Denied Due To Wrong Contact Info/ C&p Tomorrow

[Quint7]

Hi all, I'm a 38 y/o firefighter, 1st Gulf War USMC vet. Currently 0% for my knee.

Long story short, after a year I am finally getting my C&P exam tomorrow. I am in Rochester NY so I'm based out of Buffalo VA. I have had knee and back probs since my service (88-94). Knee is well documented, back just as a 'sprain" accordingto the navy doc. Filed for both upon discharge... never thought about it again. Went to college, blah, blah, blah. Collected GI Bill from discharge until 3 years later.

Turns out my back is toast (two discs GONE in lower back. Doc says "you have made the wrong career choices son") and knee was exactly what Navy docs THOUGHT it wasall along, (torn meniscus for 15 YEARS!) but told me "we cant figure it out... tough it out Marine.)

As I reviewed everything to take with me tomorrow (actual MRI films, doc reports, military health records), I thought about this:

I asked for a copy of ALL VA records for me. They gave me them and it said that VA tried to contact me after discharge for exam and letter was returned as undeliverable so claim was denied. I collected GI Bill during that entire time! I called VA and they said "medical is different, doesn't matter if educational had contact info, YOU should've contacted medical to update your info".

Well I think that is dumb as hell, but if that isn't enough, I was denied this time around for the same thing. When I got my letter telling me that I called VA and they saidthat I refused, BY TELEPHONE to report. I called the VA here in Rochester and the lady said that SHE spoke to me and I emphatically denied wanting an exam. I finally got herto tell me the number she had and it was my number from 1994 in Los Angeles! She then said "well I never even bothered to send the letter out, the guy was so emphatic about not wanting an exam".

Obviously VA has the right info now and the lady that did that "has moved on" I was told.

VA did give me 0% for the knee off of records only when they denied me this time.

My questions are:

No matter what I'm awarded, should I appeal, get a lawyer, something, trying to get the entire claim backdated to 1994 for a pattern of not following contact proceedures, etc? The "VA" did have contact info for me...... how else could I have received the GI Bill all of that time?

What sould I bring, tell, do at the C&P? My situation is totally legit. Surgery to knee for meniscus tear that first was diagnosed in 1989. Discs totally gone in lower back w/ pain radiating to leg and almost total lack of flexability left, right and forward.

Thanks for this site. I have looked at it a lot, but wanted to post to see if there was a similar situation or something.

Jason

[Berta]

WELCOME HERE -you came to the best place in town-

"No matter what I'm awarded, should I appeal, get a lawyer, something, trying to get the entire claim backdated to 1994 for a pattern of not following contact proceedures, etc? The "VA" did have contact info for me...... how else could I have received the GI Bill all of that time?"

Absolutely-if you can prove with some documentation like GI bill info - DUH!

"What sould I bring, tell, do at the C&P? My situation is totally legit. Surgery to knee for meniscus tear that first was diagnosed in 1989. Discs totally gone in lower back w/ pain radiating to leg and almost total lack of flexability left, right and forward."

Jason- this link will give you all the blank C & P exams- dont know exactly which one you will get but it should be in this list to click on:

http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Benefits/exams/index.htm

Buffalo- I have had 20 years experience with this RO-

I sure hope you dont get a C & P doc -first initial last name T-who is about a hundred years old and doesnt know right from left-

Did you deal with VA Educational in Buffalo for your GI Bill?

If so let me know here if you need a contact number-

I was in Chap 35 with them.

Did you file a formal 21-526 when you first claimed disability-

even a letter would generate them to send the form to you- (I think)

Did you ever move at all?

Did you have a vet rep helping you with the claim at that time?

I dont get it- in my C file there is VA Educational info for my Chap 35 award and even a NOD when VA Edu made an error on my tuition stuff- maybe the GI bill info is different-

still-I am nit sure how you can present a claim regarding the 1994 EED- yet- the decision on your claim now will enlighten us here as to how to approach that.

Vets who have filed a NOD Notice of Disagreement with any VA decision after June 21, 2007 have the right to obtain lawyers who-for a fee that comes out of the retro- will help with your claims.

