disasta

Interesting they told you that. My claim had a docket # of June 2009 and I received a decision in the mail on the 1st of August. Good luck, hopefully it is resolved and you receive a favorable decision soon.

Thanks everyone. Sandman my docket # is 09-19 272 and it had been there since June of 2009

Carlie, Thanks I figure it would go something like that. I have had a rating increase then surgery to fix the reflux so I assume that will be dropped tp 0% after that then I just get to wait for one more claim and hopefully be done with it all. vetinpa: My RO is in Boston, MA

So i have been fighting the va to be service connected for my acid relux and today i received the brown envelope granting it but with no rating. The va had denied it time and time again even after submitting a IMO based on their doctor believing it was caused by chronic bronchitis. I had already been granted service connected asthma so they would only take my request for rating on chronic bronchitis as a request for increase. I assume I will have to wait for the regional office to give me a rating percentage before I see any of my award. I am curious to whether I will receive it for the entire time or they will rate me 0% because I had a nissen fundoplication to correct my reflux back at the beginning of 2010. It seems like it has been so long to just have them finally agree that it was incurred in service.

My claim has a June 2009 docket # and just went before the law judge on June 28th of . It went to "with VLJ" in january but quickly went back to "with VSO." My claim is now "pending dispatch" since July 27th and was only for an appeal on GERD. hope this helps.

The schools veterans office is the one who actually responded to me and told me how the va determined 1/4 1/2 3/4 and full time. I am just unsure if they split the sustenance payment up so I would be full time for part of the way or if they would just average it out and make it 3/4 time for the entire semester.

Hello All. Ok I have a question. My current semester runs from 9/1 to 12/23 and I am taking 4 classes, 1 is an accelerated 10 week course, 2 are normal 3 credit hour classes and one is a lab worth 1 credit hour. From what my school has emailed me the number of credit hours multiplied by 18 (a constant) divided by the number of weeks in the term equals the number of ECH's. Generally, accelerated online courses are considered 10 week courses: (3x18/10 = 5.4 ECH + 7 credits from your full length courses(2 3 credit courses and a 1 credit hour course) = 12.1. Now 12 credit hours is full time so will I be paid the full time rate for the 10 weeks that I will be a 'full time' student and then paid 1/2 time for the last portion where I am a 1/2 time student or do they just average it out? Thanks for the help.

i received mine in my usaa account yesterday,

According to code 6602 I would think so. My FEV-1 is 52% on average and I have been rated 60% for it. Best of luck. 6602 Asthma, bronchial: FEV-1 less than 40-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC less than 40 percent, or; more than one attack per week with episodes of respiratory failure, or; requires daily use of systemic (oral or parenteral) high dose corticosteroids or immuno-suppressive medications 100 FEV-1 of 40- to 55-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC of 40 to 55 percent, or; at least monthly visits to a physician for required care of exacerbations, or; intermittent (at least three per year) courses of systemic (oral or parenteral) corticosteroids 60 FEV-1 of 56- to 70-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC of 56 to 70 percent, or; daily inhalational or oral bronchodilator therapy, or; inhalational anti-inflammatory medication 30 FEV-1 of 71- to 80-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC of 71 to 80 percent, or; intermittent inhalational or oral bronchodilator therapy 10 Note: In the absence of clinical findings of asthma at time of examination, a verified history of asthmatic attacks must be of record. 6603 Emphysema, pulmonary: FEV-1 less than 40 percent of predicted value, or; the ratio of Forced Expiratory Volume in one second to Forced Vital Capacity (FEV-1/FVC) less than 40 percent, or; Diffusion Capacity of the Lung for Carbon Monoxide by the Single Breath Method (DLCO (SB)) less than 40-percent predicted, or; maximum exercise capacity less than 15 ml/kg/min oxygen consumption (with cardiac or respiratory limitation), or; cor pulmonale (right heart failure), or; right ventricular hypertrophy, or; pulmonary hypertension (shown by Echo or cardiac catheterization), or; episode(s) of acute respiratory failure, or; requires outpatient oxygen therapy. 100 FEV-1 of 40- to 55-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC of 40 to 55 percent, or; DLCO (SB) of 40- to 55-percent predicted, or; maximum oxygen consumption of 15 to 20 ml/kg/min (with cardiorespiratory limit) 60 FEV-1 of 56- to 70-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC of 56 to 70 percent, or; DLCO (SB) 56- to 65-percent predicted 30 FEV-1 of 71- to 80-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC of 71 to 80 percent, or; DLCO (SB) 66- to 80-percent predicted 10

from looking at the short part and without context, it could mean rule out. Were they doing testing to determine whether you suffered from these or were these already diagnosed?

ya i figured that I could claim or sue I just wasnt sure how to go about it. I am not very worried about the timeline, I was just discharged today. I had faith in the surgeon, everything she did was very cautious and very calculated. she stated she did not think the spleen would be where it was, but I will have to wait to get the medical records for the surgery and see. The surgery was an open nissen fundplication complicated by a splenectomy due to the spleen being severed.

the va did the surgery.

