re-eval on the head injury. This is not abnormal for this area because a lot of the stuff is outsourced due to overcrowded clinics. We had a 5 or10 minute interview and then I was sent on my way. I kept getting the generic "we are processing your claim" VA letter every few months and then today I get a call from the VA saying that I have an appointment at the compensation clinic for the TBI. Not sure if this is good news or bad news or I am stuck in a loop. The DAV was helping me for a while but then I moved to another state. Now I only receive their magazine in the mail and never hear anything else. There should be a good documented history. It was well documented in my military medical records, including the chronic headaches. There are medical and neurological clinic medical records that go all the way back into the 1990s. These were all for treating the chronic headaches. I even have the VA Headaches Disability Benefits Questionnaire form filled out by a VA doctor who was also treating me for the headaches. VA form 21-0960C-8 was filled out as follows: Diagnosis 1a - yes (the veteran has been diagnosed with a headache condition) 1b - migraine block checked 346.10 1c - blank Medical History 2a - Mr - --- suffers from migraines as a result of a head trauma approximately 30 years ago. 2b - yes - patient does take medication Symptoms 3a - yes checked on headache pain, pulsating pain/ one side of head, pain worsens with physical activity 3b - yes checked for veteran experiencing non-headache symptoms associated with headache, sensitivity to light also checked 3c - less than one day checked for duration 3d - left side of head checked for location Prostrating Attacks of Headache Pain 4a - yes is checked. Veteran does have characteristic prostrating attacks of migraine medical pain, once every month also checked 4b - yes - veteran has very frequent prostrating and prolonged attacks of migraine headache pain is checked 4c - no is checked. This is for non-migraine medical headache pain. 4d - no is checked. This is for the very frequent part Section 5 - other pertinent findings 5a - no scars 5b - no other pertinent physical findings Section 6 diagnostic Testing 6 - yes checked on signific diagnostic test. MRI shows benign arachnoid cyst that is stable 7 - no - does not impact work Signed and dated (2013) by VA doctor. This kind of conflicts with civilian reports that state migraine and tension headaches. Headaches are 24/7/365 and the migraines can come as far as once or twice a month to several times a week. The memory loss can be embarrassing and I know it is bad when I am talking and people can't understand what I am trying to say. That is frustrating because I feel like I'm talking normally. When it was first filed I got a quickie initial C&P exam at a VA hospital in another state up north where I used to live. It was a guy with a heavy accent who got irritated because I could not understand him and that I had claimed so many things so he denied everything. I would be surprised if the whole C&P took more than 2 minutes. It was my first VA claim so I did everything that I have been having issues with that happened while I was in the service and listed in my military medical records. Chronic cough, ankle injuries, hand injury, headaches, and tinnitus. The tinnitus was done by a different doctor so that one was given 10%. The headache thing sucks. I usually go to the doctor in spurts but what it boils down to is that I basically just gave up due to lack of funds and frustration. I go to doctors who have me see other doctors, they try meds and neck exercises, try other meds, do CT or MRI, and nothing ever helps. usually after months of this I give up and just go home. Very frustrating. Then I come across something that sounds promising about another doctor so I go through the same with them. Sometimes I go to doctors until the medical bills made me stop, That's the pattern of this head pain since the 1980s. People look at you weird when they ask what is wrong and I say "ugh - I just have a bad headache". They then ask - "had it long?" "Yea, about 30 years".

