GBArmy

Thanks, Bronc. I understand. I probably should have worded it a little better. I was looking for a lead to link Kidney cancer by way of a presumptive disease recognized by the VA. The idea of sarcoma is something that might be worth looking into. Obviously, he's going to need a good write up from a doc for nexus. Thanks.

Kelly My guess is you will have to wait to receive the mystery envelope. You could call Peggy, 1-800-827-100, but they don't usually provide any insight on final decisions; you have to wait. You also might want to check your bank statement on the off chance they issued a grant; payment often show up before written notification on a regular basis. I think you have to give it a little while to show up. IMO

Buck52 Simple answer; maybe not so simple to do. Get a GOOD lawyer. EED are difficult. The layers get a % of what you win, so it is in their best interests to get you the earliest date possible. I don't think it would stand you well to get up in front of a judge and go back and forth with a VA weenie. That's the lawyer's job. Just get a good one who really understands and has experience in appealing EED's. If you are confident they understand the facts, hire them. IMO.

Globe 2280 If your evidence calls out c-gate and it is a specific required symptom for the diagnostic code, the examiner should have addressed it. Routine way the VA leaves out critical evidence which results in a lower rating. I would call the RO and tell them you where short changed, tell him you asked him at the end of the exam and he was going to take care of it (and didn't), and want a new C&P exam as the last one was inadequate. Call Monday. If they refuse, put in a HLR appeal.

killemall That is super news for you and your parents! Nice job done by you. Congrats!

JK I hope you did a typo; you have the letter dated Oct.16. You mean Jan. 16? I never heard of RSVP, but what do I know. I'd make two calls: one to them and ask why the back date on the letter? If they are legit you shouldn't have a problem with making the appointment scheduled. Second one, if needed is to Peggy IF you get a negative from RSVP.

Hi guys: I have a good friend just diagnosed with kidney cancer. Navy veteran, PH for combat, PTSD, etc. Has anyone had any success tieing kidney cancer as secondary to Agent Orange?

From the VA heath care eligibility requirements If you’re a current or former member of the Reserves or National Guard, you must have been called to active duty by a federal order and completed the full period for which you were called or ordered to active duty. If you had or have active-duty status for training purposes only, you don’t qualify for VA health care. So, if I read your post correctly, it was discovered during training, not for active duty. The best thing to do is contact a reputable veteran law firm and see if they are interested in taking your case, and have a copy of his discharge papers. Be sure they understand the eligibility question. If they take your case you can be confident that they think he should be eligible for a disability, and, more importantly, they think he has a good chance at winning. They don't usually take on losing cases; it hurts their metrics. Good luck.

Congrats. El Train. I guess 3 years isn't so long for the average Joe, but it sure must be if your doing the VA thing the whole time. As Bronc said, we can use your experience and benefit of your knowledge, so please pitch in from time to time. And, have you noticed how many people always congratulate veterans who win their claims and report it? We all really share in your joy. Super win for you!

Good advise from Miken2c74 Using a VA form Statement in support of a claim, gives your inside view of some of the details that won't show up elsewhere. Like how the disability and its symptoms effect you in your daily life. It is the same form as what you would use for a "Buddy Letter." VA Form 21-4138. Like Mike said, it can make a significant impact to your claim decision. You show the VA rater a personal glimpse that they can "picture." Example: "My migraines come on so suddenly, that I recently had to leave my grand daughter's b'day party and go lie down in a dark place." You make your point, but it is on a personal level the rater can picture and relate to.

If you are working on a claim or appeal, or even think you may in the future, you should request a copy of your c-file. There can be notations, comments, other evidence in there that not only you weren't aware of but even forgot about completely. Could be very valuable. If you have C&P's, other procedures and medical care, they are added, so it certainly can be the case you order it more than once as your c-file builds up.

LauraB That's the spirit! Don't give up. If you believe you are right, strengthen your evidence and resubmit. Wait for the decision letter to see what the reasons are. If you need help, get more evidence thru a IMO form a expert doctor who understands what the VA process is; or a lawyer if it is a legal issue. But keep at it. You don't lose until you quit trying!

Steven You have a difficult road but you can't make the journey without taking the first steps. I am not anywhere close to being an expert on it, but I can offer my opinion. CFS is a very difficult diagnosis to receive from the VA. I believe it is only successful 20% of the time. The problem is they rule it out if they can divert it to another disability and make that non-service connected. The DBQ that is required for eval is 21-0960 Q1 under 38CFR 4.88 The diagnostic code 6354, allows ratings from 10% all the way up to 100%. IMO it is almost impossible to win the claim without a diagnosis from an immune system doc issuing his opinion with medical rationale. We are not medical experts; the diagnosis is very technical. I would suggest you start doing your search for a good doc who understands the VA and what they require to win. And, to answer your question, just file as CFS; let the VA figure it out. My guess is your diagnosis while in the service will not stand up to what the VA is going to try to do with it. Get a good IMO. One other thing. I would send a letter to the DAV headquarters in your state. Tell them in your own words about how you were treated and provide the name if you can. They probably won't do anything on the basis of one complaint, but if there are several, they might. One thing for sure, they won't do anything if veterans don't complain. Do the next guy in line trying to get help a favor. Call the jerk out.

Hi Bookieboo79 Welcome to Hadit Yes, you can submit a claim for any illness or physical or mental injury that occured while you were in service, called service connection, or s-c. You need evidence in your service treatment records of the surgeries that you had; if you don't have them, the VA has a duty to assist to get them for you. If you had a total histerectomy outside the VA, I would get those records as well to submit. You have to sign a release to the hospital to get them released, but that is your info so they have to provide. If you look up http://www.militarydisabilitymadeeasy.com/femalereproductive.html#loss you will see diagnostic codes 7617 thru 7620, which lists several removal or loss of reproductive organs. If you have those symptoms you can determine what your disability rating may be. It appears you may be able to get a 20, 30 or even higher rating, so it is worth it to submit a claim. You may want to get a "competent" Veterans Service Officer. VSO, to help you submit. but you probably can do it yourself. You can do this; good luck.

