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jeeperrs

Third Class Petty Officers
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jeeperrs last won the day on March 17 2014

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About jeeperrs

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  • Service Connected Disability
    50%
  • Branch of Service
    Army

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  1. One last question before I see the Dr on Friday. I have been service connected for Chondromalacia for 16 years in both knees at 10%. What happens if the Dr states the diagnosis should not be Chondromalacia and is RA? Do I have to reprove service connection since I have been treated under a wrong diagnosis and service connected for all these years in both knees? I have been googling what happens when a service connected diagnosis changes and cannot find anything except for PTSD and Anxiety.
  2. I looked the form up and see where it says to have the VA doc fill it out. I see my new doctor on Friday. Hopefully he will be reasonable and fill the form out. I would like for the VA to pay for the medical bills by making it service connected. The most frustrating part is when you can't get a doctor to do what needs to be done for the rating. I know they don't want to make a mess of things but it is also required on our end to get things done properly. I thought my VA life was going to be a downhill run after winning the BVA appeal. Now the doctors had to go and change diagnosis and make me work the system all over again. LOL
  3. I apologize for sounding dumb, what is a DBQ? Also, do VA doctors usually do a DBQ or will I need to find a private doctor to write that up?
  4. I was MEB in 2003 for Supraventricular Tachycardia. I was also service connected for knee pain in both knees. I have been getting treatment for my knees with the VA since I left the Army by having steroid injections several times a year. Through the years I started having problems with many of my joints. My PA and I had a conversation during my last injection that maybe something else was going on and causing the problems in my knees. She called the Rheumatoid Arthritis doctor and ordered a panel of labs. I have been tested positive and diagnosed as having RA. RA is not only liked to joint pain but to arrhythmia issues that I was service boarded from the military. The doctor is changing my treatment plan for my knees and heart with the new diagnosis. The reason for the delay in diagnosis was due to the fact RA is not the most commonly tested illness for the medical issues I have been being treated. Can I service connect the RA to my knee and heart issues with the new RA diagnosis? All lab work and diagnosis is through my VA clinic and doctors. There should be little argument on the diagnosis and treatment changes. Last question, if they connect the RA to my knees and make it service connected, can I then add all the joints being treated (I have a long history of injections in many joints and the spine for inflammation that is documented on MRIs). Thanks for any feedback. I am just not familiar how a major change in diagnosis impacts previous service connection ratings and decisions.
  5. I finally got my BBE. They denied the earlier effective date. I was a little shocked but then I noticed it was a different judge who made the ruling, a judge I have never talked to or be notified. He ruled that it was not a CUE because the VA used the evidence at hand, even though that evidence may have been incorrect records. My big question is, can they change a ruling judge and not tell you? You can see my previous links and the Judge I had the hearing with, who made both remands, is name BARBARA B. CROPLAND. The new docket number they gave me was 15-00 864. It is too early to find it in the BVA web search but the signing judge denying my claim is J. Parker. I thought they had to notify me if my case was changing judges.
