JohnM.

No Jarvi isnt my lawyer anymore he dropped my case. the DAV is my POA now. Received a letter from the Appeals Management Center yesterday saying they have retrieved all my records from the PHX VA now. Also i found some papers saying i had a C&P exam in 2006, but i dont remember this happening, can not find anything in my papers on any report that was done. My case was remanded back to the Phx VA to get the any files that the judge requested, which now im reading they have found. So now i guess its a waiting game again. Am sorry i get so confused on alot of this stuff. After having so many heart attacks i still forget things or cant remember. I get to impatient with having to find or dig up papers, maybe should say frustrated is the word. Am surprised they found the papers so quick. This isnt like the VA to do things so fast. So now i like i said i think its a waiting game now. John I am lost here. Is Jarvi still your lawyer? Or is the DAV your POA for this claim? I just re4alised the BVA devision I posted if it is your-is dated late 2005!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you saying the VA has not given you a C & P exam as ordered by this remand for almost 6 YEARS????? Did this case go back to the CAVC??????????? I am completely lost here and disturbed that I didnt check the date when I last responded. Something is missing here. In 6 years from the BVA decision something had to happen. Did it?

No i havent had a C&P . Not sure if i have a POA if i do i think it is the DAV- which now thinking of it im sure its the DAV. NO have not ever contacted Dr. Bash. When he Wrote the report it was thru the attorney i had at the time. I have vowed to fight this as long as i can even til the day i die. No i cant remember how the VA worded the denial as far as Dr. Bashs opinion. Not even sure if i have a copy of the denial. I guess now its a sit and wait time. Will tell you i very much apprecaite your help and advice in all this mess, i just hope things will settle and we all can go on with our lives. My concern is with the judge saying he needs all my records from 1999 to present with some apartently missing i wonder how he would go with it ? If those records can not be found what would his decision be, would he be more apt to give me the benfit of the doubt or ????????? again thank you so much. God Bless You, John

HI Berta,, was wondering if you had time to read my reply i sent you what Dr. Bash had wrote in his IMO to the VA. Going to the VA this mornig to have my ICD checked--every 3 months this has to be done. John M

