smoothc100

I’m going in for disk decompression surgery for the second time in 2 years in October. I will be on 30 days convalescent leave and 6 months for full recovery. I know I will be at a temp 100% for the 30 days, but will this also cover the recovery period?

Mine took about 6 months, but I've seen someone receive their file in 2 months. I think it depends on the Regional Office your assigned to.

Berta, Thank you. I will try the presumptive, but I was medically retired 14 February 2014 and officially diagnosed with diabetes by the VA on October 04, 2016, well at least that's the date on my problem list. Can you claim a secondary condition as a presumptive?

I am currently service connected for herniated disk 20% with radiculopathy 10%, bilateral plantar fasciitis 30%, and PTSD 70%. I was diagnosed with diabetes type 2 in 2015 a year after I was medically retired for my back and radiculopathy. I go to the VA for treatment and can not get a DBQ from the VA, which unfortunately has been the norm for me. So I am looking at obtaining a nexus for diabetes as a secondary condition. My question is do I connect it to the physical disabilities or the mental? I'm looking a more the physical i.e. the herniated disk and radiculopathy as the mental seems to be harder to have approved. Does anyone know who I could obtain this nexus from? I live in MD. I've used Valor Compensation before, but in this case they told me they could not connect this condition as a secondary. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Sunnyh, I have used Valor Compensation Consulting and Dr. Valette for my NOD for PTSD. After 5 years of waiting and 2 C&P exams within a month or 2 from each other I was approved. Dr. Valette disputed the previous C&P exams and does a very good job on the IMO worth every penny in my opinion. It took both IMOs to have the VA schedule the C&P exam.

anxiousinMD, Do you work for the Federal Government? If so you can apply for disability retirement especially if your still on FMLA. This recently happened to a friend of mine, which she was out of the office so much due to her disabilities they had to let her go, so they medically retired her plus the disability social security kicked, because they make you file both at the same time.

Gastone, Yes, it did look pretty unfavorable, but after submitting all the notes from my therapy sessions (4 years) at the Vet Center and a recent IMO. I then filed a claim for anxiety and depression since the VA already stated I had it due to military service. When I went to my C&P exam the examiner diagnosed me with PTSD instead then a month later I had a PTSD exam, which confirmed the findings. Yes, you right it will put me around 90%. Buck, I never had sleep apnea in my military records just sinus and insomnia. The VA did the sleep study and diagnosed me with sleep apnea. I'm thinking of a secondary for PTSD or my back pain. I'm currently looking for a certified sleep specialist in my area.

Coastie72, Once your claim is initiated if you have E-Bennies account you can scan and upload evidence to your claims that way as well, so you won't have to drive to the VSO or RO. Never hold on to any evidence I was in the same situation as you are and once I got on hadit.com I've been moving in the right direction on my claims.

Gastone, I am finally SCed for PTSD 70% at the moment they are trying to figure out the retro, so I have not received the official brown envelope in the mail. I saw a copy of the decision in my C-file and confirmed the rating with case management. My SC are: 70% PTSD, 20% herniated L5-S1 disk, 10% right lower extremity radiculopathy, 0% nephrolithiasis (kidney stones), and 50% bilateral plantar fasciitis.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I plan on looking for a specialist in my area. I have the diagnosis and the CPAP from the VA, but of course they say its not service connected. I'm going to need a nexus statement.

Has anyone used Medical Opinions Associates, Inc. for an IMO? If so what was your experience and the fees. I'm trying to obtain an IMO for my sleep apnea. The current company I was dealing with has been nonresponsive as of late.

Wablackwell, Not sure if you have filed yet or not, but the DBQ will definitely trigger the VA to complete a C&P exam. Its been my experience after filing with documentation from an outside provider I was scheduled within a month or two after submitting the evidence. Along with your DBQ and the letter if you were deployed you should highlight your campaign medals and expeditionary medals on your 214. it wouldn't hurt to have the orders and order your LESs from DFAS showing you were receiving hazardous duty and or hostile fire pay.

