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Hello all. I retired from the Army this past February. I've been following this forum since I received my initial compensation letter from the VA in July. I've learned a lot here, but I'd like to throw out a few questions, as well as post a letter for your review. I've been rated at 60%. (30% post hysterectomy, 30% PTSD, 10% right hip tendonitis, 10% thoracic spondylosis with scoliosis, and 10% tinnitus.) I also was SC at 0% for ten other conditions. The VA denied SC for eight more conditions. I do not feel I need to appeal every condition denied, but I would like to appeal some of them, specifically the ones related to my chronic skin condition. Here are my questions: 1. How can the VA deny SC, when conditions are clearly diagnosed many times in my active duty medical record? Shouldn't I, at least, be given SC on these conditions with 0%? 2. I sent in a huge amount of my active duty military medical records (2 copier paper boxes full), with all diagnosed conditions highlighted. Does the case worker not even review these records? 3. The VA claimed they did not have the SS#s of my two daughters and could only pay me with one dependent (husband). So I immediately sent in a 21-4138 upon receipt of my rating decision, to include the missing SS#s and also to request reconsideration for one of the denied conditions (Coccydynia). The reason for the reconsideration on this particular condition, is because it was denied based on "The evidence does not show an event, disease or injury in service."... "Your service treatment records do not contain complaints, treatment, or diagnosis for this condition". The VA obviously missed this or it was not included in the evidence. I had a two page report from my active duty records that clearly diagnoses the injury, so I asked for reconsideration and attached a copy of the report. Was this the right thing to do? 4. I am considering appealing a chronic skin condition. The doctors throughout the years could never agree on a single diagnosis. It was called eczema, atopic dermatitis, neurodermatitis, contact dermatits, and simply rash. The VA denied all of those stated conditions, saying "The evidence does not show a current diagnosed disability." "While your service records reflect complaints, treatment or a diagnosis similar to that claimed, the medical evidence supports the conclusion that a persistent disability was not present in service." These skin outbreaks were documented at least 30 times in my active duty medical record. One other diagnosis for this skin condition was papular urticaria. The VA has deferred a decision on the papular urticara. The letter stated that they would be sending me to an additional C&P exam, but I never received an appointment time/place. On ebenefits, it says my claim is back in evaluation of evidence, so I'm assuming they are not going to send me to another exam after all. Should I go ahead and file an appeal on the conditions denied and have my doctor write a letter explaining that all the different diagnoses are referring to the same skin condition or should I wait for a decision on the one deferred condition? (I am having an outbreak now and am scheduled to see my PCP on Monday, at the time of my first C&P I was not having an outbreak, so the doctor had nothing to evaluate.) 5. The other thing I'd like to appeal is my rating for PTSD. They rated me at 30%, but I clearly meet the criteria for a 50% rating. Would I get a letter from my current therapist to support this? She is a licensed social worker and specializes in PTSD and EMDR treatment. What documentation should be included to support and help me win an appeal? Sorry this was so long of a post. I hope some of you seasoned posters with lots of experience can give me some good answers on my specific issues. I dread the future fight with the VA, but I'm betting this forum will be an encouragment to keep going. Thanks in advance.