VAVA

A member suggested that I write about my experience here cuz it might help some vets. Well, I applied for SC for diabetes in 2003. Since I got out in1993 and didn't get diagnosed until around 2003, SC was hard to prove. I showed my active duty medical records to my doc and he concurred that I didn't have diabetes then. Moreover, VA reps that I talked to were more discouraging than encouraging. They told me that if I was not in Vietnam, I couldn't get SC for diabetes. Fortunately, I have a friend who is a corpsman who told me about the way they were doing things then so that the member who does have a disability doesn't get medically discharged. They would say, for example, "elevated blood sugars" instead of the word diabetic. Or high-cholesterol levels, high glucose level which could translate to high blood pressure or diabetes. So what I did, I asked my doctor his honest opinion about how the escalation of my condition happenned. He said that because my "elevated blood sugar levels" were not properly addressed while I was in active duty, it progressed into full blown diabetes. I told him to write a letter to that effect, submitted it to the VA and got approved after an initial denial and several rebuttal letters from me. Took 3 years. I got my award letter on a Saturday afternoon. Frst thing I did Monday was go to the VA reps office and showed them the letter. I told them that they should not tell vets that it would get denied if any claim has a chance of getting approved. Funny thing is, after a year, I went to the same VA office and they asked me what my rating was for. I said diabetes and the first thing out of her mouth was, "Were you in Vietnam?". I said no then she continued to ask "How did you get approved?". Anyway, fast forward to present, I put in several claims of other things after I reviewed all my medical records, wrote all the letters myself without any help from the rep and yesterday I got the award letter putting me now at 100%. I hope this inspires you all and good luck on all your claims.