Hi Everyone, I just underwent surgery and things just seemed to go fairly badly. The past to my story is here. http://www.hadit.com/forums/index.php?show...&hl=disasta but I am curious to what to do now or what options I have. I went in for surgery for my laproscopic nissan fundoplication(basically take the top part of the stomach and wrap it across the esophagus and recreate the seal to keep reflux down). There was a small risk that the surgery could have needed to be an open due to the fact one out of a dozeen tests I had showed a possible shortened esophagus. Approrpiate measures were taken in case that was needed. After 8hours of time in the operating room I was transferreed to the recovery room. Apparently during the surgery they attempted twice to do the laprpsopic way and on the second time they severed the spleen. Unfounded they were unable to stop the bleeding and it was removed. The rest of the surgery seemed to go ahead as planned. But now what? I lost and organ that no one had even said it was a possibility? Can I put a claim in on top of my Reflux Claim or what? Thanks for the replies.

Well this is the part of the process I am now confused about. The claim was filed, then denied, then I filed an appeal to have them relook it which was also denied. The VARO sent the denial letter to an old address so when I called my rep he filed a form 9 to keep the appeal alive. Can I still have a DRO Hearing at the VARO before it goes to BVA? I think im going to go up and see my rep at the DAV so I can get more clarity.

ok so i spoke to dav today and the va did deny my claim. what i did not know was they decided not to change my address when i moved. every other part of va had the right address but they mailed the denial to the old address in february. apparently i had 60 days to appeal and when i called in may the dav filed the form 9 to keep my case open. guess i will be getting a couple medical opinions as the case eventually ends up going to washington. if its highly documented in my records for 3 years and i have the medical opinions in the case should i request a hearing with an officer or just have them review it in dc? The DAV said the timeframe for a hearing with an officer would be over 2 years... any ideas? thanks.

How can I connect the asthma to the acid reflux. The reflux has caused the asthma to be worse. I cant seem to get them to understand the argument that because of the asthma and pnemonia that caused the hole in the lung which caused the hiatal hernia and current reflux problems. Should I have the doctor add that part into the IMO?

Ok for my first claim with the asthma I got the doctors opinion that the asthma occurred during service. Do I still need a seperate one even if I have it all over my VA medical record and active duty medical records?

Happy Almost 4th Everyone. I have read the boards for a while during my process of my claim and appeals. Let me explain my situation. During my time in basic training(2002) we received a pnemonia vacine and since then I have had multiple bouts of pnemonia and bronchitis. I have a small restriction in my lungs from the scaring which I have a rating of 30% for asthma. In December of 2005 I had a particularly bad occurance of pnemonia in which I basically put a hole in my lung. The lung healed and since then I have had serious reflux which the VA is planning surgery(nissen fundoplication) to fix the damage the reflux has done to my esophagus and some additional damage to the lungs. A medium sized hiatal hernia appeared after the incident with the lung. I can only guess the hiatal hernia came from the severe coughing when I had pnemonia which is how the lung got the hole. It took the VA quite a while to figure out why I could not breath and had really bad reflux(by really bad I mean I am maxed out on the medication and I still get an upset stomach and throw up and again will be having surgery in the next few months). My claim was put in when I was discharged in Feb of 06 and denied Feb 07, the appeal was put in and i was granted the 30% in May of 07 for asthma. In June of 07 the GI doctor figured out that the reflux was part of the major problem. The Dr's theory being lungs got tore up during pnemonia/bronchitis but worse with the hole which healed itself. After the award for the asthma my VSO from DAV said I needed to file a new claim for the reflux. I dont know how it was put in but when I got my denial letter it was listed as being filed secondary to the asthma with the argument that asthma does not cause acid reflux. I obviously understand that as being true but do not know how it should go. June of 08 is when I received the denial for the reflux and immediately put in a NOD. I didnt hear anything so in January of 09 and May of 09 I contacted the DAV to see what was going on. They gave me a bunch of evasive answers and was basically told to wait. I sent an IRIS message at the end of June and I received this message: This is in response to your inquiry dated June 26, 2009, regarding the status of your appeal seeking service connection for hiatal hernia. Our records indicate that we received your Form 9 on May 4, 2009. You will be receiving information regarding if you want a Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA) hearing or have the appeal go to the Appeals Management Center. Now I did not send any forms but from googling and pulling up the Form 9 and it saying "appeal to BVA" should I expect that I will be receiving a denial letter for the claim? I cant get ahold of my DAV rep until atleast monday so I am just curious. Any advise of help would be appreciated. Thanks.