  6. eBenefits had showed my appeal as being in administrative processing for the last two weeks. I checked today and it is now listed as an historical appeal with today's date. I can only guess that a decision was made, as it never showed to be with a VLJ or anything. Of course I checked the effective dates and nothing has changed and I can't see if a letter has been sent. Maybe I will have some news by next week. :)
  7. I finally have a new update. When the judge remanded my case the second time the file was mishandled. The judge ordered the local office to send me an SOC about setting my backpay to the time I left the Army. Of course they denied my backpay to the 2003 date in the local SOC. Even though this order was a remand, the processor issued me a NEW docket number, with a date of June 2015. I made numerous calls and had my calls escalated. In the end, the VFW in Washington D.C. said the new docket number was the correct thing to do, since it had a new SOC and I had to file a new Form 9 (the judge ordered all these steps in her remand). This infuriated me, as the case was a remand and now I would have to wait as if it was a new claim. At this point, I had given up motivation and decided to just wait it out. I checked my file in Feb and it was still in line waiting to be heard. I finally had enough with waiting and wrote a letter stating the file needed to be advanced since this was a remand and not a new order. I attached a copy of the BVA order stating it was a remand. Today I received a letter from the BVA granting my advancement on the docket, as this was in relation to the original hearing in 2009. I just checked ebenfits and my case is in "administrative processing", so it really is moving forward. Maybe I will receive a decision soon and my 13 years of fighting with the military and VA over false documents, mixed lab reports, wrong readings of my heart monitors by VA officials, and a proper discharge percentage will be resolved. So far I have won the first portion and been granted the increase in rating, the judge also over ruled the initial date for payment the local office tried to give me. HOPEFULLY the BVA will now make them correct my file from when I left the Army in 2003 instead of the current 2009 date. I hope my updates over the years has helped someone along the way. :)
  8. Since the judge remanded my case a second time, it took until the end of December for the regional office to issue an SOC explaining why they did not award prior to the award date. They received my form 9 on Jan 3. The RO still has not forwarded my case back to the BVA for the judge to issue her decision, as the remand order has been completed. The Oklahoma RO had been very good about moving my case in the remand. I know the RO made an error processing the remand, and I think that error is still causing it to go slow. Fingers crossed my case gets moved back to the BVA this year. To clarify, this remand is only for a back pay, as the award was made last year. Regardless, it was a win for me. :) Here is a link to the new remand: http://www.va.gov/vetapp14/Files5/1440068.txt
  9. I received the order from the BVA today. There were two important issues discussed. 1. Entitlement to an increased rating for SVT in excess of 10 percent, from Jan 26, 2009, to Sep 23, 2009 2. Entitlement to an earlier effective date for an award of 30% rating for SVT. The judge really seemed to stress bring up the overwhelming evidence that is in my favor as she wrote her Reasons and Bases for Findings and Conclusions. Her order said: "A 30 percent rating for supraventricular tachycardia is shown to be warranted from the date of the Veteran's claim on Jan 26, 2009. To this extent the appeal is granted, subject to the controlling regulations governing the payment of monitory benefits." This order was big because the RO dated my initial award for September 2009 and the judge overruled them and said that it will be dated to Jan 2009. I believe her order supports her remand and what she expects the RO to do during the remand. So, this is the new remand: "Regarding the matter of an earlier effective date for an award of 30 percent rating for supraventricular tachycardia, the appellate brief submitted by the Veteran's representative included language that may be taken as a notice of disagreement with the effective date of the award. As a consequence, he has sought to appel the assignment of the effective date, which is Jan 26, 2009, as a result of action taken by the Board herein. To date, the Veteran has not received a Statement of the Cose related to this issue, so this claim must be remanded for compliance with Manlincon v. West. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action. The veteran must be provided an SOC on the issue of an effective date earlier than January 26, 2009, for the award of 30 percent rating for supraventricular tachycardia. If and only if the Veteran files a timely substantive appeal, should this issue be returned to the Board." Since the judge already gave an earlier effective date once, I think she will support the fact that my medical records were compromised while on active duty and that I should have always been rated at 30 percent. I am thankful she didn't just close this out and send me to the back of the line. At least I will get another back paycheck for a few more months, if not for a few more years. :)
  10. The VLJ remanded my file and stated that my effective date will be when I last filed my appeal, which is Jan 2009. The judge also stated that if I wish to file a form 9 to appeal my effective date back to the time I left the Army the file would immediately be returned to the BVA. I find this to be very good. I won't have to start all over and my docket number won't change. I think the judge knows I deserve the earlier effective date but that was not my initial appeal and she can't rule on that yet. Now that I have the rating I was seeking, I can appeal the effective date and it will go back to my VLJ. I am very pleased.
