john999

I like Pete's idea about SSA records. If you can show no earnings for the last 30 years then that is good proof of "not" working. If you combine that with an opinion from a occupational specialist and maybe a shrink that you have not been "able" to work since leaving the military that seems like a pretty good case for IU. The VA low balled you as far as your rating, and they rely on this to get out of paying IU since they try and cling to the 70% SC rule for IU. The VA might also try and say you did not work because you did not want to work. Your claim, Betty, reminds me of mine. I could not work and my doctor plainly said it and, yet, the VA just gave me 10%. They would probably try and say that your SC mental condition was only one of many factors that made you unemployable. The "working at home" fiction is just one of those lies they like to throw in to explain why a vet is not working at a job. Stay strong because when faced with a major potential retro the VA gets inventive. They are going to throw the bathroom sink into the mix to try and stop you from getting the rating and retro you deserve. Their tactic will be to delay and confuse the issues until you get sick of it and go away. Use your new resources to fight these people. You should have the cash to buy the opinions you need.

Should I just take a copy of the echo interpretation to the outside cardiologist, or a copy of the actual echo. Is the echo on a disc and can I get the actual echocardiogram for an outside interpretation? I would like to get a complete workup. Stress test and all. I need to really have enough evidence to put my mind at ease. If I don't have any heart disease that would be good but I don't trust the VA's physician's assistant to tell me that. The VA has never sent me for workups on DMII secondary conditions without me raising the issue via a claim. Can you imagine your own private doctor waiting for you to bring up the need for diagnosis and treatment of HBP or eye problems if they knew you had DMII? There follow up on secodary DMII conditions is a scandal. There is no follow up. This is world class treatment?????

yes, they will prick your feet to see if you feel it and ask you about your symptoms. They should have done an EMG before the C&P exam. They want to see if your feet and hands are numb. If you have pain tell them you have burning and tingling pain. It is pretty subjective.

Have the chiropractors helped because I have the same thing and it hurts just to type or hold a book. Have you tried a nerve block. I think most of the other invasive treatments probably risk more damage than you have now unless it gets very much worse with the stenosis. These are the kinds of injuries that makes life miserable but won't kill you. I can't see you sitting at a computer 8 hours a day. Do you get pain at the base of your neck, amd spasms in your traps and upper back?

Since this whole thing will take time you might want to make an appointment to go and look at your C-File to see what is in it. I caught the VA just in time to stop them from shipping my claim off to the BVA when I was asking for a DRO. They had somehow got it into their minds I wanted a BVA hearing. You really need to verify every thing the VA tells you they are going to do.

Ask for a personal hearing with the DRO.

rentalguy It was the same with my DMII. My records were full of "glucose intolerance" and words to that effect, but not DMII. Not until I got the diagnosis of DMII did I get service connected. I had all the symptoms of DMII but not the official VA diagnosis. The VA seemed to carefully avoid saying those words until I forced their hand. This is a game they play just to save a buck.

I agree with that 100%. Also, if I had a life threatening emergency I would not go to the VA ER. Saving money does not help you if you are dead.

Right, if your original decision became final the only way to get an EED is to file a CUE. I don't think there is any downside to filing a CUE. That would be a question for the members here to discuss.

When I have important evidence to give to the VA I do hand carry it to them, and get a date stamped copy. Have you ever seen your C-File at the VA? It is in a big, fat folder. The VA never even looks in it unless you ask for a copy. If the information is not on top of the file folder or in a temporary file for the sake of development of a claim it might as well be at the bottom of Fort Knox. Try and imagine a VARO mailroom. My VARO gets over 10,000 pieces of mail a week. Think of those government employees standing around talking about their pensions and looking at the clock until the next coffee break. That is why your information gets lost or ignored. The VA could not even find my DD214 after 25 years.

Yes, the VA does not want to spend the money. It is not that they hurt. It is that they hurt the VA's pocket book. They woul rather give you false teeth. They would be glad to pull all your teeth and give you some false ones. Who wants care from a provider who only concern is how much it will cost them? I am really fed up with the VA in all respects. If they would give me a buyout option I would take it.

I had the echo but the VA exam minimized it. Should I just go to a cardiologist and ask for a work up? I don't trust the VA at all.