KO1345, Are you retired? If so you can use the MTF (military treatment facility) if you have Tricare and I think if I'm not mistaken for any LOD injury as long as you have the LOD when you go to the MTF. If not then I would pursue the referral in order to receive the pain medication you need. I stopped going to Pain Management at the VA, because of the medication issue and it was hard to be seen and started going the MTF.

I'm not really sure why it would say 100% in ebennies for PTSD. The only thing that comes to mind would be the fact they are basing your TDIU on request on your PTSD.

Osccore9, If you're looking for information outside of what you can pull up on ebennies then the answer is "Yes". The individual will tell you exactly what you already know and if you ask a question they will give you the standard VA line "Your claim is currently being processed if we need any information from you, you will be notified" or something very close. There is a case management number you can call and they are more inclined to tell you what is going on with you claim, but only after it hits the 6 month mark in most cases. Usually the closer the claim gets to 6 months it moves from gathering dust to prep for decision rather quickly, which has been my experience.

I finally received the exam in the mail, which now I'm totally confused as to why I am having another C&P exam even though its for PTSD instead of depression and anxiety. The C&P examiner diagnosed me with PTSD during the exam and also filled out the contractor version of the PTSD DBQ. The examiner also stated the following, "Veteran had no mental health issues prior to service. Veteran now meets criteria for diagnosis of PTSD, identified in the report, which are related to the claimed/identified in service stressor(s). Symptoms meet DSM criteria for the disorder. Veteran meets criteria for PTSD. Symptoms of depression and anxiety are subsumed within the PTSD diagnosis which was incurred during military service." The examiner checked the box least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability).

Buck, Thanks for the advise. I've done most of the things you've mentioned. I'm still waiting on my C-File unfortunately. I was being seen at the VA during my time in the Air Force (Reservist), so they have my treatment records already. It seems the are not wasting anytime as I received a call about 2 hrs ago stating I would be scheduled for a C&P between 8-21 July, 2016. I think it will be about 2 months or so after that hopefully. It will be a contractor again, but I guess its not a bad thing. I will keep you all posted. Anyman73, Yea your right some campaigns are forgotten in the public eye, but troops are still deploying to these places.

Berta, It was originally denied because there was nothing in my Army medical records, but I have been receiving treatment by the VA while in the Air Force. They also stated the timeframe from the events during my deployment to the time I started receiving treatment as another reason for denying the claim. I had an IME done, DBQ, letter from my Vet Center therapist, and statements from family and friends, stressor statements, and was still denied. Last year I obtained an IMO/Nexus letter from one of Dr. Bash's colleagues. The funny thing about the whole thing is the VA regs state your medals are taken into account, which they are not it seems. I have Armed Forces Service Medal and Kosovo Campaign Medal.

I’m going to make a long story short here LOL I filed a claim for PTSD and was denied and the claim has been sitting as an appeal since 2013. Since the VA acknowledged I suffer from depression NOS related to military service, I decided to file a claim for depression and anxiety. I go in for my 3rd C&P for mental health, but for depression and the Examiner is using the DBQ form, but he diagnoses me with PTSD according to the Case Management Rep. I spoke with. He proceeds to tell me that they want the Examiner to complete the PTSD DBQ and I will have to take another C&P exam sometime in the near future. This isn’t the first time this has happened to me with mental health exams. My first C&P the examiner stated I experienced what every soldier does in a combat environment and proceeded to state I didn’t have PTSD but depression; however, the VA didn’t give me any disability for it at all. Now my claim has went from a July 2016 completion date to November 2016 and back to gathering dust instead of prep for decision. My questions are: 1. If you go in for a C&P exam and the examiner finds something else wrong and attributes it to military service is the VA not supposed to look into it or give you a rating for the new disability? I thought I read that somewhere in a VA reg., but I could be wrong. 2. Should I take another C&P exam especially if this is an administrative issue? The worst part about it all is my medicine cocktail is for individuals suffering from PTSD, but every VA mental health doctor even the good ones will tell me to my face I have PTSD, but stop short when it comes to annotating it in my medical records.

