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bakerkd

Second Class Petty Officers
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Everything posted by bakerkd

  1. Berra, they did my initial claim without my SMR's. They granted a reconsideration of ALL using the SMR's but "forgot" to address one of the contentions. I filed the NOD on the reconsideration. during reconsideration I sent in 128 pages of N&M evidence just for that contention. That contention was not addressed at all. It has never been rated against ANY medical records at all
  2. Ok thanks. I'm still a bit confused. VA is saying NOD not filed within 1 year of denial and technically that's true. I NOD'd the reconsideration which ate up nearly 8 months of my appeal time. I almost didn't even notice it was left out. The reconsideration was all new and material since my SMR's weren't even looked at. I submitted an additional 128 pages of new and material within that year as well.
  3. Going to try to keep this long saga short. Filed initial claim July 10 and received decision Oct 11. Virtually everything denied since SMR's magically disappeared sometime after Nov 10. Overnighted my copy of SMRs about a week before decision but they just sat in VARO mailroom. I requested a reconsideration of all contentions due to being rated without records that, were in fact, in VA's possession. Reconsideration granted for all and got improved ratings for most. This was in Apr 2012. After scouring the decision letter I noticed that one of the contentions wasn't addressed It was just left out of decision all together. I filed NOD in February 13 after searching for as much medical evidence as possible. Now fast forward to today. 40 months into my NOD/ DRO I get letter stating that the contention that was left off my reconsideration in Apr 12 cannot be considered in NOD because the 1 year statutory appeal period was exceeded. Basically, even though they granted a reconsideration, I couldn't appeal the contention that was left out because the date of decision was the first denial of service connection, done without any SMR's. I sent them a cordial message in IRIS stating that the NOD was for the reconsideration of ALL contentions but that they were in error for omitting it in deciscion letter and that the date of denial should be Apr 2012 based on their CUE. Regardless of whether they consider it with the NOD, where the hell is my rating? They have had new and material evidence for 5 years and have had a reconsideration and a NOD requesting it be eval'd. To this date they have never matched my SMR's including new and material to this contention. I now have 6 years invested in this. Should I wait and see if they magically admit they screwed up or file a new claim and spend 5 or 6 more years trying to get effective date fixed? Any suggestions?
  4. Incompetent By Va Standards. I had to laugh when I read the title of the thread. Pot calling Kettle......come in kettle
  5. I requested a certificate of eligibility for VA home loan. It was issued on 20 Oct and does not reflect 70% assigned on 11 Oct. I'm not so sure that is the most reliable method for finding out your current disability rating
  6. No TDIU. Just trying to get a fair shake on what I claimed
  7. Sent request for reconsideration. Stated that I responded to the "10 Day letter" and provided STR's before 10 day suspense. Mentioned that STR's had been in possession of the VARO for 4 weeks prior to the decision date and that they acknowledged receipt on that date.
  8. I recieved the 10 day letter and immediately notified them that I was sending in STR's. The had them within 3 days of their 10 day letter. They state on the evidence page that they didnt have STR's and then denied loads saying there was no evidence. My ebenefitts shows the notification i sent in response to 10 day letter and then shows receipt of STR's 2 days later. The claim is still open because I have one deferred item
  9. I know that I diagnosis isnt made at a C&P. The diagnosis and years of treatment are in STR's. I actually had noncompensables assigned 0%, how do you determine severity without medical evidence or a C&P?They actually stated my condition was mild and what i would need to get a compensable rating, how was the rater able to determine that?
