DOMINIPINO

yeah tell me about it. I'm super bummed out it's taken this long too, the 10pts veterans preference that comes with the letter for government jobs I desperately need. I've pretty much missed out on over 12 dreams jobs because i'm getting beat out by people who have the 10pts vs my 5. I actually heard it today in regard to job i'd put in for a couple months ago that they only selected applicants that had the 10pts. SUPER bummed out, I'm qualified for the jobs and always make it to the final cut and then lose out because of that. Hey by the way does anyone know if you have to actually have the letter in hand or can you claim the 10pts once the electronic letter pops up on ebenefits?

lol @ phone stalking your congressman Thanks for your service, congrats!

Midnight congrats again to you, been reading about your success story, so cool! thanks I'll stop checking that tab then until after its complete haha, still sitting on the pending decision approval stage and its friday so i'm assuing like all other things that not about should be done this week wasn't to be taking too seriously haha. That Gi bill stuff I had called about just got deposited today though! , not as big a deal as this claim, but who doesn't like some money huh?! I just hope I get rated on the things that really are bothering me so I can get some free care when I get back home :) ....and the money would be nice too =D

I didn't notice this Carlie before at least I don't think I did, anyway I can't go to an office because I'm working as a contractor overseas, its fine though, for now i'll pay out of pocket for my medical expenses.

I don't know either, any word since? Mine actually just went to the last of the three steps and when I talked to them on the phone they said "there is a note attactched that says should be done this week" lol i like how they threw in the should but hey thats progress!!!!

OHHHHHHH you're supposed to find a DIFFERENT hobby...hmmmm maybe I should try that! (cause i check it ALL THE TIME.) HAHA

congrats!!!

SOOOOOO.......I pretty much gave up on checking my ebenefits account for any movement on my claim status. Actually I called the 800 number for the VA trying to get some info on what was going on with my GI bill since they decided to move it from one office to another and didin't "know where it was" haha. Anyway, so I go through and to my surprise 2 things happened I never expected: They not only found my Education file but they put a rush on it and my back pay will be coming through next week, ANNNDD there was a note attached to my medical claim saying something along the lines of should be done this week! whoa. I do have a question I see a lot of you who are getting downloadable letters before the offical letter comes in the mail in "the brown envelope" haha. Whats the difference? I've never seen either and i'm curious and also when does the electronic one show up? the day that they complete the claim? Thanks in advance for any responses!

Thanks for your service and congrats! side note, hey Carlie, any chance we can get a like button on here kinda like Facebook and Google+? I'm sure it would catch on haha

Well after reading what everyone else had said below, isn't it a scary thought that it might have been lost! more and more I think about it I feel like its only a matter of time before mine hits the garbage bin of a disgruntled employee haha! So I think after this I'm just going to NOT think about it. I'll probably just check my status once a month. I have a bigger problem with the VA right now anyway, they decided to move my education file (I don't know if my file is my education AND my medical claim/case) from the St. Louis RO to the on in Buffalo, NY. Why, I wasn't given a reason. They did tell me it's why my post 9/11 benefits haven't paid for my classes, books, or housing allowance this semester. And the Semester is halway over I take midterms this week. My medical claim is one thing but I can't afford to pay the $1400 out of pocket for these classes right now. Not cool.

Wow almost a billion people to process, that's crazy. I feel fortunate I got a job 3 weeks after I separated because I REALLY couldn't count on the VA disability do they televise these meetings?

so maybe this is a silly question but since they have it on the preparation for decision phase and it says on the site that on that phase they've reached a decision pending approval, wouldn't that mean its waiting for a stamp(I don't really know if there is a stamp) from whoever the big cheese is in that office? I know the BBD isn't as fast as they said it was in most cases but I only got out in 13FEB2012 so that would make my clam at just over the 4month mark. Seems to be moving along pretty fast, no? Also, are VA medical records different from the medical records I provided them with for my appointments? I was able to get a copy for them and a personal copy for myself before I was discharged so I always have that one on me...just in case.

