Brandy

I requested SMR's online, signed the bar code form and sent it in. Received the information in about 2-weeks. I had asked for in and out patient records. They send me out patient records (about 10 pages) from when my husband had his nose fixed. It was broke when he was a child and never set. Since it caused him to have breathing problems they set it for him. They did not send any service records. What is strange is that they have these records but they included a letter with these pages stating that his other records had been sent to our VARO. I called and talked to someone there and they told me that if you are discharged from service due to disability that is claimed, that your records will be sent to your local VARO. I am just wondering why they did not get the above records (dated before the onset of his disability). Even though these records did not have anything to do with his disability from service, it makes you wonder if they pick and choose what records they pull from your file??? Why weren't these records sent to the VARO with the rest of them? After that, I called the hospital where he was an inpatient for about 6-months and asked if they still had any records. They told me that all Army veterans records were sent to the VA in 1992 from any military hospital. NARA list this info as well. It depends on when you were in the service. I just wanted to confirm with the hospital that this was the case.

David, I believe you stated in your previous posting after your exam you mentioned that "the C&P doc seemed more interested in my neck than my arms". It is obvious he was focusing on the cervical radiculopathy. I had the same problem. I have a herniated disc C5-6 protruding to the right. Because of this my doctor insisted on doing a EMG only on my right arm. I have told him time and time again that I get the same pain and symptoms in both of my arms. Did they give you a EMG? If not, maybe that's what you need to prove your case.

On 11/5 he had creatinine of 6.47, bun 95, hgb 10.8. Records state "if needed arrange for dyalisis. Dyalisis was never discussed with us. And he was admitted 2 more times after this for renal failure. They were getting ready to send him for dyalisis when he went into cardiac arrest. I think you can look at his history of lab work and see how far back his creatine levels were elevated. These numbers are extremely high. My husband has chronic renal failure stage 4 and has been holding his creatine level at just above 3.0. It has been as high as 6 and his kidney doctor said if this did not come down within a day that he would put him on dialysis. It only got this high because of an infection he got from a recent surgery he had. His highest bun level was 80. He has been a type 1 diabetic for 27 years and began showing potential kidney problems about 5-7 years after he was diagnosed with diabetes. Berta can help you with what and how to file. I would think you should file a 1151 for the fact that they did not discuss this with you after they diagnosed it or when it actually began, based on the medical records. What were these levels on his 3rd or 4th visit? If they were this elevated, they should not have released him from the hospital.

Big Al, John's right. The pain center is the right place to go. They will evaluate you and determine if blocks (shots) may be beneficial to you. I can tell you that all pain centers want to give you blocks as well as pain medication. The blocks have not worked for my burning pain in my shoulders. But I have talked with people that have benefited from them. If they want to start you on methodone, which I think most clinics do, be careful. I know it works different on everybody, but it made me so out of it I had to hold on to the walls as I walked I was so dizzy and spaced out. But they still made me stay on it for a month before they would switch me to something else. I take Topamax for migraine prevention and they make my head spin some times but they do help. But I don't think Topamax's primary use if for migraines. They prescribe it for other conditions as well. Once your doctor refers you the pain center should send you a questionnaire to fill out and bring in with you to your appointment which they will call you about. Once you begin to go to the pain clinic they will handle all of your pain problems. I recently found out that your referring doctor has to specify everything that he if referring you to them for or they will say that they are not treating you for that. They will have you sign an agreement, or most do, that you cannot get pain medication from any other source other than that pain clinic. That's why I am mentioning this. Even if something is not bothering you that much right now make sure your doctor mentions it on his referral to the pain center. Overall going to a pain center is the best way to go. They understand pain and will want to see you on a monthly basis, at least for the first 6-months. I believe that most of the doctors are neurologists. Hope everything goes well for you.

I am in a situation similar to Cavman. We have filed for IU among many other secondary conditions due to my husbands DMI. This is our first claim since his first evaluation right after service. He has been on SSDI since 1997. I specifically asked the VA in my first letter to them, asking for retroactive payment back to 1997 since he has not worked since that time. Of course, at that time I did not know too much about the VA or had not found this site. The only thing I knew was that if I did not ask for retro, they did not have to consider it. I have read that somewhere. John, so your saying the VA will pay you retro based on when you were determined to be totally unable to work and you don't necessarily have to request it?

