john999

ITG According to the regs you refer to I think you do have a good shot at the 1995 date for EED. The VA probably knows this so the fight will be on regarding just getting service connection now. If you get service connection at your BVA hearing you can take time and digest the facts and then go for the EED. I read the case Vigil v Peake. Not many know about that I am sure. I sure as heck would go for it after you get the current award.

If you are a Vietnam vet you will probably have a IHD claim.

If your 1995 decision became a final decision you might have a CUE since you had SMR's but the VA did not get them. That is the way you usually have to proceed if you are going to get 15 years of retro. Either that or the claim has somehow remained open for 15 years. I think the VA not getting your SMR's is a potential CUE.

Your GAF scores and DX'es seem confused. Impulse control disorder is usually a Personality disorder and comes under Axis II. Depression comes under Axis I. However, it they SC you for depression that is compensable and that is what counts. Many bi-polar people have sexual problems because their impulse controls are weak, but it is due to the bi-polar and not a PD. I guess you have to wait and see what the VA says. If they don't get it right then appeal it.

60% of something is better than 100% of nothing. It depends how complicated your claim turns out to be. If there is going to be debate about when records were in front of the VA and a fight over retro a lawyer might help you get a big pay day. You say the VA has your in-patient and private records now. The question might be did they have a duty to have those records earlier? How long has your claim been on appeal? Did you have a claim denied as a final decision earlier due to the VA not having your records? Is anyone representing you at the hearing or just yourself?

The thing is that he has to have applied for PD in the past before PD was accepted as presumptive before he can get retro under Nehmer. If he claimed PD ten years ago and was denied then his retro could go back that far. If he first applied for service connection for PD when he heard about it being added to the presumptive list the retro will go back only that far. This is how I understand it. This puts me in mind of telling vets to claim anything that is likely to be added to the presumptive list. It could affect your retro if and when it is added to the list. God knows what will be added in the future but the VBM has a list of illnesses that are most likely to be added. Who would have believed DMII would have been added?

If the doctor wants you to do any movements that hurt tell them it hurts and you can't do it as soon as you feel pain. Don't let them bend or manipulate you if it hurts. You have to cooperate, but not to the extent that you reinjure yourself. They are going to probably want to see your range of movement.

Do you have a lawyer representing you at the BVA hearing? BVA hearings are usually where the rubber meets the road. This is probably your best shot at winning your claim.

I would get a referral to a decent shrink. We who have chronic illnesses often become discouraged and depressed. Someone breaks their leg and they are in a cast for a few months and then they are ok. A person with a chronic and, worse yet, untreatable chronic illness, goes from doctor to doctor trying to just get recognition that they have an illness.

The best way to fight A QTC exam is to get an exam of your own from a doctor who understands what the VA's rating process. QTC tends to low ball disabilites. You need your own doctor to reflect the true nature and extent of your back problem. All you can really do with QTC is to present yourself on time and submit to the exam. After you get a copy of the exam you can then get your own doctor to rebut any findings made by QTC you don't like.

After ten years being service connected that can't sever SC except for fraud or chacter of service. 20 years is the time for protection of a rating. If you are rated 100% for 20 years they can't take it away even if you go back to work and make a million dollars a year.

Hoppy What about claims before 1992 and Bell vs Derwinsky where the VA had evidence in the file that was date stamped as received, but was never listed or discussed in the decision even though that evidence was very strong evidence? I was told that the way it works is that first a CUE is called and then all the evidence, including the evidence that was excluded, has to then be re-examined in to reach a new decision. If the VA rates you 10% and you have evidence from a doctor saying you are 100%, and the VA excludes the evidence showing 100% disability wouldn't that rise to the level needed for a CUE.

Sgt If the readings you quote were fasting glucose levels I think you probably do have DmII. I would file for it. Until some doctor states you have DMII it does not matter what your tests say. Get the C&P exam at least because you are so close to constant readings above 126 and that is the artificial cutoff. Do you have any secondary conditions you know about? You can have artery disease where there is calcification building up in your arteries and you won't even know it, but that is a sure sign something ain't right. A CT scan of your legs will show it. The big worry to me is that with your high levels cholesterol there is a build up of plac in your arteries and DMII makes it worse. This may lead to heart disease and/or stroke. You should try to get a DX of DMII before you fill but I think I would file anyway. I filed when I had fasting glucose levels over 126 but not much over. The C&P doctor took one look at my numbers and took a look at my lower legs and said "You got it all right".

Any medical record you give them that includes NSC issues presents a problem for you. Not just SSD records, but any records. When you apply for IU the VA will scan your NSC conditions and often come to the conclusion that these are the real reasons you can't work. It happened to me. I had to go back and get another medical opinion to clarify that the SC conditions were the ones that kept me from working. Money and time!