Ok im back. here is what dr. bash wrote: In review of this record it is clear that this patient has significant pain and disability from the retained surgerical stainless steel that is still in his rigth flank. I have reviewed his abdominal films dated 5 and 9 April 1999 and he has at least 4 piecesof metallic wire densities in his right upper quadrant both of which have bery pointed ends. The film of August 1998 reported that the metal was a single wire, which meansthat the wires are under some sort of stress or strain that gas caused them tp fracture, likely due to the patients lifting movements and respiration. Drs. campbell and dolan likely did not review this patients record fully because Dr. Campbell described the wire as single and Dr. Dolan said that the wire was made of soft silicon. These retained surgerical stainless steel pieces along with the post operative scarring is likely the result of his current right flank pain because thesurgical stainless steel is in the location of the patients pain, the steel has fractured over time which means that it is likely under stress and/or strain forces,, the steel has sharp points which is consistent with pain generation. The patienthas described his pain as very disabiling in both his testimony and the letter he wrote me on 2 Sept. 2003. The VA attending physicians have either said that the pain is coming fron the patients residual post operative scar ( Dr. Campbell) or were unsure of the patients pain (Dr. Dolan). I have discounted the opinions fo Drs. Campbell and Dolan because they likely did not review the record well because they describe the steel as single piece or made of plastic or unsure (in Dr. Dolans case) as to the cause o fthe pain. Mr. Morris has a current disability, which is recurrent flank pain. This patients medical records clearly document that the wire fragments were left inside the verteran as a result of a sirgical treatment by a VA medical center. It is my opinion that the recurrent flank pain experienced by this patient is far more likely than not due to imbedded wire fragments left in him after surgery at the VA medical center on 26 August 1998. This fragment appears to have broken into several smaller fragments all with sharp points, which have the likelihood of exacebating the painfull condition. The act if trying to force the wire into the patient in spite of considerable resistance from the existing kidney stones likely caused the wire to break off in the patients right flank. The rate for failure for fractureof guide wires is very small using standard techniques and judgement (In my experience i have not had a guide wire fail during an angio procedure), therefore it is very likely that poor technique (numerious compacted kidney stones made it difficult to pass sthe guide wire--BVA appeal 6 Feb 2002 page 4) and or poor judgement ( multiple unsuccessful attempts BVA appeal 2002 page 4 ) caused the guide wire to fracture. The exertion of considerable force againist resistance in this procedure was in my opinion as act, which falls well below the standard of care normally excercised by physicans doing such procedures. It demonstrates an inadequate knowledge on the part fo the provider to understand the limitations of the equipment and materials being used. Conventional medical technique and judgement dictates that if failureof a procedure is likely ( difficilty passing or multiple unsuccessful attempts) then the procedure is stopped prior to failureof equipment so that an alternative approach can be used and /or the patient is not injured. It is not the normal or the expected outcome for a practioner to use excessive force at level suffcient to break his equipment or materials, and then fail, neglect or refuse to first inform the patient of the event and to then take appropriate corrective action. It is also not the normal or expected outcome of this type of surgery for the patient to have retained surgerical steel and to have prolonged recurrent pain. The care provider, Dr. Ashby was well aware of the fact that the guide wire broke during the procedure as he dictated the following "... This guide wire was sheared off after attempting to bypass the rental stones... The distal tip fragment appears to be in the subcutaneous tissue..." ( see attached dictation). This fact , plus the exertion of force that must have taken place, along with the standards of medical care call on the provider to specifically locate anatomically the missing wire piece and retrieve it if appropraite, and to inform the patient of what had happened so that future complications can be avoided. It does not appear that either step was taken. This failure to act is anothe instance of provision of medical care below medical standards, however the patient's pain is primarily die to the first failure described above. Craig N. Bash MD Hope this will give you somemore information. John

Today in the mail i received a letter from the VA saying they received my application for benfits. It is their sincere desire to decide my case promptly. However, they have a great number of claims, action on mine may be delayed. They say too they are now in the processof deciding whether aditional evidence or information is need. If they need anything from me they will contact me. If there are parts of my c-file missing what happens then? I will dig out Dr. Bashs report and write to you saying exactly what he said. It shouldnt be to hard to find . No havent contacted the Phx VA i wish i could get ahold of my rep at the DAV RO and see what she says. I dont htink a copy of this letter was sent to her. i might make a copy and send to her so she has it too. Am sorry right now im really hurting in my side took my pain med so now will lay down for awhile. will get back to you this afternoon. Thanks for all your help. Sincerely, John