This is kind of an odd update, considering how long it has been... but I am now wondering if this is not that far from being out of the norm. I think I filed back in 2011 - My military records show the head trauma and the months of medical before I was discharged. I never knew about the VA benefits until decades later so I filed a claim as I have spent way too much $$$ since the 80's dealing with my headaches and brain issues. So - as I posted here a while ago I filed with the VA and got one of those personal from hell. Custer could have shown up with arrows sticking out of him and this guy would have denied the claim. I filed appeals and presented additional doctor claims. I had the VA form filed out by a VA doctor describing the issues. Getting a head trauma is hard because they want you to do all these things and I can't concentrate to do these sort of things. A neurosurgeon said I have a cyst on my brain which is in the same spot where I was injured on base. But a few weeks ago I received a letter from the Department of Veteran Affairs that has the following: "We have requested an examination through a private medical facility in order to determine the current level of your disability etc etc" Does this mean that they have finally accepted that I did receive a TBI and they are wanting to determine the extent of the disability? I was wondering what I should bring in or say? There are lots of issues - 24/7 headaches for the past 30 years. Migraines that pop up at least once a week. Concentration issues, sleep issues, I try to talk to people and to me it sounds normal but no one seems to understand what I'm trying to say. Short term memory loss. Getting lost in a fog often. Don't know how to handle this. Its frustrating because I used to be really good at dealing with this sort of thing. Does the "We have requested an examination through a private medical facility in order to determine the current level of your disability" letter mean that I finally will be compensated for this and that the VA will be paying for the future treatments and meds, or am I reading this too far? Thanks for any input.

I got whacked in the head while in the service and lost consciousness. Several months later my military medical records I was being treated for chronic headaches with migraine like symptoms though the medication I received looked like it was for tension headaches. Last military records shows me complaining of a dull headache. That was 1983. I never knew about applying for anything with the VA and for the past 30 years I’ve been seeing civilian doctors for chronic headaches, memory loss, insomnia, but mainly for the bad headaches. A CT scan showed a brain cyst on the left side and I’m currently still being treated. Should I be looking at this as a TBI? I did apply for compensation for the chronic headaches but I got denied as they said there was no current diagnosis so I was wondering if I labeled it wrong.

Pretty much all of the denials shows the denial reasons of "The evidence does not show a current diagnosed disability". This was in the letter I received. I also obtained the blue sheets signed by the ratings rep., this is what the DAV received. The blue sheets are all marked NODX - not service connected, no diagnosed. I just noticed all of those - not service connected? That's not what my service records show. There's a line in the evidence which says "Your service treatment records are incomplete for review". This falls back to a letter I got last fall from the VA which said that my service medical records were missing but they had them during the CP exam and I had sent them an additional copy as well. This is turning into a real paperwork snafu.

My thanks for everyone here for all the information and guidance. I didn’t claim TBI specifically, I wrote down chronic headaches because that’s what I have been seeing civilian doctors for. There is also mention of short-term memory loss, also known as altered memory. I only used lingo that was spelled out in my civilian records. The problem that I have run into over and over with civilian doctors is, while they acknowledge that I have a constant cough and develop annual sinus infections to pneumonia, none of them can say why for sure… just that it has been present for decades. As far as the head injury and chronic headaches: I never even put two and two together until I had asked for copies of all of my medical records going all the way back to the military. It flat out mentions in there that I started going to sick call for constant headaches a month or who after head trauma. I’m seeing a neurologist now and have updated him on what I found out about my medical history. So my Service Medical Records do show the incident where I was hit in the back of the head and also shows a couple of visits to sick call. 17 Sep 83 – SMO states incident where I was struck on back of the head and was knocked out. 15 Nov 83 – SMO shows me complaining of 3-4 weeks of headaches. Lights and noises make it worse. Fiorinal (used to relieve tension headaches) was prescribed. 30 Nov 83 – SMO says follow-up on headaches. “Better but still has occasional dull headaches”. Looks like I had a CT and it was normal. Odd how I still don't remember any of that. Unfortunately, I could not get any of my civilian records prior to the early 1990s, but I do have a long history of seeing many doctors for the headaches (and cough). Unfortunately, none of them could nail down just why I was having the constant problem. Which is why it’s been so difficulty to provide a civilian diagnosis. I have tons of paperwork showing I’ve been complaining of these issues – it’s just that no one has been able to nail down exactly why they are happening. The bottom line appears to be getting an IMO, of which I have requested from one doctor so far and will be asking the neurologist as well as I see him next week. Seeing the VA is so backlogged on claims, should I submit the appeal now or wait a few months once I get an IMO? Also, it better to appeal everything en masse or separately? I.e – file an appeal just on the headache issue and another on the lung/sinus?

