john999

The only way to find out for sure is to file a claim. If you can show you were on light duty maybe that would help bolster your doctor statement. The problem is, of course, that it has been ten years since you were discharged and your SMR's are silent on a back injury. That not good!

AO can cause certain kind of lung cancer. I don't know how many kinds there are but the VA makes a distiction I believe.

Your unit in Iraq may have a website you can visit. My unit in RVN has a website. That is how I met up with an old buddy I had not heard from in 35 years.

I am still using DOS. I am going to learn 4tran soon.

Do you combat action badge? That would verify your stressor. I thought that you guys in Iraq who don't have combat MOS, but are exposed to combat situations get the CAB instead of CIB.

Carlie Excuse me on that "kill a man" statement. I listen to all these old blues albums and they are always talking about the "blues can kill a man" etc. The singers were all men so what can you imagine.

Go with the CAD and HTN as secondary to DMII. That is much easier that PTSD. CAD is almost a given with DMII if you live with it long enough. They don't really know why CAD and DMII go together but if you have DMII you are much more likely to get heart and artery problems like blockages. I am SC for CAD as secondary to DMII. They noticed my problem when they did a CT scan of my leg. There was calcification in the arteries. So I took it to the next step and had heart examined. DMII has so many complications that are accepted by the medical commnunity without controversy. How are your eyes? Do you have PN?

1-3 years sound just about right for the BVA decision. The decision may be a remand back to the VARO. This can easily add another year to get another decision. You may not like this decision so you appeal it. Now you are off to the races again hopefully adding new evidence. You might be able to break this cycle by trying to win your claim at the VARO if it gets remanded back. You could go to DRO with new evidence. You should add new evidence if you can to just overwhelm them. I guess this might modify your effective date but you want to win in your life time. The BVA, Remand, BVA cycle can just kill a man.

You got punched by the VA. We all have fat lips from that experience. I have a claim that goes back 38 years (CUE). Regular appeals should not take that long if you have all your ducks in a row, but ask Berta about that. They made her wait 6 years and she had the best evidence. They did this by just refusing to read it. If the VA gets a hair up the ass on your claim they just dig in their heels.

You know when you get a cardiac or mental health C&P done by a PA you are getting a person whose only qualification is that they can read the disability sheet given them by the VA. They ask questions right from the list and if they are in a hurry they just skip tests or other objective or subjective findings. This is a disgrace and goes right to the cheapness of the VA. I have had horrible C&P exams in the past. If not for IMO's I would still be at 30% with no hope. I have had 10 minute mental health C&P exams frequently in the past. All they want to know is "Are you working or do you hear things or see things other people don't see or hear?"

The thing is that PF and heel spurs don't usually limit your ROM. They just hurt when you walk or stand. You can also get a fibroma from PF. I have that as well. I don't know how they rate all that. I have PF and PN. I wish my feet were completely numb so I did not feel pain. I had PF in service but I thought everyone's feet hurt in the Army.

Many of these drugs actually cause amnesia. Ambien being the worse. Take two Ambien before going to bed and if you wake up before you get 8 hours sleep you may forget your own name.

Heel spurs are not what makes your feet hurt. Your feet hurt because of PF. The spurs grow because the PF is being torn away from the bone due to strain on the fascia. Does the VA really give separate ratings for heel spurs and PF? I have had PF for years and my private doctors never do operations to remove heel spurs, but they do operate to cut fascia sometimes to relieve strain. I would not have surgery done for either condition unless I was desparate. I have never heard of people having painful heel spurs without having PF. The PF is attatched to your heel. When it tears away from the heelbone you get the spurs but they are a symptom of PF not a cause. You ought to get at least 10% for the PF.

Yes, and there are a couple of drugs for this condition that help. Neurontin and lyrica are the drugs that most doctors give for PN. You can look at the sechedule for rating disabilites to see how your symptoms compare with ratings. It is considered a nerve condition or neurological condition. It does get worse for many and spreads from the feet to the legs towards the center of the body. The big danger is that you injure your feet and are unaward due to numbness and get infections that end with amputation. Great news, right? It happened to a guy I know who had DMII and PN and ignored his foot injury until too late.