Bertha: yes that is my case file you found, but that is also dated 2005. Can you get to the rest of my file ? If so let me know please. Not sure what to say as far as additional disability i have excfept that when these pieces of wire move or i bend , sit stoop, or lay down etc. i get this terrible sharp pain in my side where the wires are located. No this is not service connected. the only evidence i have is what i have told to to my VA primary drs, which they dont want to hear, as the last VA dr i had told me " to deal with it" the pain. All they do is give me pain meds. Yes i have xrays showing the wires, not just one either. Am not sure if the VA drs are making any comments into my folder or not concerning this matter. I have in my poesession x-rays showing the wire fragments. The pain is so bad at times iam doubled over and feel like throwing up. this makes things so impossible to do any of my normal activicties. even just to try and sit is impossible at times. I have told my Va drs all this but they seem to just ignore what im telling them, Am not sure if this was a Peer review report or a SOC to deny the claim it has been remanded back to the Phx RO tho. There are apartently some parts of my file that are missing and the judge says he needs them to decide the claim on its merits. whatever that means. sorry im so dumb about all this. the following are the reasons the judge remanded my case to the RO> 1. The RO should request the Veterans VA treatment records from Janurary1,1999 throught the present from the Phx VA Health care System. Attempts to obtain these records should be in accordance with 38 U.S.C.A. subsection 5103A(b0(3) and implementing regulations. 2. Thereafter, the RO should readjudicate the Veterans claim for entitlement to compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. subsection 1151 for the residuals of a reatined flexible tip of a guide wire in the perinnephric fatty tissue. If the benefits sought on appeal remained denied, the Veteranand his representative should be provided with a Supplemental Statement of the Case. Here is a paragraph from this same judge : The verteran under went if VA examination in May 2006. The examination report cites May 2001 VA urology treatement notes from the VA medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona. While some treatment records from the Phx VA have been obtained, they are from the period around the Veterans August 1998 surgeries, per April 2006 request from the RO. It is noted that, although the surgeries were prerfromed at a VA facility in New Mexico, the RO had been informed by the Albuquerque VAMC tyhat the reords were in Phoenix. Additional records from the PHX VAMC from approximately March 2003 through April 2004 have been associated with the claims file thoigh the Veterans file obtained from the Social Security Administration. Un fortunately, the Veterans complete records from the Phx VAMC have not been obtianed, and the May 2006 VA examination reports that there are missing records that are relevant. Therefore, the Board finds that they must be obtained in order to decide the claim on its merits. this is the latest letter i ahve received from the judge at my last hearing in June 2010. you do have the right docket number 00-25-062 . i very much appreciate your help. Sincerely yours , John Morris

Hi Berta: sorry for being so long in replying to you almost a year now. Dr. Bash says " this is not normal for guide wires to be left inside someone, that the 2 pieces of wire have broken into with 4 pieces now. that the VA doctors did not use good judgement , sorry i cant remember all. Now that i had my hearing the judge has requested my files from 1999 to the present, noting that some of the files are missing. This now makes me wonder what will happen now, if these files have disappeared somehow. Also he had another VA dr go over my file and this dr said almost the same as the previous 2 VA doctors. I asked the judege to find this doctors report mute as he did not go thru my file in a complete and though manner as he would have seen that the VA noted the wires had broken into, as did the two previous VA doctors did the same they did not do a complete review of my file. Am using the DAV office in Phx but it is so hard to get thru to my rep. When i call all they do is take a mesage and maybe a week later might get a return call. Thank you for any assistance. Sincerely, John A. Morris

Carlie: i keep trying to respond but keep getting kicked off so if you like you can write to me at shadow061@yahoo.com John

Thank you carlie and berta for the welcome. i had a lawyer but he wihdrew from my case 2 years ago. As of this day i live in very real pain and all my VA dr says "deal with it" and gives me a botle of pain meds. Even right now as i write this im in pain in my kidney, the VA drs in Albuqueque broke off two, yes two pieces of metal guide wires and left them in me, not right in the kidney but just on the outside. I have had x-rays, Ct's, Ultrsounds, and am told all my other organs look ok, if that is the case then why do i hurt so bad. THE WIRES THEY LEFT IN. thats why. even in my records the VA drs admit that they broke off these wires, i have plead with the VA to please remove them and they wont. Well if they think im gonna lay down and let them walk over me, they are sadly mistaken !! I will fight them til the day i die. Am on SSD now after 9 heart attaks, severe COPD. Oh i meant to add is i had a Dr. Bash write his medical opinion for me, quite costly, and submitted it to the VA, they looked at it and basically said fine, but since he did not physically examine me they will not accept his report. I will ask that they re-consider this report. Also now with my current VA dr's statement "deal with it" i will submit that also. Am getting so upset with these people at the VA am ready to bust a bubble. John

Have been fighting the VA for 10 years now and now have a hearing comming up next monh with a judge. can anyone tell me what to expect and how i should prepare for this? I have a DAVSO thats is suppose to be helping me, at leas i hope so, have never meant him. I really need some advice please. thank you and hope all have a GREAT weekend. God Bless. JohnM