brokensoldier244th

As an OSA person, I guess, from the other side, congratulations. Have you lost weight or anything, or was yours diagnosed as central? Id much rather not have it, not have to wear a machine, not have to unhook my Darth Vader mask to be with my wife, or have to travel with it, or fly with it, etc, etc, than have the benefit amount of it.

wow. how'd you get them to do an RFC? I tried to get my MH doctors and primary to do them for my SSDI filing a few years ago and they wouldn't, and thats a good chunk of why my SSDI filing failed. Both docs said they don't get involved in disability filings. My attorney was pissed.

Awesome, so you have a baseline, and a diagnosis? In that case, go for it. Look up the ratings factors for depression, and compare to your last several more recent psych notes and you should be able to get an idea of where you fall. http://www.militarydisabilitymadeeasy.com/originalvasrd3.html#c9434

Just to expand a bit, now that im not on my phone. When I originally began seeing psyche for anger issues and depression (didnt know that at the time) it took 5-6 sessions to establish a baseline and talk through the reasons why I was feeling what I was feeling (chronic pain, feeling useless, constantly distracted due to concentrating on daily pain, etc). Then, once we got there, I went from psychology to psychiatry for medication, so that took another month or two to feel out how the meds were working, tweaking, etc, and establishing another baseline to go with my physical issues. At that point it had been about 10 yrs of dealing with the physical part so there was no question that it was chronic, so that helped. They didnt stonewall me or ever make me feel put off, but they did work pretty hard and methodically to find a root causation. Once I had that, and several sessions documented, THEN I filed for depression. Over the years it has increased as my pain level has and my limitations have gotten more cumbersome, so subsequent filings were easier.

You'll have to have a diagnosis before you can file, and that will mean more than one or two sessions. I think I was being treated for 6 months before I had a concrete diagnosis and enough documentation supporting why before I felt comfortable filling. If PTSD or something similar is involved it might take awhile to break that out so you get it noted and properly rated.

Since Chap 35 is paid to the student, the tuition waiver doesnt factor into it. Its a separate thing, between the student and the University. Chap 35 money doesn't go to the school it goes to the students checking or savings account.

The 2nd date. It always says Dec 1st because that is when they change awards for COLA every year.

I stand corrected. Thank you, Berta. The legal page that I looked at apparently has outdated or incorrect information. CAS

You cannot receive both at the same time.

Call the bank and ask. We can't know that.

Yes, but his nexus letter specifically says secondary to Fibro. Anything else is conjecture on his part, and if he has nothing from any provider that ties them together then its just assumption on his part. VA won't just tie GERD to PTSD or TBI without some rationale and diagnosis behind it. If he tries to lump them altogether he just gives them an excuse to deny it based on the other two conditions NOT causing GERD.

Don't add to it. They only tied it to fibro, so that's all you can support.

Curious about this. I'm 100% already, combined mh and physical, but have had pain since injury in 2001 and while it's treated with tramadol and nsaids it's not in itself a treated condition. Good luck! Following...

It looks like they are saying that while you have self reported some symptoms, those symptoms are not part of your medical record or current diagnosis, and that your GERD is not related to your SW Asia service.

It means it still needs to be signed. Do you have retro coming? That usually has another level of approval over a certain amount.