Hamslice Good to see you back on board, brother. Hope you are well.

LauraB I agree with Oceanbound. It is pretty much good news for you. The BVA wants the VA to gather more evidence of your symptoms by way of a (new) C&P exam. Please be sure that you attend (you might be excused if Ca. has another earthquake, but other than that, be sure you go!)

Foxhound6 Way to go! Congrats, man. 30% to 80% is nothing to sneeze at. And take Vync's advise. Don't leave anything on the table; put in for whatever you have coming.

I don't know if they would have let it slide on mine, because I knew they were supposed to pay back for any meds I paid out for the new s-c disability. I just called Peggy and asked for an audit and I was reimburse soon afterwards. What I mean is I don't know if they do it automatically, because I asked right away. I'd give it a month and if a deposit didn't show up, I'd do the same again. But it's like Paul was saying recently, you don't always know what a deposit is for. Most of us will probably accept the deposit whether we know what it is for or not!

PassThrough If you get on ebenefits, go to blue button. On there there are progress notes, encounters, problems, etc. notes that are generated when you see their med people. There will be diagnoses there and other notes that you may find helpful for your appeal. Remember, the health people are not talking to the benefits people in the VA. So what goes on in a eval by your health care people isn't notified to the benefis group that would help your claim. As we say all the time, the VA is not your friend. If you want to win your claim, you have to put in the time. Read, learn and ask questions. No one will do it for you. Good Luck!

PassThrough I am assuming you want to appeal a claim for injuries to your hip/leg. You have to have 3 elements for a successful claim. First, an incident, illness or event that occurred in service. Second, you have to have a current diagnosis of injury or illness, and lastly, you need a connection or nexus, between the two. Sounds like you didn't have #2 and #3. You need a diagnosis now from a medical doctor that says you have damage to your leg. It has to line-up with a diagnostic code that shows the symptoms that you have. Go to http://www.militarydisabilitymadeeasy.com/vadisabilityrating.html and find what your disability is and where you stand in terms of symptoms which relate to your ratings. Next your doc has to provide an independent medical opinion that says that your condition now was directly caused by that in-service event,"at least as likely as not" at a minimum. He/she has to provide medical opinion that your current condition has deteriated due to injuries xxx years ago as provided in your str's. This would be the nexus. You can provide an additional lay letter, VA form 21-4138, statement in support of the claim. This would list your personal statement about what happened with all the details, time, pkace, events leading up to the injury what you did after, etc. If you have a friend that witnessed the event or even you confided in after you got the injury, they can also use this same seperate form as your evidence. I would suggest that you post your decision letter here after redacting or removing your personal info like name, etc. so we can see why they denied and offer any additional advise.

wja5856 The VA is supposed to evaluate your symptoms and provide you the highest possible ratings. That is what they are supposed to do. It isn't what they often do. Be sure you take a copy of your diagnosis with you and ask the examiner if they have seen it and/or would like to have a copy. They don't have to take it and don't push it on them. The rater is supposed to see your complete file, the examiner doesn't have to. If your diagnosis was from a VA doc, you could download it before your exam and it would be there for the examiner to see. But I believe it also opens up your file that may show additional personal info as well, so consider if you want that to happen. If your diagnosis is from a private doc (non-VA) I believe they don't want to consider it, but do their own analysis for MH conditions. Other Hadit member have personal experiences that they can talk to that can advise. Some of your conditions are the same symptoms for different disabilities. Depression may have some of the same as PTSD, so the VA won't give you a disability twice for the same symptom; it is called pyramiding. So you have to show other factors so they don't dismiss multiple symptoms as causing your disabilities.Your diagnosis for depression, for example, has to show you have symptoms that are seperate and exclusive of your other disability symptoms for PTSD. You are going to have to go to the C&P and see what shakes out. Review your decision letter then develop you plan for what is next IMO.

LanceJoseph The VA does that all the time. They lowball you because they leave off addressing symptoms that will bump you up to the next rating level. 38CFR4.114 for diagnostic code 7346, which is the code used for GERD does call it out for 30% with your shoulder pain. If the hernia causes pain, vomiting, significant weight loss, blood in the vomit or feces, and anemia, or if other symptoms cause a serious overall health disability, it is rated 60%. If there are regular episodes of pain in the upper abdomen, trouble swallowing, heartburn, the return of food into the back of the throat/mouth, and pain in the upper arm or shoulder, it is rated 30%. If two or more of the previous symptoms are present, but are not as severe, it is rated 10. I would go for HLR and show that they didn't consider the evidence of your S=C shoulder and pain.

I pretty much agree with Vestquest; there is one advantage in going for a HL . The BVA is much more likely to give a fair reading. But, there is one advantage going for a HLR. You get a better slant possibly in what the VA is thinking on their original denial. If you have the evidence, etc. you could possibly get a much faster approval. If not, probably delay your process now by maybe 6 months. If it isn't worth it to you, just go BVA and skip HLR.

Buck52 I agree completely with your tract; get a diagnosis from a current specialist NOW, and just tie it back to his 10 year ago medical suggestion/direction to use the CPAP machine.

You can go to the BVA and use the no- additional lane. Do you have a lot of confidence in your vso? He wants you to use the VBA but he doesn't want you to try the HLR lane , which doesn't allow new evidence, first. He must have a reason; I'd find out why. IMO.