Swarthy

The parasite pop-over could go in the unused space in the header which you aren't really using anyway as it's under the pop- over. (Even when reduced to a parasitic arrow box)

Yes, Mod the ads are behaving. The parasitic pop-over side bar is really aggressive. It's to your other pages, so it would better serve the user experience if it was a static banner that didn't block content. The prior iteration reminds me of a conservative " news" website with all the ads for belly fat pills, miracle mortgages, and background checks. thanks for helping me out- I hadn't visited in a while and I was second guessing whether the intention was to help vets receive compensation or to separate vets from their compensation.

Thanks, Mod. I just can't do it. But thanks. Broncovet, I am very much NOT a "shopper". While I'm glad you enjoy the ads, I don't. At the very least you ought to reserve your judgement of someone else's difficulty with what you enjoy. For instance I drive Jeep and Buick drivers bc are some of the worst in any condition except for long stretches of highway. So take your thousands of likes and stuff em in the grey plaid fedora that is likely on your passenger side seat ?

The ads follow me down the screen even!

Yeah, they are everywhere. Popping up and over, some of the pictures are had it posts and the rest are ads. I have to read the fine print, turn my phone sideways all kind of stuff how do I get rid of them or is this just the way it is?

You are at 100% and you retain service connection for the PTSD, What did you lose and what will you gain with an appeal?

You are diagnosed with Anxiety? Depression? PTSD? All 3? The RO looked for evidence of a mental health diagnosis in service and found none. Also what was the claim you withdrew? And wow they're nice, I've never had an RO 'regret to inform me'?

It is so stressful to be on this site!

secforce, All claims filed are considered as seeking the maximum rating for that condition by the VA anywhere from 10% for tinnitus to 100% for PTSD) So your C&P is to see if you are rateable for a higher rate for your PTSD. If you included any mention of unemployment as due to your Agiraphobia- a Totalyl Disabled/Individual Unempoyability will be considered TDIU pays at the 100% rate but is 'temporary' as in once you are able to work again they stop paying that rate and you are brought down to your actual rate (in your case 70%) Good luck

Not sure if it was answered (the pop up and pop over ads on this site are incredible!) The questionnaires sounds like it was the 'Beck Depression Inventory' The GAF and the words 'Moderate to 'Severe' wont be factored into your rating (these words don't appear in the CFR) The C&P exam has 3 important parts for rating a disability The Nexus "at least as likely' or better points to service connection The functional impact statement: deficient in 'some', most', or 'all' areas And the symptoms checked Such as depression, sleep impairment, confusion, memory, etc. (oddly enough I too have RLS and my last C&P examiner didn't checkmark it- do don't worry if it doesn't show up on yours)

It looks like I wasn't clear, I'm not asking if there was a CUE, or to have my claim readjudicated here, filing for TDIU, or reopening the claim. I am looking for your guess as to the outcome of this DRO hearing based on the facts I am sc for PTSD, shoulder and sleep. The DRO as I said is only considering whether or not to recharactetize my statement listing my psych meds as a reopening of the denied psych condition, and I was wondering your thoughts about anybody's experience in hearings with DROs In the May 15, 2009 NOD I did not list PTSD (why? The RO liaison told me that since I was currently inpatient for Psych issues, my Psych claim would be decided upon discharge. That was wrong and hence the judge saying I did not appeal the PTSD denial) I only listed the physical injuries received in the assault on the NOD But I have had psych diagnoses since active duty, so the C&P examiner in June 2008 not diagnosing me with a MH issue should not have erased 12 years of MH treatment in various VAs) In January 2010 I submitted a statement listing my psych diagnoses on active duty and the medication and the current psych diagnoses and current medication My VSO asked that one if those submissions be consider an attempt to reopen or an attempt to continue prosecuting the sept 2008 denial descision Yes those bva descisikns you listed are mine. The remand triggered an initial PTSD c&p in 2014 (my first despite having claimed PTSD since 2008) The C&P led to a 70% grant with an effective date to an online claim I made in December 2011 in frustration and not trusting the RO laison anymore. I hope this info helps. Sorry for being confusing.