[Pete53]

Welcome to Hadit. You are with people who care about Veterans and their families.

[Quint7]

Thanks for the reply!

I collected the GI Bill in Los Angeles for a semester, immediatel after my enlistment. Then back here in Rochester for another 2 years, all continuous.

Like I said, I never got a phone call or letter about my claim. I just kinda forgot about it and was trying to do whata 24 year old vet does.... move on with starting my life post- USMC. I moved every year or so after I got back to Rochester, but always had my mail updated and like I said, continued to get the GI Bill.

I never used a rep until now and am very disappointed in that. My rep now.... or he was as I found out last week that he has been on leave for 2 months..... told me that "you shold only file for the knee now. Get your foot in the door, then you can claim other stuff once you start getting money". yeah....... well I have pretty much taken the entire claim on my own now.

I have looked at the VA forms for exams, but from what I have seen here, etc. they can be very brief or overly thorough. The guy at the clinic here told me to expect it to take an hour (again, they aredoing it for my lower back and right knee). Seems pretty short to me to review ALL records AND do the exam.

Buffalo has been wonderful and God awful. I have had one guy on the phone (starts with a :), that actually yelled at me.... told me that I'm not the only vet in the world, told me tough s*** when I asked for a supervisor, etc. I sent VA a letter documenting this. And actually he was the guy I spoke to today that told me VA Medical and Educational dont swap contact info, that it is all on the Vet to keep that updated. I have also gone there in person and had the women at the desk be so nice to me that I wanted to hug them.

All of my GI Bill after California went through the Buffalo VA office.

Like I said, I never received a letter or call about my original cliam. It says that it came back as undeliverable back in 1995 which is strange to me. I moved back to NY in Dec. of 1994 and they say that they had the letter returned in Jan of 1995. Now I know that the post office forwards mail for a year UNLESS it says not to be forwarded....... hmmmmmmm.

Thanks again for the reply and I will take the C&P as I see it I guess. The guy here said that there are 2 people in Rochester that do the exam, a guy and girl, so I don't know who will get me or anything else.

[Berta]

"Buffalo has been wonderful and God awful. I have had one guy on the phone (starts with a , that actually yelled at me.... told me that I'm not the only vet in the world, told me tough s*** "

Was it Steve? I never got him at 800 Buffalo again after I sent the VACO a complaint on him about a year ago--he gave me some crap and I gave it right back to him but then I thought-

if he treats me like this he probably treats vets like this too-

he had only been 800 person for a month when this happened-

I have called every 2 weeks since -he never answers the 800# anymore

But 99.9 of them at 800 are just swell in my opinion.

"It says that it came back as undeliverable back in 1995 which is strange to me. I moved back to NY in Dec. of 1994 and"

I wonder if the VA could provide the "evidence" of that with the actual envelope.

You arent repped by NYSDVA are you by any chance?

[cowgirl]

Quint, welcome to Hadit.

I looked in my Cfile, I see there are telephone call entries logged and comments from the VA, ie, spoke to a 'young lady' and left a message. (my daughter I am sure!) What I am getting at, even a 'dated' telephone call log statement in the Cfile is support for claim contact, either for VA or the vet.

Regards filing to SC your back or knee, thats your call, not VSO. Unless, maybe you have signed an agreement how they expect to support you; vice/versa. Once, I was told something similiar by a vso. Even though I choose to submit my claim issues through a VSO(POA), I have nothing that keeps me from filing for issues that I feel need to be service connected. I do keep the VSO in the loop and give them a copy.

The issues I file for are supported by my SMRs, VA Cfile, private medical records and current diagnosis. I submit my request form through a vso, usually discussing it with them first, but sometimes I have the form prepared in advance. I usually study the specific claim issue here using posts, search/faq's and at the VA website (search VBA decisions). I've used VA diagnosis's in my claim, rarely needing private IMO.

From what you posted, it seems you didnt contact the VA for a few years after submitting your claim to see what the holdup was, or did you submit something in writing in meanwhile? If not, I dont know how its gonna re-connect if you originally requested compensation. Let us know how it goes.

