Andyman73

Did you take off your shoes to count with your toes? Maybe that's where your math error was. JK! You so deserve this, and so much more!!!

Had to step away, every time I wanted to log on, my mind would just implode. This was my 4th try with the lawyers. Just going to let it go, for now, since it's at BVA, and that will be a long time waiting anyhow. Wife keeps telling me to "quit messing with those papers", and says other words too. But she don't know that I've been turned away by 4 lawyers and got the bum's rush from a VSO. Telling her will only make her say "told you so", so not gonna tell her. Haven't been to therapy since August, got sick and couldn't make my September session, rescheduled, but next opening was the day before Thanksgiving. So...that's not exactly doing me any favors. I'm no math/science genius, can't sing or play a lick. Can't even drive for a living(Dale Earnhardt(3)), even tho' it's too late to drop out of school at 8th grade. Thanks for the encouraging words.

4th and long, line up the FG, from the opposite 45 yd line. Kick is up and is going to go the distance, crosswind takes it off the upright, kick is no good. Clock runs out, game over. NOVA lawyer called and said after looking over some of my documents, she won't/can't help me. Maybe it really is just all in my head, and not actual reality.

Can be quite nerve racking all the waiting and the going back and forth! ?

This would be a new claim for increase, my effective date is 03/06 for my feet since I won my EED last month. Which was my appeal. And I can tell you, I certainly did not have this bunion pain all those years ago. Should I give it a FDC shot, or regular claim? Thanks again, Andy

Bronco and Buck, Yeah, I wasn't going to jump in with both feet, with out looking first, on this one. I'm just in the "gathering evidence/intel" phase. As for getting it fixed, I'm way past bone break and reset stage. He explained how the surgery would go. I do have a little intel on this as my wife had bunion surgery about 6 years ago. I would have to be off work 2-3 months, since I must wear steel-toe shoes, and that wouldn't be allowed during recorvery. So I need to build up my sick leave first. It hurts like a ....well, like a bunion! But when I bump it....literally blanks my mind!!! Putting it in a fire would probably hurt less!!! I am already SC for pes cavus w/plantar fasciitis, bilateral at 30%. And the doc told me that bunions are not caused by other foot conditions. So secondary via aggravation by other SCDs is the only way. I know it didn't hurt noticeably on it's own, when I was going through my foot claim process. That was 14 months ago. Now, however, it does quite so, and is very noticeable as well. So...sounds like best option is file for increase due to more pain, and it dominoes up the body. With that, should I send copies of the Podiatry clinic visit, x-ray and notes from my PCP as evidence?

Wish you all the best with your therapy, Jessamine. It's something a lot of us are going through...therapy.

Hey all, just found out something very interesting regarding bunions. I know a few of us on here posted about bunions, and I thought this would be the quickest way to get this out. I recently was DXd by my PCP with a bunion on R foot. X-rays confirmed this finding. So then I scheduled an appointment with my local VAMC Podiatry clinic. That was Tuesday the 13th, a few days ago. Podiatrist was very nonchalant and laid back, while looking at my feet. Lots of hmming and uh huh..ing to himself while looking. He said it looks like a bunion, but will need x-rays to confirm. I says, just had some done a few weeks ago. He says; they will need to be standing weighted. Lo and behold, yep, standing x-ray. He says good. Then using his computer he made direct lines with an anchor point to get the angle of departure(such as it is) to show how much the bunion has changed my foot. He said anything less than 15 degrees of angle is usually treated with custom orthotics and looser shoes. I already have VA custom orthotics, have had for years. My angle of departure is 23 degrees. He said that all they can do for that, now, is surgery. Now...here is the real meat of this post....he said that medical studies have shown, and the VA stands by it, bunions are an inherited condition! The medical study showed that shoe type has less effect to cause bunions than previously thought. The study covered native people groups in regions not known for wearing shoes, where people are barefoot all the time. And the study showed the same frequency rate of bunions among the bare foot as among the shoe wearing folks. So...if you have issues with Bunion claims....perhaps this will give ya'll some insight on how to change your attack. For me, that means I will file my bunion claim as secondary to my feet due to aggravation caused by my SC pes cavus bilateral w/plantar fasciitis. Since the VA identifies secondary conditions as caused by or aggravated by existing service connected disabilities.

Hey Jessamine, The suicidal ideation is in the 70% rating block, if the RO does their job, this will get you a 70% rating.

Okay, I see how that all went together for you, with your back. I was DXd with carpal tunnel, bilateral, just a few months ago by the VA. I have issues with my neck that began from the same fall that injured my back and knees. However, the struggle for me is that my neck bothered me less than everything else ,while on AD, so never got it looked at after the initial injury. I can see why you don't want to get hung out for the 0% on the feet. And since you are at 100% already, it works out just fine to leave the feet at 0% to avoid getting stuck for that 20 large.

Without having noted hearing loss in your SMR, it really depends on your MOS based exposure risk. Mine was pretty high due to being in aircraft maintenance.

If you received no money from the military then you wouldn't have any to pay back. A former coworker of mine had been paid $30K along with his medical discharge. He filed a claim a few years later after I told him he should. Once he realized a lifetime of VA comp would be much greater than his medical severance payout. He was granted 40% for his back, which he had injured while playing rugby on the base's intramural league. He had to wait till the monthly comp equaled his payoff, which took a few years. But he was quite happy with the outcome. Now, on a different note, how did you get your shoulders secondary to your back? I was granted 10% for my back right away, which is now 40, but have had problems with my shoulders for years, and got no where with the VA.