Im guessing the latter. A grant to January 2010. My hope is that it would go back to 2003 when I filed after a VA diagnosis of 'Anxiety R/T military experience' <br /><br /> But that was not put on the table by the DRO. ...he'll leave that to a VLJ..<br /><br /> The way I see it is that the letter of the law allows for a "Yay" and a "No Way".<br /><br /> The spirit of the law nudges it to a "Yay", and with a January 2010 effective date, there won't be a need to CUE the previous RO descision in 2008 and their inflexibility of my Substantive appeal "you had until March 6th...We received it on April 4th."

I need help untangling my next step: In 2014: 1. The September 2008 rating decision which denied the Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for PTSD is final. 38 U.S.C.A. § 7105© (West 2002). 2. Evidence received since the September 2008 rating decision in connection with Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is new and material and the claim is reopened. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5108 (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. § 3.156 (2013). Status of Your Claim Complete Submitted: 11/27/2007 (Compensation) Claim Closed: 09/26/2008 Disabilities Claimed: sleep apnea (New), right shoulder weakness (New), PTSD (New) Representative for VA Claims: DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS Current Status: Complete In 2014 the claim for PTSD was granted and rated by the BVA. An effeective date was made for 2011 (The date we received your claim) My question is that since the 2007 descision was made final and the case reopened simulataneously- would that make my effective date to the 2008 descision, not 2011? My RO screwed the pooch, re-writing my contentions and I ended up with a "new claim" (see below) Submitted: 12/27/2011 (Compensation) Claim Closed: 04/19/2012 Disabilities Claimed: acquired psychiatric condition(New), ethanol abuse (Secondary) Representative for VA Claims: DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS Current Status: Complete In effect, I have had two claims running for mental health one for PTSD (filed in 2007) and one for "Acquired Psych" (re-written and filed by RO)

Jeffperry, Please start a new topic to discuss your claim.

I disagree that it will make things harder. Whereas previously you could write "F!@#k You" on a bar napkin and slip under the RO's door and they would have to accept that as a NOD (providing you put your name, social and medical condition on the napkin). Now, you can't do that. But now you don't have to specifically claim each condition for it to be accepted. The standard forms/Ebenifits provision will speed up the process. I know, I've tried to decipher something I wrote on a bar napkin and stuffed it in my pocket. Current standard forms such as VA Forms 21-526EZ, 21- 527EZ, and 21-534EZ (hereinafter ``EZ forms'') contain the statutorily required notice to claimants of the information and evidence necessary to substantiate a claim at the onset of filing a claim. See 38 U.S.C. 5103. (No more VCAA forms to wait for, not lose, sign and return. The VCAA is right on the claim form you hand in) This means claimants do not have to wait for VA to send notices to claimants of VA's duty to assist in developing a claim. Claimants will be informed of what information and evidence is necessary in substantiating their claims prior to or at the time they file a claim. In addition, the EZ forms used for filing disability compensation, pension, and survivor benefits as well as the NOD form are shorter in length, making them less burdensome and time-consuming for claimants to complete. Additionally, EZ forms contain pre-printed lists of potentially available benefits to help guide claimants through the claim process. VA believes that the standard format of VA's forms that provide pre-printed selections from which claimants can choose poses less of a burden on claimants because claimants spend less time describing their intent to file a claim, identifying and describing symptoms or medical conditions, or expressions of disagreement to a VA decision in a narrative format of non-standard submissions.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-09-25/html/2014-22633.htm Federal Register September 2014 (The VA responds to public and Congressional comments)

