Ok thank you for your feedback. That answers my questions and it appears it’s definitely worth my time to get the nexus letter from an orthopedic surgeon. I had an MRI in 2014 (2 years after my medical retirement) that showed grade II/III chondromalacia in that knee, so my surgeon is comfortable in stating the wear and tear began several years earlier and was certainly aggravated by running, climbing up and down ladder wells and climbing helicopters.
My claim is currently entered as trying to s/c my knee just on its own. I’m already s/c for my right knee and both feet (pes planus) so I could connect my left knee as secondary to those, which it likely is anyways. Should I try to add a knee secondary to feet/right knee onto the current new knee claim in motion? I’ve not had very good VSO advisement on this and am desperately just trying to do this right the first time. Their opinion is to just try it and appeal if it doesn’t work, but this is very stressful and I have mental and behavioral health issues (also s/c) that I’m trying to work through in parallel to this claim.
So in case I babbled too much and made this confusing, my basic question is will the VA take a nexus letter stating my left knee is secondary to my service connected right knee and flat feet of the claim doesn’t specifically state it’s secondary? How do I fix this?
thank you again!