Carlie, YOU SAID IT!!!! I guess I was raised in the old school ways. Respect your elders, do a good job, try to do your best and you know what? It works, respect others, take pride in what you do, no matter what it is. It absolutely amazes me how terrible customer service in all areas of businesses today. It could be retail, medical facilities, insurance, fast food, or the VA reps, the customer service is lousy. When you hear the person on the other end of the phone sigh, like you are bothering them, what does that tell you as the customer! They apparently have better things to do than talk to their customers. Their business customers that they are in business for HOPEFULLY TO MAKE MONEY? Who, knows... I refuse to talk with someone like this or I will have a few choice words for them, one or the other! The school systems today are teaching our kids in history classes about other countries, for example the arab culture. But they have not taught them about the attack on pearl harber. What is going on with our school systems today? Your absolutely right, "No longer are there consequences for screwing up". I can't tell you how many times in the last several years I've said "What happened to good customer service?". And this applies to the VA system as well.

I would call again later today so that you speak to someone else. They may give you a better answer. I have done this and sometimes I get a very nice person who goes the extra mile to give me as much information as possible. It just all depends on who you talk to. If your entitled to retro they may tell you that and how much.

Berta, You would not believe what one of the doctor's said to us. I just let him talk, and I listened. I have known for about a month now that I will file an nod. I am just trying to keep my mouth shut until we get a new rating. Then I file the NOD. We cannot drag out our current claim any longer. I was so busy trying to make sure they looked at medical documents that I had I forgot to find out their specialties, as John999 said. I knew that I should do this, just too much on my mind. I am going to call the VAMC and ask the receptionist about Dr. XXXX and what is his speciality? Wouldn't this also be on his report? I would think so. I am requesting copies of the exams, x-rays, lab, etc.

Timr, John made a good point. We had to meet with two different doctors on the same day. After we were finished with the first doctor and went down the hall to the other. The second doctor went down to the other doctors office and we could hear him saying some things then they closed the door. You definitly want a different doctor the second time around. Regarding your question: "Is the examaner still required to review my claims file before my examanation". I can tell you my husband just went for two of his exams a couple of days ago. The file the doctors had in front of them was not even 1/2 inch thick. My husband's file should be at least 6 inches thick. They had a sheet of paper there I am sure was from the RO telling them what to check/test for. The rest of the information is on the computer, (I looked at the computer screen), but only if you go to a VAMC or clinic and they are on the Vista system. I don't think all of them are. The problem I see with this is that our evidence at a VA clinic goes back prior to this new Vista system (80's & 90's). They cannot see that. Those medical documents were all hand written. I have copies of them that I requested from the local clinic. They cannot see all of the other medical reports that you have submitted to the RO from private doctors. I can only assume that maybe in that very small file they had, it could have contained some copies of his original SMR's. The second doctor's exact words to me regarding our medical information from private doctors, that we had submitted to the RO was "It means absolutely nothing to the RO, that's why they order the C&P exams". When the doctor said to my husband, oh, so you fractured your wrist? That told me he did not have original documents. My husband's hand was almost amputated almost 28 years ago. It was not fractured. I showed the doctor a copy of the original hospital summary of his injuries that explained in detail about the severity of his injury. He read it and said OK.

Well, that makes sense. I have noticed that my husband's hearing has been getting worse and worse especially the last couple of years. He has DM type 1. He is only 48 years old. And I have posted here all of the problems he has due to his diabetes with all the secondary issues. We should probably have him tested for his hearing. I guess we thought this was just due to getting older.... Thanks.