I was recently given a C&P for Arteriosclerotic heart disease. The VA's own disability exam worksheet says the examiner to provide the METs level determined by exercise testing except if the exercise testing in contraindicated. All I got was an echocardiogram at rest and the PA listened to my heart with her scope. Was I given an adequate exam, or did I get the cut rate variety. There is not contraindication that would indicate I could not have had a stress test. The PA even misrepresented the results of the echocardiogram. I got a copy of the VA exam sheet, but it seems very skimpy. Is there some place I can look to more information on how the VA determines the degree of heart disease that should be identified by an C&P exam. I did not even get a chest x-ray. The exam said no heart disease but vascular artery disease. If I have deposits in my legs what is to say I don't have deposits in my aorta? I don't see that this exam I got shows much.

Purple If the VA can't provide the care you need then, by all means, they should contract it out to someone who can. I know the military does this all the time with mental health care. You are entitled to this care so don't let them off the hook.

The claims that were denied would have to be re-opened. The claim you got 30% for is a claim for an increase. You don't need new and material evidence for the increase. New evidence would help to rebut what the VA said when they only awarded 30%. You would want an IME that directly rebuts the reasons for granting only 30%. Your new IME should explain why you should have a higher rating. If it is for a mental thing then you want a diagnosis, GAF, and a reasoned argument backed by medical evidence. This is how I did it. The VA denied me every step of the way and I would go back and get the SOC and take it to the new doctor and show this to them and explain what I was trying to accomplish. Since they were getting paid they got the hint. We have to maintain the fiction that we are getting IME's or IMO's just like the VA maintains the fiction that your C&P exam is truly fair and that you are getting the benefit of the doubt. The reason I really started fighting my claim was the damned lies and bias in my C&P exams and my decisions. The part where the VA just makes things up to bolster their ratings gets me angry, and wanting to fight back.

Larry That sounds like a possible CUE to me. When the VA was put on notice that you were on SSDI for your SC injury that was an inferred claim for IU. This according to the VBM. That should be your effective date for IU. Do you have the actual record of the VA being notified about your SSDI status? I think I would try and get a lawyer because that means possible retro and this is what interests our legal eagles. The VA never admits these things. It has to be rammed down their throats with a legal shoehorn. Another way to look at it is that you have an unjudicated claim for IU dating back to when the VA were notified you were unemployable. The VA will probably lie and say they considered the fact you were on SSD and still only granted 20%, but reasonable minds could come to a different conclusion. Their argument seems to be unreasonable. Either they never got the SSDI information or they got it and never considered it. You did not get due process. How can you get due process when vital information and evidence is not considered?

I would call around your area and see if there are any lawyers doing vet claims. They usually want you to sign a contract. They would want to see a copy of your NOD to make sure if is after June 20th 2007. My lawyer is Karl Kazmierczak 1-877-527-5529. He would probably want to look at your C-File. He is in New Jersey. If you can find someone close it might be easier since you have short notice. DRO Hearings are very short and to the point. You should plan on shaping your claim to go all the way to the court if necessary. That is what lawyers are for in my opinion.

If things get really bad go to the VA ER and get yourself admitted. I mean it. That is what these people are there for is to handle emergencies and suicide is an emergency. Plus they will probably increase your rating after being locked up for a few days in the rubber room. I should know.

If we get anything over 3% cola I will be shocked. Food and energy are not counted in the cola formula. Computers and big screen TV's are counted, so if they go down a hundred bucks there goes the cola. Inflation will have to be burning hot for us to get a 6% COLA. Regardless, if you live on a fixed income you are going to be getting poorer day by day. My electric company wants to increase rates by 40 bucks a month. I don't think these kinds of things go into the cola either.

That's a homerun.

You really are getting one more bite at the apple before it goes to the BVA. You can win your claim just as easy at the VARO than waiting two years for a BVA appeal. The VARO is really the logical place to fight your claim. You have the absolute right to a personal hearing at your VARO. This is really above and beyond the DRO process. I don't think you are limited to one hearing. By staying in the face of the VARO you can accomplish a lot through the fact they just want to get rid of you. It is called the "Pest" doctrine.

Ask for a personal hearing with the DRO.

Unless it is an emergency I would sure want to meet the doctor before I let him operate on me. At the VA you would be meeting the medical student before surgery.

Topomax is another drug they prescribe for chronic nerve pain.

Morning reports and After Action Reports may be the only hope if he does not have combat awards like a CIB or PH.