I think your VSO is talking about a reconsideration instead of an appeal via a NOD. You have already filed the NOD asking for a DRO. I would just be sure to ask for a DRO Hearing. The reconsideration is not a magic process whereby you jump all the hurdles of the appeals process. The same people that denied your claim the first time will be looking at it again even with new evidence it may not fly. If you go past the one year mark while waiting for the reconsideration you have gone past your chance to appeal the claim. Then you have to start over with new evidence and you have lost your effective date. You are just as likely to get denied on reconsideration as an appeal to DRO. You might as well go for the DRO now. The NOD is the basic tool for all appeals except a reconsideration. I would rather be safe and file the NOD and preserve my effective date.

I would say a couple of years if it is regular BVA review. If you want a personal hearing it could take longer. I would go with the personal hearing from traveling board. I think it is always better to get a personal hearing on these issues. It shows you are ready to go to the wall.

Check the exam for heart conditions to be sure they do a complete exam. I got an exam from VA and a PA did it. It was a joke. I went back and checked to see if she did it right and it was inadequate. I got my PCP to send me for testing. On appeal I went from 0% to 60% rating. The VA will shortchange you on these exams. Unless you keel over on the treadmill they tend to overlook major problems. My C&P did not include treadmill, chemical stress test or even an x-ray. The PA just guessed and filled in the blanks. It was a crime.

Tell them you have given your guns to your brother or something. They don't check. Unless you tell them you are going to commit suicide and have a plan they are not going to send you to the mental ward. Don't hold anything back, but be aware that the VA has a duty to protect you from yourself if they think you are really going to off yourself or someone else. You should ask for mental health referral.

I would appeal the 30% for depression. What are the markers for fibro. I may have it because I have none arthritic pain that is muscular but it hurts like hell in my back. I don't have really bad discs and it is a mystery to me and I get the feeling the docs think it is in my head. If you tell a doctor that you have a emotional disorder and also have pain you just shot yourself in the foot. They write you off as a nutcase unless you have a broken bone.

Boilerplate

It does not follow that because the VA sucks that universal health care is a bad idea. Medicare is universal health care for those over 65. If everyone had medicare how would that be bad? It might cost money in tax dollars, but that money gets spent anyway on Aircraft Carriers and wars we don't need to fight. If you are going to slam universal health care every chance you get then some of us are going to oppose that view. Every other civilized nation in the world has some sort of universal health care. We have a bunch of insurance companies that tell doctors what they can do and what then can't do. Is your opposition to universal care based on ideology that whatever is from the government is bad and whatever is for profit is good? Just try taking medicare away from seniors and see the reaction you get.

Yes, you can get Medicare part B, but you probably have to pay the penalty that Pete is talking about. I would pay it to have a fall back position from the VA. I mean the VA can turn around and deny you care and then you have to fight them all the way. Another thing is if you need surgery you don't get to choose your doctor at the VA. It is a big HMO of the worst kind. You need a heart operation and a resisdent does it while the real MD phones in instructions from the beach in Mexico.

If you want to worry about what the government is doing with your health care I just got back from my private pain doctor. Now if he prescribes for me I have to take a piss test for him which is reported to DEA. I advise all those out there on VA pain management to get a private pain doctor now before it becomes impossible to even talk to one of these guys unless you are wired as a undercover informant. Regarding medicare before there was medicare old people had no health insurance because no company would insure them. The two programs the government has done right are SSA and medicare. I support a single payer system. What we have now is every doctor has a big staff just to figure out how to get paid by all these money grabbing insurance companies. They have 25-30% overhead for the private health plans. Medicare has a 1% overhead charge. The reason some doctors have problems with medicare is because the insurance industry uses its clout in congress to encourage our politicians to reduce medicare payments to doctors. Most doctors like medicare because they get paid with no hassel. I have never had a doctor refuse medicare. I have had one refuse BC/BS. Not one of us here could go out in the private market, and buy health insurance for less than $1000 a month and that would include no care for pre-existing conditions. If you get a chance to get medicare you better grab it. The government has 500 billion for defense they can spend some on us for our health. If you have medicare you have a choice. If you think the VA is mistreating you then you go private. No medicare then you are stuck with your wonderful pain management at the VA where you can get kicked off the plan for parting your hair on the wrong side.

I took mirtrazine and it just knocked me for a loop. I was asleep on my feet for two days. I hate that kind of stuff. Neurontin does that to me as well.

As long as you are not working you should be OK. The reason for taking away TDIU is if the Vet is working at above the poverty level job. Just tell them you have not worked and can't work.