BuddyLoveAK

I would recommend Eric Gang. He's been doing my BVA appeal and his team has been extremely helpful and thorough. Anytime I have a question my case manager has always been more than happy to answer it and they don't make me feel like a nuisance or an idiot. They've been very professional, I can't recommend them highly enough. https://www.veteransdisabilityinfo.com/attorneys.php?name=eric-gang

Sweet, thanks acesup!

Hi all, I just received a letter from the VA stating my appeal is officially on the docket and that I have 90 days to submit any new evidence. Does this mean my appeal is close to a decision? The VA received my Form 9 in July 2017 and I did not opt into RAMP. Thanks for helping me figure this out!

I got a "decision soon" box on mine as well and I have 119,000 people in front of me. My attorney contracted a specialist for an IMO and in the letter he wrote there's a time limit and he has to have it by December 30. So maybe it's soon?

You can submit a question with IRIS here: https://iris.custhelp.com/app/ask/session/L3RpbWUvMTMzNTM1NTAyOC9zaWQvdmE2Q0R3V2s%3D And you can check and see what month/year they're working on here: https://www.bva.va.gov/CustomerService.asp

Here's the statement of the case. It says no nexus could be found, so I'm assuming that means I need a better IMO? Can any of you experienced people let me know if any of the stuff the RO said is BS? Scan 2018-3-2 14.04.49.pdf Scan 2018-3-2 14.05.46.pdf

I'm sure others will be able to find better info, but here's a couple things I found with a quick search. Here's the form they'll be using to evaluate your ankle: https://www.benefits.va.gov/warms/bookc.asp

My C file took 7 months total after mailing it in, from April to November. It was on a CD.

I believe mine took about 7-10 days. Not long.

quahn, It's impossible to say with any certainty, especially because of the new system they're putting in place. My form 9 was submitted in July 2017, so ours are pretty close. I've been estimating mine will take about another 3 years ballpark. Have you had your hearing yet?

It depends on where you're located. Each place is different. Here in Anchorage, AK it took about 3 months for my initial application to get decided.

My docket number is 1736197A. I was curious what the numbers meant too. I don't think the 3rd and 4th letters represent the month though since mine are 36. My form 9 was received by the BVA on July 31, 2017.

Permanent and total means you don't have to have any reevaluations in the future and they can't lower your rating. Plus you get the ID, no property taxes, and some other stuff. Have you applied for SSDI?

I'm going through a similar situation myself. I was intentionally misdiagnosed with borderline personality disorder instead of bipolar disorder in order to deny me benefits and now I'm trying to get that fixed. I contacted Eric Gang, he's based out of New Jersey but he helps vets nationwide. He has successfully represented vets in the past who were misdiagnosed with personality disorders so I decided to go with him. So far he and his team have been very helpful. They answer all my questions and are patient whenever I contact them. His website has a lot of good info on it too. I'd recommend giving him a call, just google his name and it'll pop right up. Good luck and hang in there!

I just used IRIS earlier this month and it took about two weeks for a response.

Probably another year or two. It's hard to say since they just passed the RAMP.

I don't recommend being a truck driver. I tried that and it was high stress. I don't have PTSD, but I have severe bipolar with psychotic features and have panic attacks, so I share some of the same symptoms and limitations as PTSD. I'm trying to teach myself computer programming/web developer with the hopes of working from home one day. I don't know if I could handle any other type of job. If you're interested let me know and I'll tell you what websites I'm using. Good luck.

I'm going to try to get an upgraded discharge as well from a general to an honorable. They discharged me with a personality disorder, but the VA docs now say it's bipolar and I was having a manic episode while in service and that was what was wrong with me all along. I never once got into any trouble, so I'm hoping I have a shot. I have an attorney working on my disability appeal, will I have to pay him separate to help me with the discharge upgrade? What's the difference between an administrative discharge and a medical discharge with regards to benefits?

My attorney just got my 4k page c-file a month ago, so I think it'll be a while before he works his way through it all. But at our initial conversation he said he was going to get an IMO and possibly a voc evaluation. The IMOs I submitted weren't written by the recommended guidelines so none of the key words and phrases were in it. I was really depressed at the time and talked about suicide with him a few times, so I'm sure he can describe some of the depressive symptoms he saw. I don't have PTSD, just bipolar, depression, and anxiety diagnoses.

Thanks. I'll have to see if he remembers our CO's name because I don't. We were only in the rehab platoon for a couple months while we recovered from our injuries, then we went our separate ways. I'm trying to get my bipolar disorder service connected, and I was showing signs of depression while in the rehab platoon, so I'm hoping a letter from him stating that will help with the service connection. As far as rating is concerned I think I have a pretty strong case for a high rating. I'm on SSDI for bipolar and my C&P exam was pretty favorable for a higher rating, just not the service connection. They discharged me with a personality disorder and are reluctant to admit they misdiagnosed me.

In my non-expert humble opinion, I say give it a shot. There's going to be fewer cases in RAMP, so chances are with fewer cases the faster the claims will be processed. The VA website said they're shooting for 125 days per claim, so who knows maybe you can get yours done in a few months! They'd have to really screw up to make RAMP slower than legacy already is!

I am considering asking a friend from my time in service to write me a "buddy letter" about him observing my symptoms while in service in order to help establish a nexus. My question is, how much weight does the VA give buddy letters? Do they actually listen to them or are they dismissed since they aren't written by a doctor? Also, is there anything special he should say that would give it more credibility?

He didn't mention what format he got it in. I spoke with his secretary, she just said they received it about a month ago and that it was 4k pages.

I called my attorney and he received my c-file. It's 4,000 pages long! Is that normal for it to be so long? It's going to take forever to wade through all of that!

The FOIA for my C-File showed up as Gathering of Evidence under "open claims" until 11/30/17, when it moved to the completed section. Does anyone know approximately how long it'll take for them to finish processing my C-File now that it's "completed" under eBenefits and send it to me? Do they get mailed right away? Or do they get put into another stack where I have to wait another 6 months for it to get mailed? Also, my NOD got denied so I filed a substantive appeal. However, the substantive appeal has been sitting at the originating VA office for the past several months. Does anyone know approximately how long it takes for substantive appeals to be moved from the originating VA office to the board and get a docket number? Thanks!