akwidow

It's good to see that the system works for some of us!

My contratulations to you as well. My case is one of the old ones whose DIC case filed in 2004 is at a raters desk at AMC. I hope some of the good tidings will spread my direction! Be watchful of them, and make sure they follow up with your award...as I for one do not trust them at all.

The night before my late husband's cancer surgery in 2003 at the VAMC, I was at his bedside dozing in a chair when the night nurse came into the room, told me I had no business being there, and had a hospital cop escort me out of the room, where I was then told I could wait in a waiting room. Needless to say, I was steamed, to be polite in this mixed company. I told off the hospital cop as succintly as possible (I actually threw my visitor pass to the floor in disgust), took a cab to my laptop in my bed on a floor at a friends house in a strange town, and wrote to my senator about the whole thing. The next day I was next to my husband in the hospital and nobody made me leave again. The head nurse did ask me why I contacted my senator, and I told her nobody at the hospital cared what my husband and I needed at this terrible time. I learned you gotta stand up for yourself and the ones you love! Did I ever learn to advocate!

http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=10451237 They called it an administrative error ;)

hmmmph, looks to me like you got blown off again. Note where it says "should contact you...." not "will contact you". That E J Kruse is a prolific ghost...he wrote to me too.

tell your lawyer to make sure and print out a transmission report showing the receipt of the fax at the correct number...it is like a return receipt for faxes. Information not in your C-file, eh? Do we all wonder what else is not in your file, and ours too? Be careful to cover your 'horse like 4 legged creature...'.

hang in there Judy - Let's hope it as the people that know here at Hadit have responded today. I too am waiting on a DIC case....but only for 5 years. I would send an IRIS inquiry, and do not depend on the people who run the phone lines at VA. Actually I don't trust any of them at VA, but I have to fly on faith that an honest one will adjudicate my claim.

In two weeks you may be in pain again. In any case, do not take any analgesics (pain killers) or any anti-inflammitory meds for 24 hours before the exam. You need to be unmedicated for the exam, thereby giving an accurate presentation of your condition without any drug interactions. I guarantee it will hurt, unless you are healed. Remember, no one can see your pain...it is not a visible thing like a cut on your skin. My daughter tore her bicep away from her shoulder...it took months for the WC people to go through their routine until they finally realized surgery was the only option...and it took 6 months which included therapy on a torn connector! What a racket...

so how can we get this incident into the national news? That is one way to get a voice out to America and the world.

here is a competing bill - correct me please if I am wrong - Thank you for contacting me about H.R. 1016, the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act. I am grateful for the service of America's veterans and support them in any way that I can. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue. H.R. 1016 would allow Congress to pass advanced appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Advanced appropriations are necessary for the VA to have sufficient time to plan and evaluate the upcoming year's budget. This bill would provide funding for the VA a year in advance, allowing VA hospitals and other VA facilities to better prepare for the upcoming year and better provide care to our veterans. For this reason, I am a cosponsor of H.R. 1016. In the past, I have signed several letters to the House and Senate leadership urging them to pass this bill as quickly as possible. Quick action is needed because the President and Congress have been unable to pass the VA budget on time once in the past ten years, costing veterans hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and putting unnecessary burdens on the VA system. Even when the budget was passed on time, however, it still did not provide the necessary time for the VA leadership to properly plan how to use that funding. This bill will alleviate many of the burdens put on the VA by the short time line they are given to work with, allowing them to provide more efficient care and better use of taxpayer's dollars. H.R. 1016 has been referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. While I am not a member of that committee, as a cosponsor, I will continue to do everything in my power to see that this bill is passed. Once again, thank you for expressing your views on this issue. If you haven't already, I would encourage you to sign up for my e-newsletter at http://donyoung.house.gov/IMA/issue_subscribe.htm <http://donyoung.house.gov/IMA/issue_subscribe.htm> and my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=RepDonYoung <http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=RepDonYoung> . Doing so will allow me to provide you with updates on this and other important issues. If I can be of any assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Curious here - how long has this registry been in exstence? and who (VA?) puts you on it? can you check to see if a deceased vet is on the list?

I always wondered why the VSo's had an office in the VA Lions Den. It just doesn't make sense to have opposing parties sharing lavatories. Wouldn't it make you think that maybe they are not opposing parties after all?

I got one from Don Young R-AK about H.R. 1016, the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act. He says: "I am grateful for the service of America's veterans and support them in any way that I can. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue. H.R. 1016 would allow Congress to pass advanced appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Advanced appropriations are necessary for the VA to have sufficient time to plan and evaluate the upcoming year's budget. This bill would provide funding for the VA a year in advance, allowing VA hospitals and other VA facilities to better prepare for the upcoming year and better provide care to our veterans. For this reason, I am a cosponsor of H.R. 1016. In the past, I have signed several letters to the House and Senate leadership urging them to pass this bill as quickly as possible. Quick action is needed because the President and Congress have been unable to pass the VA budget on time once in the past ten years, costing veterans hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and putting unnecessary burdens on the VA system. Even when the budget was passed on time, however, it still did not provide the necessary time for the VA leadership to properly plan how to use that funding. This bill will alleviate many of the burdens put on the VA by the short time line they are given to work with, allowing them to provide more efficient care and better use of taxpayer's dollars." hmmm. No politics here, just concurrent news.