This is exactly what I was looking for! I recently requested copies of medical information from the local Va clinic and under the problem list they state the condition and this number next to it. This really helps me to understand this. They have CAD and "other specified disorders resulting from impaired renal function" listed as 414.00 and 588.8. They list these as 'service connected condition", but yet for renal failure they do not have as service connected. We only recently claimed renal failure (date entered 6/21/06) and CAD (date entered 10/14/05) and have not received a rating. My husband is going for a C&P exam next week for this. How can they list these as SC when we have not received a rating or any compensation? We filed the claim in Dec.2005.

Vike, Thanks, Vike. I guess I misled you. Sorry..... I used the 309.81 as an example. Some of the codes listed next to a medical problem by the local VA clinic are like: ECD-9-CM 588.8 and 414.00 (CAD) and 244.9 (Hypothyroidism) Do you know where I might find these?

That's a good point John. I will make sure I ask him what his speciality is. This exam for diabetes is supposed to cover all of the major medical issues of my husband's. So it is very important that he knows what he is doing.

Hello Everyone, I was wondering if anyone could help me with these two questions; 1. Is there a list posted anywhere that shows what the VA's codes mean, such as: Posttraumatic stress disorder 309.81 Where can I find the internal codes they use that shows the 309.81? or for GERD 530.81? 2. Where can I find the Army's list of disabilities similar to the VA's rating codes like: Diabetes Mellitus - Code 2509 (VA uses 7913) Thank you.

I finally got a call back from the C&P scheduler about what my husband's exam's are for. They said the he will be examined for: 1. Injuries to residuals: Wrist, Pelvis and chest/rid fractures with pulmonary contusion/pneumothorax 2. GM - Diabetes and all secondary conditions claimed. i.e. PN, Hypertension, CAD, kidney failure, etc. (this is the one that we thought was for "General Medicine". But it sounds like the RO specified to the examiner exactly what to check for. 3. Eye Exam - Claiming Diabetic Retiopathy Everyone ever had these type's of exam's? We are just wondering what to expect. For Hypertension I would think they would have to take blood pressure on 3-different days? Howerver, I did read that this may not be necessary if the medical evidence shows a history of HBP. We have submitted records showing diagnosis and readings dating back to 1980's from a VA clinic. They told me that I would not need to bring any records as long as I have already submitted them to the RO, because the examiner will have my husband's file. I still plan on taking some with us.

Rick, I'm sorry, but I did not say "Ranks are designed to let you easily identify members that have been active on the board the higher the rank the more experience the person has." Tbird said this. If you look at the postings from the bottom up, I explained how to find the posting from Tbird. He made the changes to the website and I was advising Rocky where to find the posting. When he could not locate it, I copied the posting from Tbird's post and posted it here. Please forward any questions or concerns to Tbird about the new rankings system. :) Thank you.

Did you request a copy of the exam? It seems like you would have received a copy by now, since it has been a couple of months ago since your exam

Yes, copies have been sent to the RO months ago. Thanks!

Jangrin, Thanks for the information. I will have to go thru the records and make copies of the most recent. I have well over 600 pages of medical reports.

This is a copy of Tbird's posting in the HadIt.com Member's Issues Forum. I've set up a new ranking sytem Min Posts Required Title 0 Newbie 1 Recruit 25 Seaman 35 Petty Officer 3rd Class 51 Petty Officer 2nd Class 101 Petty Officer 1st Class 201 Chief Petty Officer 351 Senior Chief Petty Officer 500 Master Chief Petty Officer 10000 HadIt.com Elder Minimum posts required does not count all posts. If you are posting in claims and research your posts will count. Please do not try and flood claims and research with extraneous posts to increase your post count. these posts will be deleted and your rank will be permanently reduced. Ranks are designed to let you easily identify members that have been active on the board the higher the rank the more experience the person has. do not confuse your rank with my authority B) -------------------- Tbird Webmaster

Tbird added this. Look at the Member Issue's Forum under the Veterans Forum and you can read it from Tbird.

