My envelope came yesterday. The same day my girl got into the high school that she wanted. My wife was excited and said good things are going to happen. I opened up the envelope and the 1st thing that I saw was granted service condition. I filed my claim August 13, 2009. Almost one year exactly.
Service Connected disability
Overall- 40%
-Tension headaches 0%
-Cervical Strain, (claimed as myofasical neck pain, loss of lordotic curve, scoliosis, neck malalighnment, disc bulge, facet joint syndrome, and whiplash) 20%
-Right Ankle Degenerative Joint Disease, (status post multiple ankle sprains). 10%
-Depressive Disorder, (includes claimed loss of short term memory, fatigue, and "brain fog". 10%
-I will apply for my left ankle if anything goes wrong with that. I've had more sprains with that ankle than my right and my left is fine except for pain.
I did all the research and medical file finding on my own. Thanks to this website, I was fully knowledgeable on how to proceed.
If it wasn't for my two buddy letters stating that my accident happened and I was working with a stiff neck. I would of never been approved for my neck and tension headaches. That was in the reason for the decision. I had nothing in my service medical files accept an entry for neck pain. They even went against some of the statements the C&P examiner said about my neck issues not being caused by the accident since it wasn't noted in service.
I've been living with this pain and headaches since I got out 20 years ago and have been going to doctors since then. I could hardly pay for my prescriptions anymore. A friend was applying so I decided to. I hardly ever posted, just lurked. Awesome information.
It's wierd, but I'm not as happy as I should be. I still can't let it sink in. It took so long to get a diagnosis. I have a feeling someone is going to take it away.
Thanks again for all your help.