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Andyman73
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Posts posted by Andyman73
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I have 30% bilateral rating for pes cavus w/PF. Also have an EED filed for Feb '06 for this, which was granted last summer for with near identical findings as the '06 C&P exam. Only difference being last year's was actually decided. I also have nerve damage from VA pain injection in my L foot.
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Funny thing, I asked my Sleep specialist, when I saw her the other day, how does pain effect sleep, and can it lead to sleep apnea? She basically said that she doesn't believe chronic pain can cause or lead to sleep apnea. Yet it sure does interrupt my sleep!
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Keep in mind, when you have injuries to your feet, it all transmits upwards, so you can eventually have problems with your ankles, knees, hips, SI joints, spine, both lumbar and cervical.
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Thanks, flores97, I appreciate it. I will check into a MH IMO/IME after I see my VA MH dr again. I'm waiting for the final results of my Neurological exam. That's really got me anxious, more so the waiting than the results. I know my VA MH dr is also waiting as well, so maybe that report will be the key to get everything moving in the right direction. I think I can manage waiting, if I know the outcome will be favorable, vs waiting with no idea of the outcome.
I need a platform to stand on for a few minutes, give my hands and arms a break from all this hanging on.
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flores97.
I have thought long and hard about seeing a private MH provider for an IMO/IME, but my marriage and life would not survive the potential fallout if that were to become a part of my personal non-VA health record.
I can ask my VA MH dr when I see him again in a few weeks.
The examiner was the pill prescribing type of MH dr.
Or maybe just let the whole thing go, can't keep knocking on doors that go nowhere. The only thing happening is my MDD is not getting any better with any of this. After so many rejections, I find little or no reason at all to keep asking...just settle for what ever I have.
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That only works if you already are SCd for MDD or PTSD. While I have MDD DXd by VA MH dr, and SA DXd by private Dr., neither are SCd for me, yet.
All I have are my SCDs for physical issues...painful ROM and such....
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Birds of a feather, eh?
Semper Fi
- Cliche Magnet and flores97
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smoothc100,
Examiner told me he looked at my SMR and VMRs before the exam. If that was so, he would have seen all the entries for pain related issues. But since he dismissed them so easily, I think he did NOT review my records.
No service treatment, most Marines don't go for this due to the social stigma attached. No DBQ by examiner, or my VA MH who DXd me with MDD 4 months before C&P exam.
I attempted suicide several times by alcohol, and once was stopped from slicing my wrists, while at my work station. All that came from that was a visit to my division chief, and then the base chaplin. But no entry in my service record, no referral to hospital for MH eval either. Just covered it up.
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Thanks for sharing that, Buck.
Really sucks for me, since I don't have PTSD, at least, not according to my VA MH Dr. So my MDD isn't enough. And getting him to really discuss my service time issues is like looking for a specific needle in a 5 gallon bucket of needles.
Andy
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No, ice, haven't seen the emg report. Just what was written on my bluebutton.
I did notice that when I drive, and write that I grip a lot harder than necessary. And when writing, that my whole hand aches within a minute or two, because I'm gripping my pen/pencil so tight, due to reduced feeling in my fingers.
Semper Fi
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2 hours ago, smoothc100 said:
Have you officially been denied? If so I would request another C&P exam and also file a NOD. Before I say "usually" the C&P examiner should have reviewed your file prior to the examination, which if that was the case does not mean he ignored the evidence, but disagrees with it. In the final decision there is a section which shows all the evidence used in deciding your claim if there is evidence you submitted and it was not included in making the decision you definitely should address this in your NOD. If your trying to link depression to a physical condition it is best to get a nexus letter linking the two.
Yes, got denied, filed NOD. Spoke to my VA MH dr, he was surprised that the examiner went against me. And then wrote how he couldn't see a minor leg injury causing depression.
Ok, so maybe not, but bilateral patella femoral knee pain condition, low back strain/pain, painful ROM of each knee separate, L ankle residual pain from injury, pes cavus, bilateral w/plantar fasciitis bilateral as well.
Knees, back and ankle are SCD to my EAS date of 11/98. The feet are from last July. He don't have to say anything, it's already established by the VA granting my awards, right?
He only wrote that he disagreed with a minor leg injury that only needed 8 days in a leg brace. Worse yet, the RO refused to look at my mountain of evidence, said she will not overrule the MH examiner. So she ignored it all as well. That kind of defeats the purpose of the C&P exam, since it was based on chronic pain to begin with.
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Buck,
Either way, that doctor sure covered all the bases!
Semper Fi
Andy
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My neck came back as suggestive of but not diagnostic of cervical radiculopathy. Which is their way of saying yep, but nope.
Semper Fi
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If you can do anything today, do it. The sooner the better. Call your local PD and make a report for her harrassing you, and your family. They will have to do their own. Even if the locals can't truly help you, they can certainly take an official complaint, and establish that paper trail.
Another thing to look at, if you haven't yet, is identity theft. Since they are divorced, and she is still using his SSN to fraudulently open accounts, report it as identity theft. Report it to the credit monitoring companies, Trans Union, Equifax and whoever the other one is.
Also, contact the VA and speak to whomever you need to to report his impending homelessness via eviction. Don't wait till tomorrow for that one.
Semper Fi
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Well, looks like a solid Nexus letter. I should be so blessed to get one half that good.
Have you sent it up for your claim, yet?
