Hello, I’ve been reading your forum for a few months and finally decided to register. My name is Fred, my wife and I were in the Army in the 90s, during that time she suffered from chronic stress injuries in her legs and one bad wrist. When we ETS’d the VA gave her 10 percent for each leg and 10 percent for her wrist. Since that time her condition (legs) has worsened. I encouraged her to seek a reassessment and she finally went to a local VA office of some kind and filled out paperwork last November December time frame. We heard nothing until March when she received a letter on a Monday informing her that she needed to show up for an examination that Wednesday in Wisconsin, we live in Illinois. So she went, she said the doctor was very nice, they took a bunch of x-rays of her knees, shins and ankles. He looked at them, asked her a few questions about her legs and said he’d send in his report. The next day we received a huge packet from the VA explaining that they were working on a reassessment for injuries to left knee, ankle, shin, right knee, ankle, and shin and also working on a claim for individual unemployability. The packet informed her that she’d be required to go to an examination that they would arrange (which she had already done), I guess the letters arrived out of order. Anyway, the packet encouraged her to send in all medical records, testimonials, etc… so I guess we’ll be working on that next.
It will be interesting to see how they decide as even though her conditioned has worsened what actually prompted our seeking a reassessment was that she tripped down a couple of stairs leading into our backyard about a year ago and broke her ankle, tibia and fibula on her left leg and when I say broke I mean completely shattered. She’s had two surgeries already and one to two more on deck. All of the doctors that cared for her after the accident assumed that she had been in a major car accident; they said her injuries were consistent with a major car accident. I’m no doctor but I was surprised by the extent of her injuries as well considering all she did was trip down two stairs.
I told her that perhaps the bones shattered because she had been suffering from chronic stress fractures since her time in the military (and I honestly believe that could be true and seems plausible to me) and that she should try to draw a presumptive correlation type of deal during this reassessment.
She brought that up during her VA examination and the doctor just listened and gave her a non-committal noise as a response. In fact, she said he didn’t have a whole lot to say during the examination other than to tell her that he personally had nothing to do with what kind of percentage she would end up with, that his responsibility was to just submit his findings to another group down in Chicago. He claimed he didn’t know she was already receiving 30 percent and said he had been provided no medical records prior to the examination. I’m not saying I think he is a liar but it does seem odd that he had zero background or history on her conditions, but whatever. I guess that’s the way it works sometimes.
So we’re going to collect up all of the medical records we can and send copies down to Chicago. Do you think these testimonials they said we could send will hold much sway with them one way or another. I mean if our neighbor writes a couple of paragraphs saying that since she’s known us my wife is having a harder time getting around is the VA going to really care or say my wife herself writes how her conditions have affected her ability to work or even function around the house is the VA really going to consider that? I am going to try to get our doctors to write up something, anything that might be helpful to my wife’s case. I don’t know how much cooperation we’re are going to get on that front, a couple of her doctors are kind of jerks.
Anyway, thanks for this forum and all of the information it provides.
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Phred
Hello, I’ve been reading your forum for a few months and finally decided to register. My name is Fred, my wife and I were in the Army in the 90s, during that time she suffered from chronic stress injuries in her legs and one bad wrist. When we ETS’d the VA gave her 10 percent for each leg and 10 percent for her wrist. Since that time her condition (legs) has worsened. I encouraged her to seek a reassessment and she finally went to a local VA office of some kind and filled out paperwork last November December time frame. We heard nothing until March when she received a letter on a Monday informing her that she needed to show up for an examination that Wednesday in Wisconsin, we live in Illinois. So she went, she said the doctor was very nice, they took a bunch of x-rays of her knees, shins and ankles. He looked at them, asked her a few questions about her legs and said he’d send in his report. The next day we received a huge packet from the VA explaining that they were working on a reassessment for injuries to left knee, ankle, shin, right knee, ankle, and shin and also working on a claim for individual unemployability. The packet informed her that she’d be required to go to an examination that they would arrange (which she had already done), I guess the letters arrived out of order. Anyway, the packet encouraged her to send in all medical records, testimonials, etc… so I guess we’ll be working on that next.
It will be interesting to see how they decide as even though her conditioned has worsened what actually prompted our seeking a reassessment was that she tripped down a couple of stairs leading into our backyard about a year ago and broke her ankle, tibia and fibula on her left leg and when I say broke I mean completely shattered. She’s had two surgeries already and one to two more on deck. All of the doctors that cared for her after the accident assumed that she had been in a major car accident; they said her injuries were consistent with a major car accident. I’m no doctor but I was surprised by the extent of her injuries as well considering all she did was trip down two stairs.
I told her that perhaps the bones shattered because she had been suffering from chronic stress fractures since her time in the military (and I honestly believe that could be true and seems plausible to me) and that she should try to draw a presumptive correlation type of deal during this reassessment.
She brought that up during her VA examination and the doctor just listened and gave her a non-committal noise as a response. In fact, she said he didn’t have a whole lot to say during the examination other than to tell her that he personally had nothing to do with what kind of percentage she would end up with, that his responsibility was to just submit his findings to another group down in Chicago. He claimed he didn’t know she was already receiving 30 percent and said he had been provided no medical records prior to the examination. I’m not saying I think he is a liar but it does seem odd that he had zero background or history on her conditions, but whatever. I guess that’s the way it works sometimes.
So we’re going to collect up all of the medical records we can and send copies down to Chicago. Do you think these testimonials they said we could send will hold much sway with them one way or another. I mean if our neighbor writes a couple of paragraphs saying that since she’s known us my wife is having a harder time getting around is the VA going to really care or say my wife herself writes how her conditions have affected her ability to work or even function around the house is the VA really going to consider that? I am going to try to get our doctors to write up something, anything that might be helpful to my wife’s case. I don’t know how much cooperation we’re are going to get on that front, a couple of her doctors are kind of jerks.
Anyway, thanks for this forum and all of the information it provides.
Regards,
Fred
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