  10. And how would they know that without doing a C&P or reviewing my STR's? That would be the whole "evidence" of a current diagnosed condition. They rated my claim without my STR's and only rated me on the few items they bothered to send me to a C&P exam for. I have an incurable neuro condition, its in my STR's but I never was sent to a Neuro C&P. There is ample evidence in my STRs but because they didn't review it then i guess it doesnt exist. Does that mean I'm cured? I understand what you are trying to say but I think you are missing the point. If they reviewed my evidence and determined it was acute with no residuals then I would buy what you are saying, unfortunately that is not what happened in this case
  11. Got my decision today was rated 70%. Was reading through and amazed at all of the "no evidence of current diagnosed disability" and I was flabbergasted. Looked at evidence section and it shows "Memorandum of unavailability of service treatment records" Here is the kicker; I sent them my STR's which they acknowledge they recieved on 15 Sep and then on 13 Oct they rated me without using my STR's. Is that a CUE? NOD? Can it be new and material if they had it in their possesion for a month prior to decision? I'm confused and a little upset. Not too upset though, I hit 70% without any records. I knew something was up; I just sent in an NCS study showing moderate radial nerve impingement which has been referred for surgery and they gave me a noncompensable and told me it needed to at least be mild to get a 10%. It was mild.... in 1998... now its moderate. UGGHHHHHH
  12. Something fishey going on methinks. I called Peggy to notify that (I will provide STR's) since VA couldnt get them. I asked young lady "how did we manage to get 13 months into this claim without having STR's?, oh and by the way I was told on 2 Nov 10 that you had them already on file" She put me on hold to look through notes. Low and behold there is a note from 26 October 10 showing that STR's were received and are on file. Ok I ask, what is going on? Peggy says we must be missing something from your STR's. Like what I ask? Don't know she says. If you have copies of your STR's you should just mail them in. So I tell her ...of course I will. So VA sends me a letter telling me they never received records 13 months into claim and now when pressed on the issue admit they have had them for nearly a year......Sounds like somebody is stalling. I will send in records anyway but I honestly think someone is trying to play "suspense games" at the VARO or they lost my STR's
  13. I'm fully aware that a claim cannot be tracked like a fedex package. I'm also fully aware that if/when a mistake is made it is best to correct it immediately. I pay attention and ask questions repeatedly and the past 13 months have been a waste of time. Now my additional evidence, as in the ONLY evidence will certainly require additional development. You shouldn't have to be an expert, neither should I...WE ARE THE CUSTOMER.
  14. CC believe me I don't trust them. I follow up every week, thats how I have managed to call over 50 times and check e-bennies daily. Not happy with "we have everything we need and a rater will review your record and make a decision or request more information", I assumed they were blowing smoke, so I followed up with an IRIS and was told "we have everything we need and a rater wil...... I'm not a happy camper. They aren't trying to be inefficient its just their culture. Let me give a few examples; In Jan Atlanta VARO schedules me for multiple C&P exams at Dublin VAMC, I attend them all except ENT and Audiology. Why not those two? Because the examiner at Dublin pointed out that they are done at the Augusta VAMC. I call Atlanta VARO back and say Dublin couldn't do the ENT/Hearing because those are done at Augusta could you please schedule me through Augusta? Response from VARO- We will review your SMR's to determine if exams are even needed. I say they must be needed because you just sent me for them but to the wrong VAMC. Their response- we will need Dublin to confirmn they could not complete them. I say cool when will that be. They say either 60 or 90 days depending on what suspense they put on it. I say are you kidding me, don't you know what exams are at what VAMC? I'm telling you now you screwed up but you want me to wait 60 -90 days to reschedule. Their response....Yes. Hearing/ENT exam requested by VARO in Jan finally scheduled in May. I also mentioned that I didn't get exams for everything I claimed when will those be scheduled? VARO response, a rater reviews your records and determines what exams are required if they didn't request an exam its because they feel they have everything they need in your SMR's to make a decision. I wasnt sure that was the right answer so I sent an IRIS with same question and low and behold got the same answer. That was in February now in Sep they are telling me they never had my SMR's to begin with. What may I ask were they reviewing to determine what C&P's to send me to? Humm wonder how many C&P's i will get when they actually get them? Here is another; booked a day off work to go to two C&P exams at Dublin VAMC. Day prior I get home from work and there is a message on my answering machine " this is a reminder of your appt at 1400 tomorrow" the message doesn't say who its from or what or even where the appt is. Guess what...Its a CT scan that the VA never notified me about....lucky for me I already booked day off AND it was at the same VAMC but different building as my other two C&P's. Kinda weird I got a half assed reminder for an appt I didnt get a letter for but no reminder for the two I did get letters on. Just luck huh
  15. GAF is a "snapshot in time". MH professionals will show your GAF for a certain period of time ie; that particular day, based on your behavior/symptoms. From what I understand the raters look at symptoms and if its a close call they "May" look at the GAF's. You could have symtoms associated with a 50% rating throughout the year but only have a 62 GAF on the day you see the MH Pro. Some days are better than others so GAF can change. I know someone who has had a 65 and a 45 within 2 months of each other.
