[New Member, Back Fusion, Army]

I find it interesting that they fused the lower back, that is pretty radical. Though it is not out of the ballpark depending on the condition. With back and disk problems there is no right answer. But they probably saved you ten years of frustration. Seriously.

Physical therapy is worthless for disc conditions. Learned that myself just recently.

The goal for you longterm is to prevent nerve damage. Something that they never did with my back. Back pain sucks, but nerve damage in your feet and legs is insult to injury. The fusion will probably prevent alot of that, and just make sure you stay on it and don't ignore symptoms.

Honestly I have dealt with disk problems for over 20 years. Civilian doctors suck at it. They aim for what treatment will maximize their revenue stream, and which medication gets them the highest kickback from the drug company.

and with me the military screwed me. The VA actually knows their shit with this type of stuff.. seriously they do. I am lucky, my VA hospital has top notch neurology docs.

As far as the military board and the VA. You can contact a service organization to help you with this process and give you legal advice. The DAV has a service and probably the others organizations do as well.

The issue that will come up is whether you had a back problem before your service, or if it is hereditary. Any car accident or thing like that.

Here is some advice... Remember, you do not get compensated for having a medical problem.. you get compensated for the limitations caused by the problem and the lowered quality of life. Think in those terms. You have fused disks, which limit range of motion and the whole bit. You have pain that radiates, which limits range of motion..

As someone mentioned, give them your condition on the worst days. You have a back condition, you really don't have to eggaterate, but don't downplay anything.. keep a diary of your pain level each day.. One thing is how far you can walk without experiencing problems.. less than 100 feet is one of the milestones for severity. I just told them I stand in one place or sit in one place for more than 10 or 15 mins without being in severe discomfort.. which was actually understating it.

Also, just because you had a condition prior to service, it does not mean that you are not entitled to VA compesation.. They are responsible for any condition "aggrevated by service".. this might be where your fight lies..

I have no experience with the MEB process, except that I have never heard anything positive.. so do get service organization representation.

What is your MOS?

[Question About Iu And Vocrehab]

OK.

I am in VochRehab right now and have been for about a year. In Nov I had a reevaluation done by the VA, was a yearly thing they said. The DAV handles my claims now, my wife was my NSO, but now she is retired..

I got a call from the DAV NSO and he said the VA rater looking at my file hinted to the DAV rep that I might have a few other claims that I should file. OK so I gave the approval to file for a few things.. one came back right away and I went from 40% to 60% combined. The others items are in process.

The DAV rep mentioned to me that once this was all done, and if my rating got to the right range that they would file for IU.. ( the rater made this hint as well.. ). I balked because I did not think you could get IU while on Vocrehab.. and at the least I would think that the Vochrehab people might pull the plug on my program. ( the vocrehab people in my VA are tough .. I asked if they would buy me a computer for school and they said "save your disablity checks and buy one yourself... or use the ones at school" ..

OK.. Has anyone heard of getting IU while in Vocrehab?/ and does anyone think it wise to ask for it?

[Hello Everyone]

Right now I am in VocRehab and 100% is not my goal. The issue I see with 100% is this, and those of you with experience can correct me if I am wrong: Right now I am rated for the left side, pain down the left side.. that is 40% of my rating. C&P person told me that is maxed out. He said once it goes to the right, then my rating will increase considerably.. Which it is now starting to do, they sent me to physical therapy and it killed me. ( C&P person yesterday told me Physical therapy was pointless, and actually asked why they did not refer me for surgery )..

If I tried to get 100%, I could probably end up with it.. but it would probably not be Permanent and Total for 5 - 10 years??? So my daughter who is about to start college would not be able to really get any of my benefits,, and my wife would not either.. because I am not permanent.

Worst case is they don't give me 100%, but I end up with that VA math of 90%.. which case I am still not 100% P&T.. and I am booted out of VocRehab..

I thought about it.. After yesterday with the C&P guy he gave me and the wife some advice.. ( I have permanent nerve damage down my left leg, and foot.. ). I also am claiming for Anxiety Disorder.. secondary to the back, from chronic pain. But from this round I will probably either end up 70% or 80% ( it will take alot with the combined ratings to get me to 80%). He said I should wait to see what comes out of this report, and refile for a reevaluation of my back because the left leg nerve is part of that..

Thanks everyone

[Hello Everyone]

Hi,

I served in the Army for 3 years back in the 1980's as a Paratrooper. I was injured on a parachute jump and it ended my military career... very slowly. My treatment was bottles of pain killers, NSAIDS, and muscle relaxants. No MRI's, no physical therapy. zilch.. My medical records were "lost". When I finally ETS'd and went through the physical they asked if there were any medical problems... Yep. sure were. They handed me enough meds for 6 months and told me if I needed more to go to the VA when I got back home.

Well I got back home and went to the VA.. they told me where to go. that was over twenty years ago.

Over the years civilian doctors have continued the same medication plan. I must say it is even worst with civilians, because they push whatever meds they are getting the most kickbacks on..

A few years ago it got to the point where I could barely walk or get out of bed. I was laid up for over two years with no income. The wife mentioned the VA, I said "No way in Hell"..

Eventually she wore me down. I told her I would go, but I was not dealing with them at all. She had to do it all.

Well she did. She called the toll free number. got the forms.. called when she had questions. Got everything together.

I went to the VA Hospital. My primary sent me for an EMG/NCV study. The Doctor in PMR did a 15 min exam of me, told me exactly what was wrong, how long it had been going on, and the complete diagnosis.. said she did not need an MRI, but she said she would get one..

She was dead on.. Started seeing a Neurologist at the VA.. another outstanding doctor.

My claim.... a few months later I got a call for a C&P. The person looked at the claim.. was sortof taken back.. My wife explained how she put it together and was not sure if she did it right.... The C&P person explained.. They are there to help vets who need it, and are entilted to it.. And every day they see these claims for everything, done by pro's who are just telling people to file for it. He said he did not see many simple claims like this.. He did recommend that we talk to a service organization after this claim was completed, to make sure we filed for everything we should have.. "hint to me.... you undershot your claim"

Well that came back... 40%- the max for what my wife filed.

That was over a year ago... just had a reevaluation.. was bumped to 60%.. I just had a c&p today and will be asking for another reevalution, due to a report that was missed. The C&P examiner said to wait, he would try and handle it with his report from today.

The moral of this story is that I have had a good experience with the VA. Yes there are those VA'isms.. but 20 years ago the VA was worthless.. today they are a completely different organization.

and proving my service connection.. since the military destroyed my medical records. ( must happen alot, because not one VA employee was suprised or even doubted it ). I had 2 sick call slips.. that was the only shred of evidence that I was treated in the military.