here's my letter thus far suggest edits/additions please: Remand docket # 13-13-450 4-18-2014 FINDINGS OF FACT 1. A September 2008 rating decision denied the Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for PTSD. The Veteran was notified of his appellate rights, but did not complete an appeal of the rating decision. 2. Evidence received since the September 2008 rating decision is not cumulative of the evidence of record at the time of the previous denial as it relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the Veteran's claim of service connection. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The September 2008 rating decision which denied the Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for PTSD is final. 38 U.S.C.A. § 7105© (West 2002). 2. Evidence received since the September 2008 rating decision in connection with Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is new and material and the claim is reopened. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5108 (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. § 3.156 (2013). from page 6 of the remand, Furthermore, with respect to the claim as it pertains to PTSD, the Board notes he was not provided sufficient notice regarding the evidence he may submit to support such a claim based on personal assault My effective date should be a date closer to the September 2008 descision made final by the Board as I cured my NOD and perfected my appeal within the one year time requirement. 38 CFR 3.155(a). Generally, when a compensation claim is granted, VA pays a monthly benefit according to the severity of the veteran's disability beginning from the claim's effective date, which is usually the date the claim was filed. 38 U.S.C. 5110. Therefore, Sec. 3.155 allowed claimants to secure a potential earlier effective date for an award by submitting an informal claim that was subsequently ratified by a formal application or for which an application was already of record. The RO took my single claim with my 3 diagnoses and split it into three claims. Then each of these “issues” was re-written by the RO e.g. My claim for “Nocturnal Myclonus” (that I copied from my SMR) was changed to a claim for ‘sleep apnea, My claim for PTSD was changed to Depression, Anxiety, and ‘ETOH abuse’. My claim for “Right Long thoracic nerve palsy” (copied from my SMR) was change to “Right shoulder weakness” (which is a symptom not a diagnosis). And of course this has led to several years of letters and responses, emails, and rewriting claimed contentions. These claims now made sepreate by the RO all come with different filing dates, deadlines, nand notices. then they all have different SOC’s, SSOC’s and again all with different deadlines in which to file the appropriate responses, statements in support of claim, and NOD’s, on and on. To the point where I received a notice from the RO saying that it was unsure if I was filing a claim for PTSD. Despite PTSD being my original claim in September 2008. Likely, this was a result of the RO changing the diagnoses/issues in my claim. This RO has now essentially filed 3 successive initial claims (with continually changed diagnoses) for me, drawing me into me to trying to manage numerous deadlines, filing correct responses/forms/wording on those forms all the while reinstating the correct diagnoses on these claims. All the while being 80% disabled with 70% of the being psychiatric, and maintaining my therapy, avoiding homelessness, undergoing substance abuse rehabilitation, finding employment and a place to live, and eventually obtaining a college degree. What this RO did also contradicts VA directives: As discussed in more detail below, revised Sec. 3.155 of the final rule also provides that only one complete claim for a given benefit (e.g., compensation, pension) may be associated with each intent to file a claim for the same benefit for purposes of the effective date placeholder mechanism. In other words, if a claimant submits a VAF 21- 0966 for compensation, and then files two or more successive complete compensation claims within 1 year, only the issues contained in the first complete compensation claim would relate back to the VAF 21-0966 for effective date purposes. I filed one claim. The RO would disassemble this claim into 3. The effective date of the 2007 claim is also protected here: §5108. Reopening disallowed claims If new and material evidence is presented or secured with respect to a claim which has been disallowed, the Secretary shall reopen the claim and review the former disposition of the claim. The statute affirmatively prevents any effective date consequences for an incomplete application not formalized within one year. §3.400 General Except as otherwise provided, the effective date of an evaluation and award of pension, compensation or dependency and indemnity compensation based on an original claim, a claim reopened after final disallowance, or a claim for increase will be the date of receipt of the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is the later. §3.401 Veterans. Awards of pension or compensation payable to or for a veteran will be effective as follows: (2) Date of departure from hospital, institution, or domiciliary. The above hospital/domicilliary admission and discharges occurred in 2000, again in 2003 and agin (final one) in 2007. Additionally, my VA records from 2003 contain a Doctor’s order sending me to the hospital’s disability claim coordinator to file a claim for disability in 2003, establishing the presence of a disability as a fact and satisfying the requirement of: We further note that, to the extent the intent to file process and these special statutory effective dates intersect, the amount of retroactive benefits is always limited by the facts found--a claimant can never receive disability benefits for a period in which he or she was not, as a factual matter, disabled, or at a degree of disability higher than supported by the contemporaneous facts. This caveat is current, established law, unaltered by this rule. Basic entitlement to compensation is always dependent on the existence of a current or contemporaneous ``disability,'' and its accompanying severity as determined by the rating for that disability. 38 U.S.C. 1110, 1114, 1131; 38 CFR part 4. Additionally, all effective dates are generally ``fixed in accordance with the facts found.'' 