She'll regret saying those things as the kids get older, especially if you don't respond in kind.

That is because of the money. Someone fed someone else a plate of crap, which has been spread like a disease. Truth is this, you have the right to claim anything that you suffered from while serving, even med board stuff. You most likely will have to forfeit your VA comp till it equals what you received from the medical discharge.

I think you may want to contact your congressperson first, see if they can help. And then go for a lawyer. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

syne7, Yep, that is exactly what happened. I wrote them in Feb '06, had C&P that April, for all of my SCDs and my feet. The exam found same as the 2015 exam did, and noted the same SMR treatment entries. Got the decision letter which covered only my current SCDs and not one word about my feet. And not knowing nothing about nothing, I had no clue what to do, such as NODs and such. So...time just went on by.

I had orders my C-file prior to my C&P exam for my feet. I got it before the feet claim had been decided. I read over each of the 1,090 pages over the next week or two. Nothing jumped out at that time. But after getting the decision letter, something was just nagging at the edge of my mind. I went back into my C-file, took a few hours to find it. The claim for my feet 9 years earlier that was not decided. The findings of that exam were nearly identical and referenced the same SMR entry. Right away I started writing up my NOD and sent it off. I sent a copy of both exams and pointed out the obvious error of the earlier exam, of not adjudicating the claim. No more and no less. I told them that it was clear that the same exam results equal same outcome. And that not deciding the earlier claim greatly effected my life in a negative fashion, they must make it right. A few weeks later I got a letter asking if I have any other evidence to submit. I realize it may just be standard procedure, but boy was my blood boiling! I wrote back that I already submitted all evidence, and that it is as clear as day to any simple layman. I told them that this isn't an issue that needs more evidence, and their decision letter from 2006 is the proof of their error. Still took a year from start to finish.

Buck, Oh I know you didn't write any of that junk, you were just sharing what you know. No bubble to burst in the first place... When I first responded to your reply, I was just staggering under the weight on my shoulders, like Atlas. I'm still waiting to hear back from the NOVA lawyer who is reviewing my recent denials and my C-file. I left her an email earlier this week asking for an update. Andy

Cliff, Have you been getting regular treatment at your VAMC? That was the only place, besides AD medical treatment, that I ever got treated for my feet. I recently had an EED of over 9 years awarded due to the RO not adjudicating my claim from Feb '06. What reasons did they give for your denial?

Thanks, Buck. Reading all those steps and requirements you posted make me think that I'm dead in the water. If those are in fact, the actual steps, well...I do not have hostile what-evers, flying around Africa probably don't count, and I'm sure going down stairs won't count as stressors, either. Every time I face a flight of stairs going down, I immediately begin thinking, will I fall again, will it hurt as much or more than the last time??? I have all the evidence needed, I fell down a flight of stairs at boot camp, they rushed my klutzy butt off to the infirmary via ambulance. It's one of the first entries in my SMR. And all the resulting trips after that, from the back and knee injuries I received that day. So that's not an issue for me...but since it is a Non-Combat type event, and does not involve MST or personal attack, what VA dr would even give me a look? Especially after how I got totally bum rushed by the MH C&P examiner for my depression secondary to chronic pain claim. Dang, got myself all out of sorts now, rest of my work day gonna suck now. sigh.....

Question, I fell down a flight of stairs during my first week of boot camp. I injured my knees and back, had pain in neck and other areas, momentarily knocked out. This began a journey down the path of continuing pain and suffering. Within one year I began drinking to help deal with the pain and sleep issues, also taking OTC sleep aids for same. Anxiety and depression came along for the ride, attempted suicide by alcohol at least one time, even tried the wrist cut method, but got caught and stopped in the act. Okay, now the question, would falling down the stairs qualify as a non-combat ptsd event?

Two things here, now, if she signed affidavits and discussed your medical info both parties would be in violation of HPPA regulations. Not sure that you really want to go after the mother of your young children...however I'm sure there must be a way to get her to understand that some how getting your benefit reduced will conversely cause your child support not to go up, but down as well. It's like she wants to look a gift horse in the mouth, you know what I mean?

Something I didn't see mentioned here is the fact that the VA would be in violation of HPPA regulations for talking to her about anything remotely personal about you. Legally all the can do is ask her to verify the divorce, then again not really. Since you would have given them an official copy of the signed divorce decree to prove your new marital status and what compensation you may or may not owe her. It may be worth your money to have your lawyer draft a letter to her informing her of the legal ramifications she could face if she continues this line of action. She may not be aware that interfering with your disability compensation is against the law.

Have you contacted a lawyer? Seems like the VA is lookin to out wait you and run you dry.

Cliff, If you have plantar fasciitis in your SMR, and you made a claim, and the examiner noted that you have it, and connected it to your SMR, what reason did they give for the denial? I have pes cavus w/plantar fasciitis bilateral rated at 30%. I was getting Podiatric care from my VAMC off and on since 2005. I filed a claim last summer and it was granted easy peasy lemon squeazy. However a short time later I received my C-file and found that I had filed a claim for foot condition to include the PF and it was not decided, even tho the examiner found same issues back in '06 as in '15. Got a tasty EED for that one! Semper Fi