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timetowinarace

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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About timetowinarace

  • Birthday 10/02/1967

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  • Location
    Idaho
  • Interests
    Horse Racing (not gambling)

Previous Fields

  • Service Connected Disability
    100%

timetowinarace's Achievements

  1. Well, there is no guarentee that that we will get paid. That is from Obama. http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7373061n&tag=contentMain;contentBody I dont't beleive we will need to worry but it's best to be aware and prepared.
  2. Okay, the appeals and new claims are slowing down the proccess. Yes, you'll receive C&P's for the new claims. Given the amount of problems you have, anxiaty and PTSD go along with tbi often, I strongly reccomend you have neuro-psych testing done. You may have more problems than you realize and your rating can be higher with the testing. The VA will have to sort out tbi problems with the anxiaty and PTSD since they co-mingle(symptoms of all three can be the same and overlap). They will be rated at the same time. Or should be.
  3. Did you file a claim for hearing loss & tinnitus? And was the hearing test a C&P? As the others have stated, you should have received conformation from the VA that the claims were received. You should do as others have said and check on them. Also, file on the hearing loss and tinnitus as you can be rated for them and they help confirm the injury. Also, do you have records of the RPG attack. medical or dental. Did you see anyone at the time? Is your tbi doc a psychiatrist or psychologist? You could use neuro-psych testing. It will help determine the extent of the tbi for treatment and more importantly for claims. It is neccisary(required) to have this testing in order to receive a higher than 40% rating for tbi related cognative problems(memory and attention, learning, ect)
  4. Well, it's kind of a personal choice wich route to go. There are pro's and con's to both. The pro for filing now is the effective date. If he is doing okay financially and does not need a quick decision(in VA terms) it could be okay to file now. The cons for filing now before PCP visit is denial and fighting for maybe years to keep the claim open and getting enough evidence to dispute a bad C&P. My opinion is that C&P docs are not prone to DX something that could be compensated. They will not order the tests needed and in my case, even though the test was ordered, the VA did not do it. C&P exams that are not favorable take allot of time and are difficult to overcome. It can be done, but it is very difficult. You need to be aware that it can be very difficult to get a tbi DX years after the injury, especially through the VA. There is a good probability that getting a DX through treatment channels(PCP referals) will be difficult. There is a high probability getting a DX through C&P will be unlikely and you will have to overcome that examiner's opinion to continue. After 39 years without the DX, I strongly suggest waiting to file untill he has a DX for tbi before filing for it. You lose the effective date but the claim has a better chance to succeed and will be much faster if you don't have to fight and appeal. My claim took years and required going to private health care to get proper tests. I weighted the cons pretty heavy, lol. It comes down to how important the effective date is to him. For some, it's worth the fight.
  5. I don't think there is anything you can do, unfortunatley. Not for back pay. But, I'm not an expert on such things. The TBI was mentioned in the C&P but then says it cleared up? I think this would prevent VARO from considering it an infered claim. TBI was hardly understood untill recently. It's still hit and miss.
  6. While that's true about DC8045, that code was used to rate residuals-subjective complaints. This, " He had to learn to reread, slowed mental ability, lack of concentration, emotionless" would be rated under DC9304-Dementia due to trauma(TBI or stroke or surgery). So yes, it's important to know what prior ratings were.
  7. HI. Well, that's a tough one. I think you'd get better advice posting this one in general claims section. There is a possibility that the C&P exam that mentioned the TBI should have been considered an informal claim, but I'm afraid without a formal claim there is not much you can do to get an earlier effective date. Again, those in general claims would be better at answering and might not see the post here. Are you satisfied with the current rating of 70%?
  8. Good catch Carlie. Well, that complicates things a bit more. Headaches can be included as a residual of TBI claim. They can also be rated seperate even as a residual. It is far better for them to be rated seperate as they(migraines) will add nothing to the percentage of a TBI rating in most cases though they are included with the residuals. The way the TBI rating works for residuals of TBI there is a list of possible residuals with a degree of functional impairment for each one. The total of a granted rating is given as the highest residual. So, if migraines were equal to or is lesser than another residual(symptom) such as cognative disorder, the headaches will technically add nothing to to the rating. That is why I suggested filing for the migraines now, as a seperate claim. You might still want to do this. When the VARO denied the TBI claim, they probably should have rated the migraines. You needed to have NOD'd on the migraines on the grounds that though the TBI was denied for lack of evidence, the migraines are still present(don't need a TBI to have migraines). Tbi and PTSD do over lap on symptoms. The old way, you would recieve one rating for PTSD and Dementia(cognative disorder) if both were present and a 10% rating for residuals. I am rated under old code with one rating for depression, anxiaty and dementia due to trauma. The new way, cognative disorder rated like a residual under 8045. It is very important to have the testing we've discussed because, 1. it will prove(or disprove) TBI and 2. you cannot be rated higher than 40% for cognative(memory proplems ect) without the testing.