I agree with VYNC. You don't want to depend on reasonable doubt. You want to crush them with evidence so there is no doubt. It takes years for these things to go through the system so you want to win. You want the scales to hit the ground in your favor.

If you have good evidence that your SC condition is the cause of the secondary conditions you might as well wait for a decision to see how the VA is going to play it. There is no telling what they will decide.

Just remember for IU the reason you are not working has to be solely due to your SC conditions and not RIF due to the employer's problems. This is why you need a doctor to say you are IU because of SC conditions. Your employer is probably not going to admit they got rid of you because of your disabilites, but this is exactly what you need. Were you retired or just fired? As Larry says if you were fired due to discrimination I would run it by a lawyer to see if the school followed the rules on RIF'es. They usually go by senority and vets usually have some protection. If they went around a bunch of people to get at you then you may have a case.

Get a second opinion if you can from a doctor and not us guys on Hadit. You would be surprised how often the doctors disagree about surgery. You don't want to be a "learning device" for future back doctors being trained at the VA. You get crippled for life and they get a BMW in a few years. What I know is that if you have pain running down your legs then it is probably something a surgeon needs to fix. This is my non-doctor opinion which is worth the fee you paid for it. I tend to agree with all the posters and that when the pain gets bad enough you will get the surgery if you need it. The orthopod discussed a fusion on my lower back but my back does not hurt that bad and I can still walk so I refused.

I just found out that tramadol and the SSRI uptake inhibitors like prozac don't mix. All these drugs some of us get may have very bad interactions. The VA is supposed to have a program that points this out to PCP's and any other doctor that prescribes meds.

I think the signal for back surgery is if you have numbness down the legs and very severe pain. I would wait until I could not walk. I am thinking of the Boston Redsox pitcher, Tim Wakefield. He was doing ok, but because of the compression of the spinal cord his leg was almost useless. I think that is the kind of sign that you really need back surgery. I have back problems also. The doctors will ask how severe your pain is and if you say severe and agree to let them cut then they will cut. The outcome is uncertain. You may end up with scar tissue and the same pain you had before. These surgeries really worry me as anything can happen while you are put under and they start to cut around your spinal cord.

If you are TDIU and ask for housebound is this going to open you up for a re-examination? I take it the VA does not do a C&P exam for HB, but they need evidence. I have evidence in my ratings of conditions that would HB. I am just reluctant to open up another can of worms since I got a CUE boiling away, but I could use an extra 300 bucks a month. Since I am IU I take it from Berta's posting this is a cue issue. Would the plan be to simply request HB and then wait for a denial and then file a CUE? If I were 100% schedular for one disability I don't think I would hesitate. I am 90% for about 7 disabilites and have IU. I don't think I can want another mental status exam.

Ask you prospective rep if they have won many CUE claims. If they look at you like you are crazy then move on. Many VSO's do more harm than good. Yes, I would hire a lawyer for any claim that is going to be a burden on me, or require high level appeals, briefs, etc. If the lawyer wins you ten years of retro then they are worth the money. Some claims are going to be won, but the VA just stalls. Some are 50/50, and some really require a legal eagle. If you can't understand the issues and regulations as they relate to your claim then hire a lawyer. I think most of us know when we are getting screwed, but it sometimes takes expert help to prevail over the Dark Empire.

I would try and find a lawyer who will take the case. If you live in a larger city there are many SSD lawyers. Denials are what keep a lot of people in the SSA system employed including judges and lawyers. When you get a lawyer he will probably send you to doctors he works with to get new IMO's to prove to SSA that you are ready to breath your last breath. When you read their IMO's you will think " Am I really that bad?". I read mine and I did not quite recognize the person they were talking about, so I felt bad about my condition. Really, SSD is looking for someone who can't even be a greeter at Walmart. You can use the SSD material to help with your IU claim as long as it is for SC conditions. Most get denied the first time. I had doctors doing mine that were experts, so that is why I got mine the first time around.

Yep, that is what they did at my VAMC lab yesterday. They get four vets in the blood draw room and ask your your full name and SSA number in front of other vets. I was thinking the same thing that this is a violation of HIPPA. The VA is a federal agency and they disrespect HIPPA. They disrespect us, vets. My VAMC has that whole county jail in-take atmosphere. They process bodies, and do not serve people.

I think military spouses should get a medal and extra money because they are in the military also in a true sense. I get money from a private insurance policy for disability. One thing is that many of the group policies have riders that state that if you get SSD, VA or workers compensation money your annuity from insurance will be offset. However, the VA does not care about insurance money, but they do care about workers compensation insurance payments. Read your insurance policy!