38 U.S.C. 5110(a)) Here is the original descision that unbeknownst to me had 2 of my diagnoses changed by the RO: Nocturnal Myoclonus was changed to ‘Sleep Apnea” and Long thoracic Nerve Palsy was changed to “Right Shoulder Weakness”. From here on out this claim would be split up and conditions added or reworded by the RO away from my active duty diagnoses. Received: 11/27/2007 (Compensation) Claim Closed: 09/26/2008 Disabilities Claimed:sleep apnea (New), right shoulder weakness (New), PTSD (New) Your Designated Representative for VA Claims: DISABLED AMERICAN VETERAN Current Status: Complete Here my claim becomes claims. regarding the “Sleep Apnea”. After receiving several notices from me (all the while trying to respond for requests for evidence of diagnoses I didn’t have) The RO finally gets the diagnosis correct for this claim (but denies it because there is no evidence that I have the claimed condition (I copied the diagnosis out of my SMR) Received:05/15/2009 (Compensation) Claim Closed:02/26/2010 Disabilities Claimed:periodic limb movement disorder (claimed as nocturnal myclonus) (New) Your Designated Representative for VA Claims:DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS Current Status: Complete “Leg condition” decision dated 2/25/2010 Your VA treatment records from Sheridan show RLS diagnosed in mental health examinations, verified, prescribed medication as indicated by you but no other specific treatment or diagnosis from a medical examiner until your C&P” Here the rater is neglecting to report the sleep study in 1995 that showed “Severe Periodic Limb movement Disorder” and “0% stage IV sleep” This statement is also confusing: “your records show RLS diagnosed..., verified, prescribed medication but no other specific treatment or diagnosis until your C&P” Huh? How could I currently be diagnosed and treated for “RLS” (restless leg syndrome) but denied because of “no other specific treatment or diagnosis from a medical examiner until your C&P” This RO had copies submitted by me of overnight sleep study exams from Active Duty diagnosing a sleep disorder (Nocturnal Myoclonus) characterized by “severe PLM disorder” (Periodic Limb Movement). Again the rater changes my diagnosis as s/he see fit: PLM to RLS? Also, the implication by this rater that my condition didn’t exist “until your C&P” is not okay. Similar actions by this rater are seen as my claim progresses- the Board also seems to acknolwedge this when finding that the RO did not “provided sufficient notice” notice to me. 6/5/2012 “We cannot accept your statement as your substantive appeal as the time limit has passed...You filed a NOD on May 15,2009, an SOC was issued to you on 1/6/2010 so you had until 3/6/2010 to submit your substantive appeal” So, I filed a NOD and a new claim (Received:05/15/2009 (Compensation) on the same day? I was operating from the knowledge that I had one claim- filed in 2007, which was decided on September 26, 2008 and the appeal perfected by me on May 15, 2009. So back to the ‘herding of the cats’ that has become my claim: One of these 'claims' was closed on 2/26/2010 But an SOC issued to me one month prior on 1/6/2010 in which I had 60 days to respond? Confused? At any rate, I did respond – probably to the one dated 2/26/2010 and I guess I submitted a “Notice for Reconsideration” instead of a “Notice of Disagreement”: “4/6/2010 Notice for reconsideration received by RO” Despite the administrative jockeying going on at the RO, I provided (depending which claim notification of the 3 you read from) a NOD or a Request for reconsideration or a Request to Reopen 3 weeks before the 60 day time limit . Regardless my appeal was accepted by the RO on May 15. See also 1/7/2010 SOC sent to me 4/20/2010 “we received additional evidence that was not associated with the file on 5/14/2010” 5/14/2010 “Denial continued as you submitted no evidence” 9/9/2010 “We received New and Material evidence (EMG) that shows…” the injury with the Dr. stating it was an old injury 5/25/2011 “In our previous letter to you dated 9/10/2010, we advised you that you were notified of your rating decision on 9/25/2008. This was incorrect. You were actually notified on 9/26/2008. This letter will address that issue. 1/23/2012 “We are working on your claim for Psychiactric condition received on 12/27/2011 7/12/2012: “On 6/6/2012, you contacted our National Call center in regards to your pending appeal, upon review of your email correspondence it appears as though you are claiming service connection for PTSD, but it was unclear” 10/5/2012: “We received your NOD of our 12/20/2011 decision 10/5/2012: “We received your NOD of our 7/29/2011 decision 9/9/1995 EMG reveals and diagnosis the shouldr injury. 12/2003 You complained of neck and shoulder pain. 6/6/2008 VA exam indicates you have no pain, no atrophy, no weakness, and normal range of motion In actuality the examiner clearly states, “Scapular winging and 50% reduction in ROM” and attributes/connects this condition to the injury received on Active Duty. Physical Therapy notes from June, July, August 2010 all show “ You had weakness and winging.” 5/21/2010 you did not submit any evidence. (see 4/20/2010 “we received additional evidence”)..you do not have a current diagnosis. The following denial was completely erroneous: 6/25/2010 evidence submitted does not show evidence of a chronic right shoulder condition...EMG on 2/1995 revealed normal distal and F-wave latencencies” What the rater does here was either neglect to read -or chose not to include- the very next sentence of the doctor’s findings in which the doctor (Cmdr. Kane) wrote in bold- “Except no motor unit conduction in posterior shoulder...” Here is more of the jockeying of the shoulder condition by the RO/Rater: 7/2011 you had no giving way, no deformity, instability, locking, speed of joint motion, or neck pain. You did have posterior shoulder pain around scapula, stiffness, weakness, and incoordination Regarding the condition for a Sleep Disorder Claim Closed:02/26/2010 Disabilities Claimed:periodic limb movement disorder (claimed as nocturnal myclonus) (New) Your Designated Representative for VA Claims:DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS Current Status: Complete 5/25/2011 “Mr. xxxxxx we are working on your claim for “Right Shoulder condition, Sleep disorder, Neck pain “ “Sleep Apnea” is thankfully now corrected, but PTSD is gone and has been replaced with a claim for “Neck Pain”? Interesting, because I will be denied because I have “no diagnosis nor complaints of” of Neck Pain (IRIS reference # 1105270001576 IRIS response: “We received a response from your regional office to our referral: "Upon review of the claim that is ready to rate status, it is noted that Veteran actually submitted a claim for reopen of previously denied issue of sleep disorder that has not yet been addressed. Therefore, a new evidence notice letter will be sent to the Veteran today for further development on this issue. So claim is no longer in ready to rate status and is pending new and material evidence from Veteran." We apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry. We are currently experiencing a large volume of inquiries and are working as quickly as possible to respond to each in a timely manner. Our records indicate you currently have no pending claims but do have three appeals pending. We received your Notice of Disagreements (NOD), one on April 23, 2012, for service connections