Rivet62

No I haven't, but it would be great if they were there. If I find it I'll update this thread.

"3. In a February 2, 2017 rating decision, the RO terminated the Veteran's TDIU benefits, effective August 15, 2008 [sic]" Ouch. Even if he hadn't been found to have committed fraud, that's A LOT to owe the VA in over-payment. Holy cow. "In February 2021, the Board vacated its May 2020 decision. See Board vacatur, February 17, 2021. The vacatur was issued because the Veteran had requested a copy of his file in October 2016. See Veteran statement, received by VA October 8, 2016; October 12, 2016. There was no documentation in the claims file that the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) fulfilled this request by sending the Veteran a copy of the requested documentation. As such, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was still outstanding when the Board issued its decision in May 2020. The issuance of the Board's May 2020 decision constituted an administrative error requiring vacatur. 38 C.F.R. § 20.904. Accordingly, the May 5, 2020 Board decision was vacated in its entirety. The Veteran's FOIA request was fulfilled in July 2021. See VA letter, July 28, 2021." I don't understand this part. Did the veteran concoct information that he said was part of his C-File?? And anyway, who trusts that the AOJ keeps documentation that they fulfilled a request for a claims file, much less when? I just don't understand this section. And the part below is really scary because it can happen to anybody: "As will be discussed below, a rating action proposed the reduction, and, thereafter, a rating action terminated the TDIU benefits." You know... all I can say is keep clean. Do not ever assume that the government can't recall what you told them before...LOL. This guy appears to have treated his applications for benefits at both the SSA and VA in a totally cavalier and paper pushing way, as if he attempted to outwit both at every step via paperwork and THEN he pushes it with NODs and appeals, practically begging them to find the faults. Just WOW. Just wear a sign saying "kick me I'm stupid" ...would have been easier and far less costly. I mean, do some people get a thrill out of trying the authority of government departments and agencies?

Maybe VA assumes the opportunity is ripe for cheating and scamming and I would guess they should. Likewise, a TDIU application is ripe for VA mistakes, I think, the more information that's entered. I have never filled this form out. But right away I can see I have to add pages, like when it asks about my past training it can be shown that I have attempted to re-train or completed training about 15 or 20 times over decades. No joke. This is what SSA wanted to see. SSA wanted to see that I have tried everything (in the words of my SS disability attorney). Ha! Easy enough. But on a TDIU application the 15 - 20 times adds to the prospect of VA mistakes, if in some cursory review it picks one training certificate and decides that I could do that without taking in the entirety of the picture, leaving me to argue the entirety of the picture. There's no getting around this. I'm either truthful to the best of my ability on this form or I'm not. When I look at my SSA work history since service it is abysmal, training or not. But yeah, VA Individual Unemployability Form 21-8940 will not be easy for me to fill out, short and sweet. It asks for training and education, but fortunately I already compiled all of that for my SSDI hearing so I'll just reach for that folder.

Or a vengeful girlfriend could have got the ball rolling . I didn't read through the entire case, and I couldn't really keep up with you on the dates you presented, but two things come to mind. One is that he could have withdrawn applications where they apply and/or notify SSA and VA. The second thing that comes to mind is how vague VA's "secure and maintain employment" seems to be, to me at least. Perhaps the maintain part is clarified on the application for TDIU itself, VA Individual Unemployability Form 21-8940. VA makes a decision based on that. You can see what VA is driving at by looking at certain sections of the form. VA's maintain is part of the decision criteria on the TDIU application, in questions 17a, 17b, and 17c. What was the most you ever made and when and doing what? The veteran maybe answers that he made 20% over the poverty line 15 years ago in a span of 6 months. Question 18 looks to the most recent 5 years of work history (not just the past 5 years if one decides to just kick back and not work). And if one lies on this then the bottom of Section VI applies (the penalties). In other words, maintain is not arguable in some future defense when a veteran is found gainfully employed, because TDIU's purpose is to compensate for the on-and-off employment that a SC disabled veteran experiences. Once a veteran is gainfully employed the whole of the decision criteria of VA Individual Unemployability Form 21-8940 no longer applies. It has to be looked at again. If a veteran purposely abandons that decision and doesn't notify VA then that is fraud.