This past August I filed a VA claim. The issues were on items that I occurred while I was in the Air Force back in the early 1980s. These are not just things that were in my military records – the items I claimed were for chronic issues that I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars on medical bills over the past 30 years on. I never knew about being able to get the VA to take care of problems that arose while I was on active duty until recently or else I would have filed a long time ago. I received a head trauma back in ’83 and have been seeing doctors and neurologists for constant headaches, memory loss and insomnia since the injury occurred. While I was in the service I was seen for chronic headaches after the trauma and the military records also reflect this. I also had pneumonia and developed a chronic cough. These are items that I have seen doctor after doctor about. The problem is that, even though I have over 100 pages of medical visits, they could never nail down a clear diagnosis… one doc said chronic sinusitis, another said it was chronic bronchitis, etc etc. So, last summer I filed a compensation claim on these issues, along with a few others that were in my records that I have had to see civilian doctors on. I truly had the CP doctor sent from Satan himself. At the beginning of the visit, Dr. Ngwa introduced himself and we shook hands. He sat down and started reading that I am being seen for chronic cough, chronic headaches, chronic bronchitis, etc., and the more he read the mode upset he became. I then received a five minute lecture on how this was a legal procedure and how dare I file something like this. I had also sent in a copy of my civilian records as well as authorizations for the VA to retrieve any medical records directly. Dr. Ngwa said these did not exist (despite the fact that I did send them in over a month prior) and refused to acknowledge any existence of civilian records. He got even angrier when, after he accused me of hiring someone to fill out the claim form (of which I did NOT), I told him the phrases I had used, such as “chronic lung condition” and “bilateral knee pain” was straight out of my civilian records. He spoke with a heavy accent and I had to have him repeat things so I could understand, this also made him more hostile as we spoke. The next 20 minutes were spent with me just sitting there while he typed away on the computer. From what I saw he was actually typing up the denial while I was sitting there and before he actually did any exams or any test results came in. Eventually, he finally did get around to an actual physical exam – spending less than 60 seconds to exam my feet, legs, hands, and everything else. A few months ago I asked the VA for what Ngwa reported. It turns out he shot down everything saying there were no issues. He answered questions on the report that he never asked me, such as items regarding my headaches, and on other incidents he did not actually report what I told him. I mentioned that I was on antibiotics 5 or 6 times for bouts of bronchitis and pneumonia in 2011 – he stated that I said I was sick twice last year. So, everything was denied with the reason of “The evidence does not show a current diagnosed disability” with the exception of the chronic sinusitis, which stated there was no event in service. I had been in sick call at least 5 times for cough/fever/sinus problems. I did not argue back during the exam and I kept my cool. He was insulting, even congratulated me on creating a whole new disease called chronic left leg syndrome (he was being sarcastic) and when we walked out to the receptionist to set up a breathing test I thanked him for his time and put out my hand. He looked down at it and turned his back and walked away. The receptionist and I just looked at each other in disbelief. So, how does one appeal a mess such as this? A total “hands on” exam of less than 60 seconds? After getting a denial letter I went to the DAV, who told me that I needed to get letters from my doctors before they could do anything. You know how hard it is to get a NEXUS letter? Cripes, it was hard enough in the past to get them to do FMLA paperwork for my civilian job. I did talk to the VA Patient Advocate and I stated that I wanted to file a complaint with the IG on the issue, but other people told me that if I did so I would be screwed for years on the claim. How should one repeal something like this crap?? Should I just ask for a whole new CP exam? Should I get a lawyer?