for acquired psychiatric condition to include post traumatic stress disorder, a NOD on April 24, 2012, for earlier effective date for right shoulder condition, and a NOD on June 27, 2012, for increase rating for right shoulder condition. Email to IRIS [---001:001293:64325---] Dept of Veterans Affairs IRC REFERRAL -- I am wondering about the descision phase as my claim has lingered there…” Response from IRIS . “Recently you requested assistance from VA. Below is a summary of your request and our response. If you wish to reopen this issue, you may do so within the [message truncated]” Response from IRIS (An example of great response from IRIS and the representative should be acknowledged for it) [inquiry: 120527-000063] Dept of Veterans Affairs May 27, 2012 The Department of Veterans Affairs has received your 'Question'. You should expect a response from us within 5 business days. If you wish to update your inquiry, please reply to this email. Once you have entered the additional information, click on Send. Thank you. [---001:000662:03349---] Dept of Veterans Affairs Dear Mr. Swarthy: This is in response to your inquiry to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) dated May 27, 2012. Thank you for your honorable military service to our country! We are grateful for the opportunity to serve you. We apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry. We are currently experiencing a large volume of inquiries and are working as quickly as possible to respond to each in a timely manner. We received your Notice of Disagreement on April 23, 2012, for service connection for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Our records indicate that California Department of Veteran Affairs is currently on file as your POA. You may also contact them with any questions you may have. The DRO election requires that your file is reviewed by a Decision Review Officer. The DRO is an experienced decision maker that has the authority to take a fresh look at your case and overturn the initial decision without the need for any additional evidence. This is commonly referred to as a denovo review. If you elect this process, the DRO will review your claim. Upon review, it may be determined that additional evidence is needed before a decision can be made. If no additional evidence is needed, the DRO will provide a new decision on your claim. We have forwarded your inquiry to your station of jurisdiction for your request to have a copy of your claims file. We have asked them to respond directly to you with their findings. Thank you for contacting us. If you have questions or need additional help with the information in our reply, please respond to this message or see our other contact information below. Sincerely yours, Donovan W. Thompson National IRIS Response Center Manager Recently I received these useless emails the second one being a robot response of the first one but spells my name wrong: [inquiry: 141118-001402] 11/19/2014 Dear Mr. Swarthy, You have reached the Board of Veterans' Appeal web site in Washington D.C. Your file is located at the Appeals Management Center (AMC). On April 18, 2014, the Board remanded your appeal to the AMC. The remand action was necessary to assist you with the development of the appeal and to ensure the record is complete. When the development is completed, the AMC will readjudicate the appeal. If any part of the decision remains unfavorable, the case will be returned to the Board for a comprehensive review of the entire record. For your convenience I provided the contact information for you. Mail Appeals Management Center (AMC) 1722 Eye Street, NW Washington, DC 20421 [Inquiry: 150212-000719] 02/12/2015 Dear Mr. Smarmy, You have reached the Board of Veterans' Appeal web site in Washington D.C. Your file is located at the Appeals Management Center (AMC). On April 18, 2014, the Board remanded your appeal to the AMC. The remand action was necessary to assist you with the development of the appeal and to ensure the record is complete. When the development is completed, the AMC will readjudicate the appeal. If any part of the decision remains unfavorable, the case will be returned to the Board for a comprehensive review of the entire record. For your convenience I provided the contact information for you. Mail Appeals Management Center (AMC) 1722 Eye Street, NW [Inquiry: 150309-000043] Mar 9 The Department of Veterans Affairs has received your 'Question'. You should expect a response from us within 5 business days. If you wish to update your inquiry, please reply to this email. [inquiry: 150309-000043] (2) Mar 12 Recently you requested assistance from VA. Below is our response. If you wish to reopen this issue, you may do so within the next 14 days. Thank you for allowing us to be of service to you. What was the issue? What was my question? I’ve never been given 14 days before, is this a new deadline to keep track of now? Below are excerpts from other descision letters, Notifications, SOCs, SSOC’s, etc. that display how complex, off course, and confusing this RO made my claim since their very first “descision”: “ We have granted service connection...A noncompensible evaluation is assigned from November 2003, the date we received your original claim. Although we received your original claim in 2003, your claim was not rated until September 25, 2008, of which you were notified September 26, 2008. Since that time you have continually prosecuted your claim and therefore, prior decisions were not final and your effective dates have been preserved. A noncompensible evaluation is assigned for incomplete paralysis of arm movements which is mild. We have granted an increase in your condition, with an evaluation of 10% disabling effective May 17, 2010, the date factually found on VA examination...this was confirmed in a July 2010 EMG” Whereas before the exam showed...i don’t know...no “deformity” as required by the rater but “scapular winging” instead. No “giving way or weakness” as required by the rater. Instead I had “Instability, incoordination” A higher evaluation of 20% is not warranted unless evidence demonstrates incomplete paralysis of arm movements which is severe.” In contrast, my C&P examination clearly states “Winging”, “weakness”, “50% reduction in movement” Additionally, The EMG in 2010 produced and confirms the exact same results from 1995, which I was given because I was unable to do a push up during Physical Readiness Testing on active duty. The possibility certainly exists that had I not already been transitioning out of the military I may have been discharged because of any one of for all three of these conditions/disabilities. The rater writes, “you had no deformity, no giving way, no neck pain. Instead what you had was weakness, scapular winging, and shoulder pain” your claim for Right shoulder condition is denied. Huh? This does not read like a non-adversarial development of a claim.