So, we're not getting forced into RAMP? If we're Legacy we can stay in Legacy? BTW I'm getting confused between RAMP and AMA. I may be using the acronyms interchangeably. I'm in Legacy right now. I just got my SOC from my NOD. My new VSO says stay in Legacy going forward.

Uh... yeah those are details I might like to know. Wow. Yes. I very much want to know that. It would just be so nice to know. THANK YOU

I'll try this.

I think what you've said here is like gold, including the timing. I can't explain it, but what you've said here further reinforces my switch to my particular VSO. What my VSO said is right. You're saying it again, here in a different way.

Can I see the VBMS and Code Sheet in my C-File at a VARO?

Somebody with more experience here than I have will probably add some insight.

How do I switch VARO's? I moved to my current state in July 2019. The SOC I received about 30 days ago was generated at the VARO in my previous state. My new VSO (DAV) suggested I switch VAROs before I file VA Form 9. I met the VSO briefly today at my local American Legion today, or would have asked him. The real appointment with the new VSO occurs this Tuesday. I had seen somewhere how to switch VAROs but I can't recall. Does anybody know how to switch my VARO to a current state of residence? Thanks.

I don't recall having to get my COE (in 2019) through activities with a financial institution. Correct me if I'm wrong but you could get it through eBenefits...and soon through va.gov I suppose. I had to get it for them. I had to provide a copy of my COE to my mortgage broker in the pre-qualifying stage, but I could get a copy of my COE with or without being in the pre-qualifying stage.

You need to make time, but you can do so easily with messaging your providers in MyHealth eVet messaging. That keeps things alive in your record. Very important to keep things alive in your record. That helps bloom the record so that everyone is aware, including VA review of ratings. Now if you were to file for depression, you might want to pick up the pace of your messaging. Loss of appetite? Difficulty sleeping? Increased pain? Maybe you can't play with your grandkids like you used to. Again. look at your pain management records in MyHealth eVet Blue Button. What does it say already (don't answer here), but what does it say about pain and how it's effecting you psychologically? Look at my ratings in the signature area of my comment to you. I don't know this for sure, but VA adds onto back ratings by adding a rating for depression. They only gave me 10% for spine but that 10% is debilitating. How does my back affect me psychologically? For that I got 70%. I had one little note in my in-service medical records, but my back issues were enough to drive up my mental health rating.

I didn't realize I was depressed. I didn't realize the energy it took out of me. I didn't realize how much it increased pain symptoms. I got very frustrated with VA healthcare because every time I wanted them to focus on my back to help me with that it seemed I was being sent down the MH hall so to speak. It was not for a lack of medical proof of back problems. I think it was them realizing there's nothing they can really do for my back and so the only answer was pain management. It seems it's also a way to help prevent the escalation of mental and emotional episodes, to help prevent hurting one's self or hurting others, even toward suicide prevention. Look at what are deemed high risk factors for suicide. It embodies irreversible medical conditions, chronic pain, loss of something important (home, loved one, loss of support system), and there are more. They are making notes about your behavior, right along with the physical stuff. I bring up pain management because that's likely where the bulk of your mental health will be addressed. The current notes for my Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) grew organically in my pain management visits. It started with my primary care doctor's referrals to pain management. I would not overlook filing an MDD claim. All the healthcare providers recognize that the pain center of your brain is in the same center as depression and anxiety.

I had a hearing that was dismissed because of Legacy/AMA confusion. Is there any possibility that you were under the legacy system and then later tried to opt into AMA? I had my hearing in August 2021. I got the letter saying the hearing was dismissed in December of 2021 because my attorney opted into AMA the wrong way which caused a docket error. So if you've been in AMA right from the start that shouldn't be the problem. If you started in Legacy, then that might be why your hearing was cancelled. It took me months to find out, by dismissal letter. In the meantime 1-800-Peggy couldn't see anything and va.gov just showed the case as closed and one open. Weird.

Don't add salt.