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Hello all, I am starting a new thread about my issue, I was dangerously close to hijacking somebody else's thread.
Background,
C&P exam, Nov 2nd, 2015 for depression secondary to chronic pain. DX as MDD reoccurant, with SI, in June of 2015, by VA MH dr. I asked him if depression can be caused by chronic pain, he said most definitely. Many depressed Vets have chronic pain issues. So then I filed the claim for depression secondary to chronic pain.
I fell down stairs during boot camp in 11/92. Many issues with back and knee pain from that point. VA SCd me for painful knee condition, bilateral. And Low back strain/pain, residual pain from L ankle injury, tinittus and hearing loss, all dated to my EAS of 11/98. So, now I have chronic established.
C&P examiner ignored all my evidence, and opined that one minor leg injury, in his opinion, can't lead to depression. I don't know how he, in is uninformed mind, can say that the other VA docs and ROs thought my one minor leg injury led to those contentions being SCd 17 years ago.
RO told me on the phone that she will not over rule the examiner, since he must know what he's talking about....so she willfully ignored my evidence as well.
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You would want a new sleep study anyway, since it's been that long since your last one. I have one coming up in June for re-evaluation from my private provider.
Semper Fi
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Yeah, anything the VA can do to get out of granting SC award, it will do. Or else half of them would be out of work, and all of us wouldn't be posting here.
Semper Fi
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Guess I will have to put it together and see what happens. At least it was the VA that DXd my carpal tunnel. I was getting the EMG for cervical spine issues. I don't have the pain type carpal tunnel, I get the numbness, and general lack of feeling.
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Examiner is a VA MH Dr., the pill prescribing type, not the "how do you feel" type. So I think his creds will stand. But to ignore the physical evidence is outright malpractice, or very near.
The exam was last November, is it too late to challenge?
The claim is for depression secondary to chronic pain. I asked my VA MH Dr.(the talk to you type) if he thought pain can cause depression. He said it most certainly can and does. So then I filed for it. He DXd me with MDD back in late May or in June of 2015. I filed the claim for secondary depression a few months later.
I fell down stairs on my 5th day of boot camp, injured knees and back. Both are SCd to my EAS of 11/98. I also developed issues with my feet, and ankles, and tinnitus. All of which are also SCd, L ankle and tinnitus date to my EAS as well. So 23 years since falling down the stairs certainly qualifies as chronic. And the VA itself established the longevity by SC those issues back in 11/98.
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Buck,
I'm so sorry about your wife's friend. How horrible to find her Mom had passed while she was there with friends. But at least she had immediate support.
Semper Fi
Andy
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Not too long ago I had an EMG for upper extremities, testing for cervical radiculopathy. I was DXd with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, specifically loss of sensation in my fingers/hands. They prescribed wrist braces for both.
I have been dealing with loss of feeling and some pain in my hands. Also noticed that I have been dropping things that I didn't used to have problems with...nothing big, but small stuff, pens, pencils, papers, small toys, nothing requiring strong grip to hold onto.
About midway through my 6 year enlistment I was in a MVA, and injured one of my wrists when the steering wheel whipped around. I went to the base clinic and had it documented. It hurt for a month or two, but I don't recall if I had to wear a splint.
Do I have a legitimate claim with this? If so, should I file a FDC, since it was the VA who DXd me with the carpal tunnel?
Semper Fi
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Djdan,
Do not "leave it alone"! A coworker of mine's Dad died from SA, he was only 53!!! Fell asleep in an old lawn chair and never woke up. No, he was not using his CPAP. He must have thought he could go with out for a few days while at hunting camp. Perhaps he could have, if he'd been sleeping in bed.
Your PTSD is directly effected by your SA, and same with your SA effecting your IHD and diabetes.
Do not "let this go".
Semper Fi
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Draw808,
Let me tell you...this will be one of the hardest rows to hoe! I am currently trying to claw my way through my own SA claim. I have an upcoming sleep study, for re-evaluating my SA. I thank God that I have private insurance. My sleep specialist said she is willing to write the Nexus letter, but not sure if she can really make the link. So I am just working for the "at least as likely as not" statement.
Ask is correct, my own VA MH dr gave me the scoop on how he can write only what he is allowed, and what he can't. Fortunately he wrote me up for neuro exam, and he said once those results are back(any day now) he will write his opinion on that, combined with what he already knows.
Gastone is spot on as well.
Sleep apnea is the next big thing in the VA today, like Gulf War illness and Agent Orange of the decades past. Be glad you're getting in now, before it becomes a true nightmare.
Semper Fi
Not sure where this goes, child support
in Eligibility - Veterans Compensation Benefit Claims
Posted
MCCFR97,
I think the idea that the ROs don't work, is simply this, a piece of paper won't stop someone from committing a crime. Sure, it's useful afterwards, but until the person gets arrested, charged, convicted and sentenced, it's only paper.
A friend of one of my sisters in law, had an RO, and it was very useful. The DA was able to use it to show that the person was not, and is not able or willing to be reformed. The DA was able to use it because the Police showed up at her house, while her estranged husband was on top of her, on the front porch, strangling her. The restraining order didn't keep her from being nearly strangled to death, nor did it stop the broken ribs, jaw, or fingers from being broken by him. On the other hand, she could have changed and upgraded the locks on the doors too, since she already knew his propensity for violence towards women.
Simply_me, file the order, track everything, talk to a lawyer, protect your Vet and yourself, and your family!
Semper Fi