Thanks. I have tried to read that before, but the background 'art' and the text being written in white on a white background make it impossible for me

Hi Gastone thanks for checking in. I filed my claim in 2008 and submitted a NOD in 2009. My claim was reopened on May/2009 My appeal was granted only to 12/27/11.

My claim filed in 2007 for PTSD,Sleep disorder, Right shoulder palsy and denied in 2008. fast forward to now: PTSD was granted back to 2012 with the judge making the 2008 descision final. In between my 3 contentions on the single claim was split into three different claims each with its own deadlines and i couldn't keep up. So, I have documentation of all these statements I kept sending in, I have my NODs, request for reconsiderations, request for re-openings, on and on. It is all legal jargon and I did try to get all these different documents in on-time. In one case I missed the 60 day deadline by 4 days and in another I apparwntly asked for a reconsideration when I should have asked for a re-opening... Here are a few of the statement's I have received from the VA as my claim(s) were worked- keep in mind, I submitted one claim and the VA split it into 3 (and in these claims my PTSD was changed to "Acquired Psych condition to include anxiety and ETOH abuse" , my claim for sleep disorder was changed to 'sleep apnea' and of course was denied because I have never been diagnosed with sleep apnea- sleep disorder, yes. My rt shoulder palsy was changed to Rt shoulder weakness. And of course was denied. rt shoulder weakness is more of a symptom cause by the severed nerve in my shoulder. and over the years I have been able to get the RO to word my claims to match my diagnoses, instead of re-writing my contentions (I copied the sleep and shoulder diagnoses from my SMR's and my Psych dx from my VA record (so anyway, I should not have to keep track of all these complicated administrative schedules. In the 7/10/12 statement below it reads, "in review of your correspondence it appears you are claiming PTSD, but it unclear" Well my claim in 2007, and the denial in 2008 clearly states "PTSD" I need some assistance in assembling an appeal packet and here is the outline (sorry about the grey hi lighting. I couldn't get the yellow turned off so I changed it to gray.) original claim: Received: 11/27/2007 (Compensation) Claim Closed: 09/26/2008 Disabilities Claimed:sleep apnea (New), right shoulder weakness (New), PTSD (New) Your Designated Representative for VA Claims: DISABLED AMERICAN VETERAN Current Status: Complete 1/7/2010 SOC sent to me 5/14/2010 Denial continued as you submitted no evidence 4/20/2010 we received additional evidence that was not associated with the file on 5/14/2010 (I have to check the dates here, I must have them switched or something) 1/23/2012 “We are working on your claim for Psychiactric condition received on 12/27/2011 7/12/2012: “On 6/6/2012, you contacted our National Call center in regards to your pending appeal, upon review of your email correspondence it appears as though you are claiming service connection for PTSD, but it was unclear” 5/25/2011 “In our previous letter to you dated 9/10/2010, we advised you that you were notified of your rating decision on 9/25/2008. This was incorrect. You were actually notified on 9/26/2008. This letter will address that issue. Also of note, you submitted a statement on 9/21/2010, that indicates you suffer from neck pain due to your right shoulder condition. This letter will also address this issue 10/5/2012: “We received your NOD of our12/20/2011 decision 10/5/2012: “We received your NOD of our 7/29/2011 decision Who could keep up with this, let alone a person with an 80% disability (70% of it being psychiatric), working part-time, going to school full-time.