Try it. It's like life in liquid form. Lots of bone minerals. Try preparing your own. The stuff in a jar not so much. You want beef bones that are cut, so you can see the marrow. You want bones that have joints or knuckles, preferably. People like to cover the bones with water by about 1" - 2" in a bowl and adding a 1/2 a cup raw apple cider vinegar (don't use white), and soak that for an hour and a half. This extracts the minerals out of the marrow. Then, dump the whole thing in a slow cooker for like 12 hours (or until the marrow has mostly dissolved. You'll end up with a mineral water base that you can use for anything that requires water, like when you make a vegetable stew. There is not much beef flavor in bone broth, so if you want more beef flavor then you're going to prepare a beef broth with fried or roast drippings...scraping the bottom of the pan for what has caramelized, like you normally would. You can add the bone broth to your beef broth recipe that calls for water. Just know that bone broth alone doesn't have much flavor. You can drink bone broth by itself or use it as water in a recipe. You might be surprised how good you feel.

I'm deleting the PT visit PDFs, to save storage space on the server. My questions have been answered. Thanks.

How did you find the number to call? I must have lost the cover letter to the S-DVI form I just received. I receive SSDI, due to SC conditions. I don't have TDIU, yet.

Ahh you're right. I didn't think of it that way. I guess I could have.

Thank you so much for this. Yep. This addresses primary causes and secondaries. Sounds like me. Thanks.

I better pay real close attention to what you're saying here, and I might be asking you again. I think I had that C&P exam back in 2017?? Boy... Nope. Here it is. C&P exam dated 3/26/2018 for the following conditions: Disc Degenerative Disease Scoliosis Compressed Nerve L2,L4,L5 Right hip condition w higher hip/rotated

I may be following your path, everything except the NSAIDs. I've been toughing it out. The pain has gotten so bad it has me stammering. BUT I discovered something that might surprise people. I picked up on the benefits of bone broth. We have a dairy farm that is organic. A real working dairy farm with all the federal labeling yada yada. Well, I don't particularly care for cow meat or the bones, but let me tell you I was PAIN FREE for days after using just half a cup's worth of the bone broth I made in throw-together un-thickened stew. As soon as I thickened it, using corn starch, my pain symptoms went off the chart. I was writhing in pain. So, for me it's starch (which converts to sugar in the body) that really sends my pain off the charts. Problem is...I can't stand the taste of it, the cow bones anyway. I'm still looking for a beef farm in my area for beef bones.

Yes. I think I'm on that path now. Covid interrupted a lot. Now I'm enrolled at a VA CBOC, but when I first moved to Bama I was on the outside struggling with authorizations in the Veterans Community Care system, which had all but broken down during Covid and the near simultaneous transition from TriWest to Optum. Just wow. Anyway, I'm getting my appointments and updating my record to show what's happening now. I'm making good use of MyHealth eVet messaging once again. I used to be at a VAMC and it was overwhelmed. Consistently got 5 stars in JCAHO inspections and see-sawed between being rated number 1 or number 2 in VA rating (I'm not sure what populated that rating), but it was a very good VAMC. We had people from other states coming on all the time and parking was on the grass nearly to the street. Well that's all good, but my very good primary care doctor was...I'd say overwhelmed. Now I've got a very good primary care doctor here in Bama at a VA CBOC and she has so much more time and she's on my side to document my record. Since 2018 my ankylosis has increased. I am now seen as having kyphosis and reverse lordosis. There are symptoms of pinched nerves in the C-spine and L-spine. I think L5 is involved in what may be Trendelenberg Gait (I need more proof). I am at the supplemental claims stage following a recent SOC (received about a week ago, attorney involved going the supplemental claims path). The SOC sees everything back in 2018 and one radiculopathy noted in 2020 (partial grant) and stops there. So, I think I may be in the prime position of arming supplemental claims with what's going on with me now.

I would like your thoughts on how the VA regarded an in-service condition called 'pelvic tilt'. VA used this analogous description on my SOC, from my original claim(s) of altered gait and one hip higher than the other. In the SOC it states that while the pelvic tilt condition is seen in my in-service records the claim is denied because there were no complaints. I am service connected for lower back issues. If anyone needs to see all my underlying medical conditions (that are not SC'd, yet) to form an opinion on the pelvic tilt denial then I can do so. Thanks to anyone and everyone in advance.