simdog77

Thanks for all the replies! All good advice and greatly appreciated. I have two "new" claims going in and some new evidence on previously denied supplemental claims in the form of Nexus letters. Back to "hurry up and wait" for awhile.

Thanks Hamslice! I’ll get that ball rolling today.

Hello all, Seems as this COVID stuff has made my VSO disappear so I'm looking for some help. I was recently diagnosed with Planovalgus Foot (left foot only) with a deformity by the VA Ortho doc. I had flat feet documented on my boot physical but no problems until a few years ago. The deformity is relatively new. My left knee is service connected and my left ankle is service connected, secondary to the left knee. My question is how do I file for the Planovalgus Foot with deformity? Secondary to the left knee or to the left ankle (or both)? I don't know if you can have a secondary to a secondary! Thanks in advance and stay safe!

In case anyone is interested here is an update. I finally got a good phone number for the National Archives in St. Louis. They said yes indeed my records were sent to the VA and they will never get them back. I was told they would be added to my C file (which I requested). I will post if that turns out to be correct.

Hi Berta and thanks for the reply. Yes, it was the SF 180 and it went to the St. Louis address you posted for my in service SMRs. I told and showed my VSO all the correspondence back and forth and they kept sending the SF180 in again. I did sign and fax back the signature page as requested so I am pretty sure I did everything correctly. I did send the VA a copy of my SMRs (what I had) as they requested them on my first claim. I have had some issues as my father and I have the same name and both of us served in the USMC all be it many years apart. I have had two issues where our records got crossed somehow with names and DOB. I even have a DD215 that corrected that. My first VSO (now retired) told me he had several vets who got more records when requesting copies for a second or more times. I know that I had visits to the clinics and the like that are not in the copies that I have. Even a visit to a civilian ER for an injury the occurred off base while on active duty. I also remember being on a medical hold for discharge (I don’t remember why) which is not documented as yes I have further new claims to pursue. Thanks for the idea of faxing them a letter, that is a great idea! I will draft something today. Happy New Year!

So many of you know that you service treatment records are important and I was told to ask for copies by my VSO even though I got them about 3 years ago because sometimes you can get more (or less) each time you ask. Then I get this letter from the archives saying my records have been transferred to the.VA. Ok, great! So I go to the VA and asked them for a copy. They say they don’t have them. Hmm, so VSO said to FOIA them from the VA. So I did that and guess what, they sent me only what I sent them to support my claim and that was that. So I go back to VSO and they request the records from the archives again and I got the same letter that they had been transferred to the VA. I contacted the VA again and was told “we never have a veterans service treatment records”. So instead of the VSO sending the request, I went on line and made the request myself (3rd time), carefully picking the correct location to send it to and sent signed release via fax as requested and got an acknowledgement. Then I started getting emails saying that I needed to fax the signature authorization or they would close the request only the request number was not mine. I saved all the letters and messages. That was 4-5 months ago and still nothing. At least I didn’t get the “your records have been transferred” letter again but I don’t even know if the request was open. Of course these is no phone number for the archives. Anyone else have this issue and if so were you able to resolve it? Thinking of asking congressional rep for help on this one.

Thanks folks! When they denied it they did acknowledge that I had a disability just not the service connection. Part of my problem has been service medical records. I have some of them but believe there are some missing pieces. I have been trying to get new copies for over a year. DoD sent a letter saying they had been transferred to the VA. VA says they don’t have them. I filed a FOIA claim and they sent me copies of the records I sent them but that’s another story. If they deny this one I will certainly appeal as I had to have major surgery on the spine a little over a year after I got out. Medical records that I do have state back injuries times 5 while in they just don’t state details of the injuries. I don’t think the saw or read the service files as they seemed to be stuck on the incorrect lay statement.

Good morning! I can’t seem to find to much information on this issue. I had a claim for spine issues that was denied because of a mistake on the original claim that said I made a lay statement about an injury’s cause which was in the wrong box on the form. They did say I have a recognized disability but did not service connect it. Claim was filed by my VSO. After getting service connected for hearing, left knee, and tinnitus, a new VSO had me file a supplemental on the spine issues correcting the lay statement and insuring that my service medical records showing back injuries plus proof of vibration as a cause in my MOS. VA website shows “we don’t know the status of your claim” now for several weeks. Called the VA on another issue and found out that an examination had been ordered for the supplemental. Then I got a letter a couple days later from a VA contractor saying they are doing an exam based on what was submitted (medical records, etc.) for a “medical opinion”. I was expecting a physical C&P exam. Is this unusual? I couldn’t find much info on it. I did have two C&P exams for my knee issue with the second seeking a “medical opinion” from the examiner. Thanks in advance for any insights on this. December 4 Update Now I understand that the “examination” was for a DBQ by the LHI contractor. Today, VA.gov went from “we don’t know the status of your claim” (were it was for almost two months) to CLOSED. No other info, no “we sent you a letter”. Nothing on e-benefits either so I am assuming it got denied. I emailed my VSO but no response as of yet. I’m traveling for work but plan to follow up when I get back. My thoughts are to get my C File then file for a “higher level review” as they did not order a C&P. Any other suggestions would be appreciated! I have no intention of giving up this fight.