BBE from the AMC arrived today dated 2/17/15 but no action from the RO (e.g. no AB8 update nor retro payment)

So you two were awarded benefits and have not received those benefits for 8 months and 4 months respectively? Did you receive a rating with your award letters?

Still no BBE But, today I got a letter from DAV reading we "have reviewed the most recent VA decision regarding your claim for benefits. A combined evaluation of 80 percent has been assigned." (1/23/15) also today I get an IRIS (from the RO) message: "A Rating Decision has been rendered on your granted appeal at the Appeals Management Center in Washington, D.C. The decision is pending completion. We are working to complete your appeal as quickly as possible with the resources that we have available. You will be notified in writing of the decision once it has been completed" What is involved with "completing" (and how many desks will it have to cross)? I was told that a BBE was mailed out on 2/14 from the AMC. So am I waiting for a different letter now from the RO?!?

According to IRIS I was awarded 70% SC with an effective date of 12/11 (should've been 2009, but that's for another time;) IRIS told me that I am awaiting the RO's 'Grant of Benifits" (i.e. money) IRIS told me 'a few months' is this accurate? and is retro taxed? Thanks, S

He called me and left a message about my PTSD claim appeal and said that I am already compensated for one mental condition and that blah blah blah. How do i find out under which diagnostic code my grant was placed. I am assuming from the DAV's response that it is listed as a sleep disorder. My award letter says periodic limb movement disorder, but fails to give any reference to a CFR reg. The restless legs is treated by neurology not psych. How should I proceed? Thanks, S