  16. Whats weird is that all of my C&P were favorable. One for ENT almost states verbatim a statement in my SMR's even though they "supposedly" didn't have them. What really torques me is that I was called by the VA to schedule my C&P exams in Nov 10 and the scheduler told me then that they had requested my records and I said I was told by Peggy that on 2 Nov 10 that they "VARO" had my records, she put me on hold came back and said i'm showing we have recieved them. Now suddenly they never had them to begin with. I call Peggy every week to verify that they have everything they need, thats over 50 times in the last year, and nobody EVER mentioned they didnt have my smr's
  17. Berta- This is my initial claim filed when I retired. Every item claimed is in my SMR's. I have copies of my treatment records at home which I could have sent a year ago if I had known they were waiting on them. I am going to send them in. Basically I'm going to develop my own claim. I'm going to submit the records tabbed under each contention with evidence highlighted.
  18. Ok let me try this one. Filed my claim in August 2010. C&P's completed in Jan, Feb and May 11. Claim went to raters 6 July 2011. Log into E-benefits today and notice that claim is back in development. Call Peggy...I'm told VARO Atlanta doesnt have Sevice Treatment Records. I say i was told on 2 Nov 2010 that my records had been recieved by VARO and they would schedule whatever C&P's were needed after reviewing records. Well, I got the C&P's, spent 11 months in Development total and 2 months at raters and I'm now told they "never recieved" my SMR's. Does this smell fishy? Peggy said they requested records from National Repository and recieved a "negative response" whatever that means. I asked if they followed up and she said no. I asked should they have followed up? She said we sent you a letter in November, I said you sure did but that was to schedule my C&P's and no mention of SMR's. She said we sent you another in May...I said yes you did but that was for another C&P and no mention about missing SMR's. She said, well we mailed you one today. I said ...ma'am I check my e-benefits everyday and there has never been anything on there stating anything was missing. I call the 1-800 every week and ask if there is anything the VA needs for my claim and over 50 times now i've been told "no" My claim is 13 months old and nobody has ever mentioned they didnt have my SMR's....I have two copies of them in my office. I could have overnighted them a year ago.
  19. "I would recom your claimany treatment you have had since filing your claimany treatment you have had since filing your claim" HUH?
  20. Your stripe isn't on the line. If you are found unfit you will retire at the grade of promotion if you hold a line number. Active duty service commitments do not apply for medical retirements.
  21. Yes. I have volumes in my smr's. Im still within 12 months of retirement. I retired in august and filed my claim within 10 days. Botox is awesome. Been getting it in my neck and traps since 2004. Helps make the headaches more bearable. In Georgia dentist can no longer give masseter botox treatment, must be MD. Tricare prime won't pay for dental amd my MD can't charge against my dental insurance. Nobody wants to take responsibility for TMJD. I have two dental insurance plans and neither will cover TMJD anyway. They will happily fix all the teeth i'm destroying though
  22. Thanks Vync This is the exam results from ENT C&P I think the doc gave a good opinion. Just didn't get any kinda ROM for mandibular Bilateral Temporalis pain is elicited with palpation. He is tender in both masseter muscles in particular to the sinus walls. He also has muscle relaxents which apparently have little if any benefit. In regards to his dizziness and vertigo in fact this does not represent true vertigo and the dizziness IS ASSOCIATED with musculoskeletal disorder consistent with cervical origin and CERTAINLY with bilateral temporal mandibular joint pain. The Headaches ARE ASSOCIATED with this as well and the treatment that he is undergoing with mouth guard is certainly at this point in time a reasonable pathway to persue. In summary this is an evaluation for dizziness which has no middle or inner ear connotation as well and IN FACT it is musculoskeletal and alanto occipital pain IS RESULTING from musculoskeletal disorder and TM Joint problems. I also have claims in for Headaches-retro-orbital,Tinnitis, IBS, GERD, Anxiety NOS (C&P tied to multiple ortho problems), Multilevel DDD cervical and bilateral facet denervation from C2 Through T3, and Cervical Dystonia wich is treated with 20 botox shots every 12 weeks
  23. Yes, I have had whiplash. Multi-level DDD Cervical. Have had Bilateral Facet Denervations from C-2 through T-3
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