  11. The BVA VLJ just made another decision yesterday. I won't receive the packet until this coming week but I am pretty sure the judge remanded the claim for a second time, as it is going back to the AMC. My guess is that the judge opened my previous claims for increase due to the new evidence and is giving the RO a chance to correct the effective date. I am not upset about this remand as it is keeping my file alive (plus I did get most of my backpay already). I will keep this thread updated, as my claim seems to still be happening. :)
  12. I have had an interesting chain of events happen since my appeal. The VSO in DC called me to find out if there was anything I needed them to do. I explained that the date of payment should have been from when I left the Army due to the medical error. He said that he could not help with that, as my appeal was for increase in rating and not the rating date (I don't know how you challenge a rating date when you don't have the rating). Anyways, he talked to some people and said he would note my file about the issue, if I wanted to appeal the effective date. I have been watching my appeals as it did show it was with the VSO when they called me. However, a couple weeks ago it showed that it was back at the Veteran Law Judge. The VLJ has registered having my file 5 times in the last month. I wonder if they are reviewing the effective date since the RO decision was not back to the time I filed my appeal. So, I now have a "closed appeal" and an "open appeal". I will post both for you to see timelines and what is happening. This is the current "open" appeal: Date of Progress Progress Progress Office 03/31/2009 Local VA Office Decision RO 11/09/2009 Notice of Disagreement (NOD) RO 03/17/2010 Statement of the Case (SOC) RO 04/09/2010 Substantive Appeal (Form 9) RO 07/27/2011 Certification of Appeal RO 05/02/2014 Received by BVA BVA 05/02/2014 Administrative Case Processing BVA 05/02/2014 With VLJ BVA 05/05/2014 With VSO BVA 05/06/2014 With VSO BVA 05/07/2014 With VSO BVA 05/08/2014 With VSO BVA 05/14/2014 With VSO BVA 05/27/2014 With VSO BVA 06/27/2014 With VLJ BVA 07/08/2014 With VLJ BVA 07/08/2014 With VLJ BVA 07/15/2014 With VLJ BVA 07/15/2014 With VLJ BVA This is the "closed" appeal from when I received my retro payment Date of Progress Progress Progress Office 03/31/2009 Local VA Office Decision RO 11/09/2009 Notice of Disagreement (NOD) RO 11/16/2009 Appeal Pending RO 03/17/2010 Statement of the Case (SOC) RO 04/09/2010 Substantive Appeal (Form 9) RO 01/11/2011 Supplemental Statement(s) of the Case (SSOC) RO 07/27/2011 Certification of Appeal RO 12/29/2011 Received by BVA BVA 12/29/2011 Administrative Case Processing BVA 10/15/2013 With VLJ BVA 10/15/2013 With VLJ BVA 10/23/2013 With VLJ BVA 11/18/2013 With VLJ BVA 11/19/2013 Pending Dispatch BVA 11/19/2013 Decision & Claims File Dispatch AMC 11/21/2013 Decision & Claims File Dispatch AMC 05/02/2014 Decision & Claims File Dispatch RO
  13. As of today the retro finally came through. The fight is finally over :) Stanval, I am not finding a direct number for that RO online. However, look through your paperwork. That is where I found the phone number for my RO.
  14. Well, I am sure I could google it but I took the phone number off the form requesting a copy of my C&P exam. My local VA is not the RO, so they had to fill out a form and send it to the RO to get a copy of the C&P. On that form was the RO's address and phone number, so I just called it and asked to speak to somebody about an appeal I currently have open.
  15. It pays to be nice to the RO. I called my RO last Friday. They actually let me talk to the Appeals Supervisor. I asked him if he could check into my appeal, as it has been "waiting for authorization" for a month and a half. He started looking into my case and noticed the "authorization" part I was talking about and that an official rating letter should have been mailed a month ago. He said he would call the AMC and see if he could get it resolved that day or by Monday (I called at 1:30 central time on Friday). Well, it is now Monday. I checked my ebenefits and my rating officially went to 50%! I never thought something would happen so fast. As frustrating as the process has been, it is nice to finally get to the other side. Now I just have to wait for the retro to come. :)
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