usaf1970

Wow, you guys are fantastic. Thanks a lot for the quick responses. So to respond to your all's responses: Nay4life - I do not have my SMR's. I have requested them multiple times, but they have never shown up. I am a slow learner, but I have learned well that I have to write down who I spoke to, when I requested, and follow up. To me this seems a lot like me making sure others are doing their job... but the answer is no, i don't have my SMR's yet. My original VSO had them but they were blurry and hard to read. He submitted a request back in 2008 for a "clearer copy". And that's the last I have seen or heard of them. Berta & Philip - thanks a lot on the clue on CUE. ..I will read up on this, and it sounds promising. I'm not holding my breath....but I will definitely look into this. Thanks again for your responses, and I will definitely post updates as I get them from the VA.

Hi everyone. This is my first post. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to answer these message boards, there is a lot of great knowledge here. So here is my situation, I separated from the Air Force in 1996. Approximately 3 months prior to separating I had a physical exam with lab results that came back with proteinuria and blood in my urine. I had no idea what this meant, so I asked the physician and he said "if could be caused by strenous exercise or it could be early signs of kidney disease. follow up with a civilian physician when you get out." He more or less acted like it wasn't a huge deal. I went to a civilian doctor a year later and he stated I still had proteinuria, and referred me to a kidney specialist. It turns out this was the early signs of kidney disease. I have had medical coverage through my civilian job since separating, and really never thought I needed to make a claim with the VA as long as I am receiving medical coverage. So fast forward many years, and in the mid 2000's my kidney disease progressed. I now have hypertension and pretty severe gout. My kidney specialist believes these are secondary to my kidney disease. Again, I had no idea kidney disease could cause gout. I suffered through gout for a few years thinking I had tendinitis or a sprained foot or something else before a doctor smart enough said "yep, that's gout!" After learning how the kidneys work and how gout is related....now I feel I'm in a pretty bad situation and possibly looking at dialysis and possibly a kidney transplant. Thankfully so far I'm not that bad off. I have about 60-65% kidney functionality. In 2008 I became unemployed and at the unemployment office, I spoke to a VSO. He listened to my situation and suggested I file a claim for disability. I completed the paperwork, signed medical release forms for my kidney doctor, etc... And a few months later got a rejection letter stating "lack of medical evidence". If I wanted to appeal it, please submit an appeal to the VA if I have NEW medical evidence. As far as I knew, they had received all medical evidence. So a few months ago this year, I told my story to another VSO who said it doesn't sound right. That my kidney disease should have been service connected, and the secondary diseases should be considered connected as well. I submitted another claim to have it reopened and now I have a C & P exam scheduled. (never got that far in 2008). From most everything I have read, IF this claim is approved, the VA will only back date benefits to the date of this SECOND claim. This doesn't really seem right to me. I admit I was naive on the first claim, and didn't really understand the process. But it seems if this is considered service connected, the VA should back date benefits at LEAST back to 2008. So I have 3 questions (sorry for the rambling).... 1) will I have a problem with the VA finding my kidney disease (acute glomerolnephritis) service related during my C & P exam? 2) if it is found to be service connected, and hypertention and gout are determined to be connected...how far back will the VA backdate benefits? 3) what is your best bet at what kind of rating I may receive? I have proteinuria, granular casts in my urine, reduced kidney functionality (40%), at least 5-10 gout attacks per year, some fairly severe...but never requiring hospitalization. Thank you for any light you can shed.