Ok so I'm confused even though those were put into one claim each is counted separately?

holy crap a decade?! whats the reason for that? are they saying its cause you don't have enough evidence or something? to clarify everyone I'm not COUNTING on this, I'm just going with the flow if I get something I get something but if not no sleep lost here. I'd take all zero ratings if it meant I could get some assistance for some fo the things causing me a lot of pain

Well you're right I can't be certain, but I'm just going by comparison of people who similar conditions and I have twice sometimes 3 times the amount of documentation they do that it started while on active duty for each condition. I'm going out on a limb but then again thats why this is just for kicks

lol I don't know about that but I'll keep it in mind, I like my job, I was told while active duty that if I claimed depression I'd lose my rate, so i don't have any documentation for depressoin.

I'm not familiar with SC'd or SMC

Haha i REALLY hope I'm not dead cause none of this would make sense, and yeah I know so many factors but hey when you're bored it's kind of fun to play the guessing game.

I have a claim in for serveral disabilities. I'm on step 5 ( I think that's preparation for decision). Not taking this serious but I know some of you are really good at this by now so if anyone would like to take a crack at what you think my rating will be I'm interested in hearing it! here is a list of my disabilities that are on ebenefits: 1. Sleep apnea w/CPAP (sleep study on file) (New), Had the CPAP almost 2 years now, did 3 sleep studies to get it. 2. Bilateral heel spurs (New), (Dr.s while I was active duty said they were freakin huge, same with the VA doc) 3. Bilateral ankle instability (New), (related to the heel spurs/achilles tendon and plantar fasciitis) 4. Bilateral knee condition (New), (they click and pop all the time even when moved at rest) 5. Bilateral foot plantar fasciitis (New), (VERY high arches, I have insoles that were made for me before I separated) 6. Bilateral Shin splints w/stress Fx (New), (don't know why this would make the list I thought everyone gets these) 7. Bilateral achilles chronic pain on motion, Haylund deformity (New), (high arches make me step weird causes tendon to not line up properly and slide off those spurs metioned earlier, not cool) 8. Lumbar spine pain on motion, bilateral radiculopathy (New), (this can be chalked up now to sciatica in my opinion unless they found something on the xrays that I never heard about) 9. Bilateral hip condtion (New), (more so the left side of the hip than the right but right where the joint for where the leg connects painful numbing kind of sensation and a squishy/grinding sound) 10. Erectile dysfunction (New), (I know this is 0, moving on) 11. Cervical spine condition, (New), (limited range of motion at certain angles) 12. Bilateral shoulder condition; impingement (New), (to add to this, on initianl appt for VA doc noted both rotator cuffs grind and pop at certain points) 13. Residuals of left hand cyst excision (New), (hurts a bit where they cut it out, right in the crease of the wrist behind the thumb) 14. Right wrist numbness (New), (there's the carpe tunnel, has gotten much worse too, thumb goes numb or i lose control of it lol) 15. GERD (New), (I take 40mg of Nexium once a day, twice as needed as prescribed by doctor if I don't stomach pain is extreamly painful, will literally bowl me over and I'm worthless like i'm getting eaten from inside) 16. Hearing loss (New), (hearing test appt for VA showed my hearing is pretty good so maybe disregard) 17. Tinnitus (New), (ears ring) 18. Deviated septum; left (New), (almost completely blocks up left nostril) 19. Tachycardia pulse (New), (fast irregular heartbeat discovered while doing tests for ED meds) 20. Bilateral eye corneal scars, blephartitis floaters (New), 21. Dermatomycossi, tinea versacolor (New) also noted during my initial VA appoint the doc took down that I have Carpe Tunnel and Lateral Epicondylitis (Tennis Elbow) a few of those like the Ed and Tinea i think i've seen a lot of people getting 0% ratings so I didn't factor them in but I used the disability calculator at VV arizona and put in the sleep apena cause its the only one that had a clear rating on the regulations instruction and played with estimates for some of the others, worst case scenario I could come up with was 60% and best case I got 90% I refuse to believe I could get a 100 out of it haha. anyway what you guys think?