Your VSO should help you word your request, or if you have more questions, come back to Hadit. Again, welcome and best to ya, cg.

Thanks for the reply!

I collected the GI Bill in Los Angeles for a semester, immediatel after my enlistment. Then back here in Rochester for another 2 years, all continuous.

Like I said, I never got a phone call or letter about my claim. I just kinda forgot about it and was trying to do whata 24 year old vet does.... move on with starting my life post- USMC. I moved every year or so after I got back to Rochester, but always had my mail updated and like I said, continued to get the GI Bill.

I never used a rep until now and am very disappointed in that. My rep now.... or he was as I found out last week that he has been on leave for 2 months..... told me that "you shold only file for the knee now. Get your foot in the door, then you can claim other stuff once you start getting money". yeah....... well I have pretty much taken the entire claim on my own now.

I have looked at the VA forms for exams, but from what I have seen here, etc. they can be very brief or overly thorough. The guy at the clinic here told me to expect it to take an hour (again, they aredoing it for my lower back and right knee). Seems pretty short to me to review ALL records AND do the exam.

Buffalo has been wonderful and God awful. I have had one guy on the phone (starts with a :) , that actually yelled at me.... told me that I'm not the only vet in the world, told me tough s*** when I asked for a supervisor, etc. I sent VA a letter documenting this. And actually he was the guy I spoke to today that told me VA Medical and Educational dont swap contact info, that it is all on the Vet to keep that updated. I have also gone there in person and had the women at the desk be so nice to me that I wanted to hug them.

All of my GI Bill after California went through the Buffalo VA office.

Like I said, I never received a letter or call about my original cliam. It says that it came back as undeliverable back in 1995 which is strange to me. I moved back to NY in Dec. of 1994 and they say that they had the letter returned in Jan of 1995. Now I know that the post office forwards mail for a year UNLESS it says not to be forwarded....... hmmmmmmm.

Thanks again for the reply and I will take the C&P as I see it I guess. The guy here said that there are 2 people in Rochester that do the exam, a guy and girl, so I don't know who will get me or anything else.

Edited January 17, 2008 by cowgirl

[Quint7]

The guys name was Bernard. I actually listed it in my letter to the VA, so he must still be there since that was over a month ago and he answered today.

I never followed up with my claim after my enlistment. During the "checking out" process we filled out claim forms to sned to the VA and a month after I got out I went for the Persian Gulf registry. After that, other than getting my GI Bill, I just kinda had other stuff on my mind.

Everyone claims to have seen their entire VA file. How do you do this? I requested all records about claims and got 4 or 5 pages listing my post enlistment claim, the denials and my new claims. Nothing more. I went for HepC testing 6 or 7 years ago (again, giving updated contact info... even got a VA ID card that day) and saw no mention of that.

As far as evidence of them contacting me or not in 94/95, I have no clue. It actually says "reurned as undeliverable" in the statement, so maybe they should've kept it? The other situation, the lady actually laughed about it and I went from a claim to an appeal becasue of that. My vet rep said that it should hve been me saying "I am ready to report" and that was that, I would be rescheduled for a C&P. EVERYONE at VA sid that it was a new claim/ appeal cause the claim was flat out denied due to the lady calling California. So it has been since the beginning of last April since "refiling".

I am not sure of the rating shcedule. I have done searches and seen up to 40% just for my back maybe.

I literally have almost no discs left at L4-5 and L5-S1. I can lean forward about 2 inches before I actually ge short of breath from the pain. I loooked at the shcedule and can't make heads or tails of it.

When I went off in my "Appeal" ltter, I told them I want 75% for each injury as they have affected my carrer choice (fireman vs. being a cop... I can't run) and where I live (wanted to say in California but they are much more strict in hiring than here).

Like I said, I am not sure how to act, what to say, what to bring to the C&P.

My rep is through the Rochester Vet Center and the guy is (was) Kieth Robinson, he is with DAV I think..... I don't know who the guy is htat replaced him, but he never called in the past 2 months.

Jason