  9. Okay, you need to see a neurologist for your migraines. There are many preventative medications to try that may reduce the amount and severity of the migraines. There are also medications that may help get rid of them when they do come. What works best for me to kill a migraine is Zomig. Preventatives have not helped. So, on your next PCP visit, or make an appointment now for PCP, explain the migraines and history and ask for referal to see neurologist. Also, I would file a claim for the migraines now. For the TBI, I would not file a claim yet. Since you have been denied once and appeal(or NOD) time has lapsed, it will be more difficult to overcome prior C&P exam that was done. The neurologist report could be used as new and material to re-open but likely won't be enough to refute the C&P for a favorable rating. I'm guessing a bit here though as I have not seen the prior C&P report but it's fairly standard for VARO that you will need substantial evidence to overcome previous denial. Yes, the "formal" neuropsychometric testing is what you need and what I was refering to. It will prove(or disprove) a claim for tbi that does not include paralysis. You need to show your PCP(preferably your psych PCP but your medical PCP too if you see them first) the neurologist report with the tbi probable diagnoses and testing reccomendation and get that neuropsych test done. Also request treatment. Once you have the results you can proceed with a claim. I hope this helps.
  10. Welcome to Hadit. Since the appeal time has lapsed on your denied TBI claim, you will have to re-open with "new and material" evidence. This new evidence, in your case, will be a diagnoses and treatment for TBI and residuals. So, I have some questions. You said you did the testing with the neurologist. What was the testing? Describe it to me please. If the neurologist sent you to a neuro-psychologist and you did a full neuro-pshycological test taking several hours to complete, you may have good evidence to procede. If not, you will need to gather more evidence/medical conclusions. You probably will need more anyway. I assume since you was not informed of the neurologist diagnoses that you are not currently being treated for TBI. Is that correct? I also have severe chronic migraines often. Are you being treated for yours? A neurologist is the doctor best suited to treat migraines. These can be diagnosed as Traumatic Migraines, as mine are, meaning that they occur because of injury. Your migraines, whether diagnosed as traumatic or not, can be rated on their own up to 50%. If you have been being treated for them, have a diagnoses and the doctor concurs that they began in service or shortly after, you can and should file for them seperately and not wait for the tbi claim. If not, you need to see a neurologist for dx and treatment. The key to VA claims is medical evidence. Even for the flat feet. Follow up on these items and get treatment, then you should have more success with your claims.
  11. This guide will not directly help with the VA. It is free to download and the author reqests donations of $5 for those that can afford it. http://www.tbiguide.com/ I highly reccomend reading it for those that are somewhat new to mild to moderate TBI. I gleaned much more knowledge of my TBI from this guide than from any source, including professionals. It is meant to give insight and understanding to TBI sufferers and family members about their TBI. Mods, please consider adding this as a sticky. I reccomend this guide often here and must look it up to include a link everytime(my own tbi problems, lol) Thanks
  12. This won't help with the VA but is great for a better understanding of mild to moderate TBI. http://www.tbiguide.com/
  13. Well, the vet center can't dx him so he needs to request a tbi exam through his PCP. If your confident he will get the dx(it will take some time) it could be benificial to file a claim now for the effective date if it will increase his rating. Sorry, I didn't look to see if his current rating was posted under his username. If he is already at 100%, there isn't much of an advantage to filing the claim untill he has a proper dx for tbi. I suggest reading the TBI Guide(free for download) I have posted links to in previous threads. If I have time, I will find it and post it here again. Take care.
  14. Welcome to Hadit. You didn't really mention any TBI symptoms or concerns other than the migraines in your post so I can't guess if you should file for TBI. If you have a TBI diagnoses, you can be rated for TBI and the migraines can either be included in the rating as a residual of TBI or you can have a seperate rating under the migraine DX code. The rating criteria for TBI is complicated in this regard. If you do not have a TBI diagnoses with residuals(other than the migraines) you can file for migraines. In most cases, I feel it is more benifitial to have the seperate migraine rating. You would simply file a claim for the migraines. I can't say for sure, in your case, without knowing if you have a TBI diagnoses and other residuals. Hope that helps.
  15. I suggest getting a copy of the C&P exam report. That way you won't have to guess what she put in in it and you can be prepared to NOD if neccisary after a decision. I have had C&P's that I thought went badly but the exam report was favorable. Untill we know what the C&P report says, there is no way to know how to procede. The rating office will look at your other records. Do you have a copy of the C&P exam report from the first desision? Or a copy of your c-file? edited to add: Okay, I suspect you don't have a copy of your c-file. Here is what I think you should do. Call VARO every so often to see if the new C&P report has been submited to your records. Once the new C&P is in your records/has been recieved by VARO, request a copy of your whole c-file. I have not personally dealt with VARO lately and only check the TBI forum now-a-days so I don't know how they deal with c-file requests now. If something procedural has changed, hopefully someone will chime in.
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