Vync, Thanks for the advise and insight. I'm going to give it a few months before I file anything, because that should determine how bad it is with the treatments and all. I know the injections didn't work for the right side, so they went in and burned the nerves around the disc, which might end up happening on the left, but we shall see.

I currently receive 30% for herniated L5-S1 disk (20%) and right lower extremity radiculopathy (10%). Last year I had surgery where they removed ½ of my L5-S1 disc (the herniation). Early June while cleaning I attempted to move my coffee table (light), which I have done many of times before, but unfortunately my back did the snap, crackle, and pop. Last Saturday I had a MRI done, which shows the following: L4-5: Left central/subarticular disc extrusion extending superiorly 1.3 cm above the disc space posterior to L4. Severe left subarticular recess stenosis. Severe left neural foraminal stenosis. L5-S1: Redemonstrated right central/subarticular disc protrusion. Moderate right subarticular recess stenosis. Moderate bilateral neural foraminal stenosis. The new injury is currently the L4-5 and I have been scheduled for epidural steroid injections to help with the pain and strengthen the leg. Should I file for an increase for my back or just leave things as they are? I’m thinking I will need a nexus letter to show how the new injury was caused by the original disc herniation.

ColdWarVet, I agree with Andyman73 in reference to filing for anxiety; due to back pain. Start with you prime care provider and get a referral to mental health for anxiety, plus I would also have an outside provider provide you with a nexus letter and DBQ if possible before submitting the claim. I think the hardest part about establishing the anxiety is the length of your treatment at least wait 3 to 6 months before filing to establish ongoing treatment. You can do another C&P for your back. At anytime during the previous exam did you state you were in pain to the examiner as you were bending?

It's normal for the dates to bounce around a lot. What can really be stressful is when the statuses keep changing like from "preparation for decision" back to "review of evidence" or even worse "gathering evidence", which usually means there is a problem with your claim. You just have to ride out the wave and don't think about it. If you have to check, just check the status once a day and move on to something else.

NoFace, Try not to stress as much as possible as I know the experience can be stressful especially if you have a worthless PEBLO, which I can relate. The military in most cases will only MEB you for conditions that disqualify you from continued military service, which is why the Army refuses to rate you on other disabilities, but in the Medical Narrative Summary they can list your disabilities in your medical record (at least the Air Force did for me), which assisted me in my VA claims. I do know of an individual who hired a lawyer and fought the military to have most of her disabilities added in the MEB decision. Andyman73 is correct the VA and military ratings will be different, because the military is only concerned with conditions disqualifying you and the VA is looking at the whole picture. The disabilities that you are claiming with the VA that are not in your military treatment records more than likely will be denied, but start going for treatment while you are transitioning and then continue treatment at the VA, so you can begin to build a paper trail and then file again with a nexus letter. Unfortunately the military mentality of "suck it up and drive on" does hurt us after service when trying to obtain benefits from the VA.

The DAV is Great in Dayton, OH and at Lackland AFB, TX these individuals helped me above and beyond, which caused me to become a member and use them in Baltimore, MD. I must say it's truly like night and day. The DAV in Baltimore is horrible they insult vets who have waited hours to see them, they tell you to do A and you do it then they say do B or totally forgot, they act like a$$es when you get an IMO/IME, and lastly the same thing they do (scan your documents) you can do yourself and do it way better. I have so many appeals because of these guys no other VSO will take me until my cases are finalized. Thanks to this site and the advise of the individuals here I have successfully won one of my claims that was denied due to following the DAV rep's direction, plus missed out on the deadline to file for presumptive after my medical retirement following their advise. If I only knew then what I know now.