Jangrin, 1. But won't that hurt our claim? He has so many secondary's, how can they check them all in one visit? 2. Also, should we take the medical information from years ago that prove he had hypertension right after service? We just found these records and have not submitted them to VA. But I believe that the VA already should have copies in his C-file. This hypertension thing is what I talked to you about in another thread that we may have to file a CUE or 1151 on and I am not sure we should bring it up just yet. They may have enough information being that he also shows hypertension was diagnosed by the local VA clinic years ago. 3. I call the number on the exam report and got answering machine every time. I left a message and they have not returned my call yet. 4. Will the examiner have his C-file when he does the exam? Or will he only have portions of his file?

Hello Friends, Can anyone tell me if I can request a copy of exactly what the RO requested to be examined? I know this is important information. I seen other posts about this and I think from what I read is that you have to wait until after the exam to request this information as well as the C&P examination results. Is this correct? We have claimed so many disabilities that I am just wondering what exactly the RO asked for. We have submitted to them recent lab work from private doctors and hospitals as well as VA clinic workups. Thanks.

John, I did read that about CAD will be secondary service connection. The funny thing is when we were switching all of my husband's med's to get them from the VA due to our financial situation and could not afford them. The VA doctor said he needed a copy of the EKG and a statement showing the ejection fraction. We got that to him and he said he needed to send it to the regional office for approval. We got it approved. Now that I have the clinics records they show that his CAD is service connected. But the renal failure, hypothyroidism, peripheral vascular disease, hypertension are not. How can it be listed as service connected when we have not received a rating decision or any compensation. The amputation is not service connected yet. These are all part of the current claim. He goes for a C&P the 27th of this month.

jangrin, Yes, I agree. Once I found out that we could make another claim for all the secondary conditions, I immediately started researching. Researching was part of my job for many years. I have been doing this research since late last year. I have obtained all of his hospital, doctors, VA, etc. info thru September of this year. I sent form to the national archives and they told me that his SMR's were at the VA regional office. This past week my husband remembered that he had some of his military records that could obtain medical records. So I went on a search and found them. This has statements in support of his request for TDRL from a captain at the hospital where he was treated. He at least listed all of the conditions, dates, etc. But he down played the severity of the injuries, just like the other VA and military doctors. There was one note from a doctor that treated him for his diabetes as soon as he got out of the hospital which went completely against the captain's (from hospital) statement had to say regarding his diabetes. The captain that was treating him said he was on a reduced diet and had his insulin listed correctly and showed his fasting blood glucose levels on three different dates and I think three different times of those dates: His BG was 250, 280, 161, 215, 520, 257, 150, 185, 305. He stated "Control is not optimum at the present time and further insulin adjustments (increase) are likely. I have to go back now and get the latest medical records. Because he was just in the hospital last month again. He was sick couldn't eat too much, stomach hurt all the time, various pains everywhere. Found out that he had two stones blocking the duct between his gallbladder and liver. They first thought is was the liver then the gallbladder. Finally after tons of test they found out where the problem was. They first went in and took out the stones which they said that area was full of infection and they didn't understand why he was not screaming with pain. After they did this they went in and removed his gallbladder. It's funny that in 2004 we had a doctor who specializes in this and he was doing all kind of tests to find out why his alkaline phosphatase was so high. They have been high for many years. After I got all of his records I noticed that when they tested him for something else they found this massive "sludge" surrounding the walls of his gallbladder in April 2006. The doctor that was checking found this as well in 2004 but ruled it out of being the problem. I'm wondering why his PCP did not check this out further as it was recommended by the doctor who analyized the test results in 4/06. By the way, I believe the VA had noted this in their records as well. They also noted that his creatine and BUN levels were high. Back when they wrote everything by hand they did not give me those lab reports during those first 9-years. I sent them a another request asking specifically for those lab reports. Those are critical to backup what the doctors stated and to see prove of lab work results. They do show the BP each visit. They also seen my husband on average 2 times a month. I know this is part of how they rate diabetes today but not back then. How often you have to see your diabetic doctor in order to keep control of your diabetes. I know I have some additional claims to file for various reasons. Since I have to give the VA some additional information in support of my claim that I did not send with this last VCAA notice, I really wanted to find out if I should bring up the records that I have from the local VA where they had diagnosed his hypertension. Not in a threatening way, but just to make them aware that I am aware of this.