It is so heartening to see another case won...

last time I called them, I was told by the VA operator that AMC no longer answers it's own phone. So unless you have a number to somebody inside, you aren't gonna make any bells ring in that office!

I will be reopening asthma and ptsd claims once my current issue is adjudicated. Because of the way my late vet was taken down in the jungle by tear gas while suffering from chronic asthma, the intertwining of the two issues is probably similar to yours. In his case, since he was found to be 50% sc ptsd 6 months before he died, I will be proving that the earlier filing for ptsd should have been granted, as his asthma claim should have been. I will still be claiming two maladies, even though they happened simultaneously.

congratulations, and now rest. You will be ready to fight again sometime in the future after you regain balance and strength.

The good, clean innocent part of me wants to think that the poor poor VSA's are overworked and underpaid and that it isn't physically possible for them to handle their case load. The more cynical, been burnt once twice shy part of me thinks they are getting paid to delay or discourage our claims somehow. The sweet sounding VSO guy in my area sounds like a real nice guy. He absolutely crowed over the work I did, and told me it was the talk of the west coast office - all the fact gathering this little old housewife did....but old cynical me says, why did I have to do it myself, when most of the info I gleamed for my claim I got from the VA? As it turns out, my late vet applied for AO and was denied and he had DMII symptoms - elevated proteinuria. I just put this together last week. I will be reopening the filing for SC for that diabetes he had they never diagnosed on paper. Go pet those little pony's in your yard, let the cat rub on your legs, get a lapful of happy dog and let their affection for you calm your nerves...and remember we are here for you. akw

I am sorry for your problems with your VSO, Shortpig. When my late husband was being treated at Seattle VARO in 2003, he signed up with MOPH for his VSO. Even with this association in effect, and other than the first initial filed claims for ptsd and SC for AO and hearing loss, MOPH has never filed any paper for us. After he died, I filed for DIC by myself, was denied; filed for appeal with a traveling hearing board all without any assistance from MOPH. MOPH came with me to the hearing, but other than an hour of talking to me before the actual hearing, I felt they did very little during the hearing. I was still filled with crippling grief at the DRO, and basically answered the DRO officer questions...and was denied again. I thought my case was over. Then the MOPH lawyer took up my case and submitted it to the court of veteran's appeals, where my case was remanded because of board errors. When the COVA told me I could now add additional information, I gathered VA medical records, independent medical records, buddy letters, and used their case law to support my case. Not once did MOPH offer to file or deliver my 'new' 170 pages of supporting documentation, nor did they offer to write the brief I submitted in support of my case. I tell you all this because your situation is so different from mine - I never depended on my VSO, and if I waited for them to do what I did, I doubt my new information would have ever been put together. I have since always copied them with what I sent in, as having it in another place is like having a copy in the safe deposit box. In closing, what is wrong with sending VA a copy of what you hold? Certified return receipt of course. That will ensure that VA will receive the data you are worrying about being submitted, will cause you to be more proactive with your own case, and make you feel more involved. It might also take away your feeling of being helpless with this apparently stubborn controlling VSO. I hope these thoughts help you and anybosy else reading this thread. Akwidow still waiting

yea for the side of truth! You are inspiring to me, Berta! Congratulations.

My happy wishes to you and that all of our battles will end in success like yours.

I have copies of my late hubby's extraction papers from RVN, with each guy's ID and numbers listed loud and clear on that day's extraction. I have seen this on a number of papers I found in the files when I started digging. 40 year old ssa#s... I have also received other folks med records when VAMC sent us the surgical records from Seattle. I never thought twice about it....I have been so naive at times.

My apologies - here is the link - http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nfapr09/nf040909-3.htm I attempted to comment on the news link when I first saw it in it's original thread, but I was not allowed - computer wouldn't let me. I figured it was a locked thread.

Gee whiz! the rater filed a claim with the VA and she was denied!!! Really, it is no wonder so many of us are rubber stamped with denials when the 1st stage claim raters are ordered to accomplish what VA administration demands - 4 'cases' or issues a day. I cannot imagine making an educated decision on a case that fast - when I think about the number of pages that are in my case file, I can only tell you that it is filed in two banker's boxes.... On a bright note, if she was 'slow' by only making 2.6 or 2.7 decisions a day, she was probably one of the better raters. Heaven help us all!

I sent off the VCAA reply letter today return receipt. I checked the 'do it now' box, as I have no other data to enhance my claim. I have no idea how it will go; the moment of adrenelin that I had yesterday when the envelope came is over; I hope my wait is short and yours is shorter. Se le vie