Can You Top This?

[halos2]

Hello, I am as all of you, very frustrated with the lack of VA responses, treatment, and falsifications,etc.

Beginning: On special drill team while in tech school and injured legs...

well looks like you have some vericose veins now take it easy dr response

Went on bivouac while in tech training and got pink eye in both, so sent me back to barracks 2 days early( by the way all the bombs going off outside the tents made my ears ring(tinnitis) and I slept through the granades as the ringing was louder so others had to "shake and wake" to get me up.

And what about those gas masks and how they took them off of you in the large dark buildings and you had to find your way out crying and choking and feeling your way through the dark).

Well you graduate and get sent to anotherbase and now we need dental techs more then medics so youget OJT.

Time goes by yrs and you hurt your back...Dr puts you on bedrest, ice, pain meds, no work for days...jump ahead after dr visits for 2 months(14) pt for 20 days, more meds, more exercises to do,more evals from pt and ortho and they give you back braces to wear...and say well?? I guess standing agravates it so wear your brace and take your pain pills...

Then something else traumatic occurs...mths later you get your honorable discharge and go home wearinyour back brace and taking your pain meds...

You see drs all these years for your back...pain pills and braces and tens units...go to VA as expensive for back and get more of the same for 3 yrs but drive is 135 miles one way...so you go to dr by you and some the original ones from when you got out. All the years you work go to college raise your family then have an operation and BAM- you are totally disabled

You wait thinking it willget better but 8 mths later you resign you job.

You tried accupuncture, heat, ice, pt, exercises, chiropracture treatments, more meds, then holistic approaches vitamins/massage/herbal etc... no relief

You apply for SSDI and immediately get 100% granted, they tell you go back to VA but you think itcan't last...

Gets WORSE ever. So you call VA they send you forms mar 2003, you wait, you get as SO and he says VA can't find forms give them to me...I did he looses them I have to refile dec 2004...

Go to VA aug 2005 for C&P examiner is 3 hrs late rushes you through and says your back is terrible, but writes I coul almost do cartwheels(exaggeration but you get the pic as looks ok)

Then I go for my other C&P and wait...finally get decision back denied and 30% for other condition, meanwhile I thought the SO was working or doing something with my case-10 mths later I file NOD for both conditions and discover I HAVE TO DO THE WORK ON MY CASE, that is if I want to win...

While waiting I get a letter I am deceased, then they want to sever my 30% and tell me back denied did not file in time yet both on same form...So I request DRO personal hearing nd De novo wait mths...tell all and give evidence from 1969-1970 to current 2007....In the meantime I bought many books and searched the net and am on my 3rd printer as it has become m obsession to do all of the work with my claim.

They realized their mistake to sever as VA made assumption on file did not read specifics documented so they offered 50% and deny back again. Did not allow 2 IMO's but used the one from the VA C&P??? What a slap in the face! I requested copy of transcript took months and many requests to get...some info where I gave name of examiner and faulty exam and how VA removed her from doing exams as not a DR, and VA employee who ASSUMED and tried to sever and such is not on the transcript at all.

So I filled for BVA for back...I tried to condense this down didn't mention the steroid shots, x-rays. CT's, MRI's and other but how does you injury and claim compare? Oh yeah was stationd by AO for almost 2 yrs it was in over 15,000 plus drums leaking out at the base. Many cancers in those who lived in the area, also birth defects, and when Katrina hit here it came up again seeping out of the ground...govt did a 635 pg report on it but nothing says it may cause fibro... Tinnitis denied as they said dental was not near loud noises and didn't see bivouac in file, plus hearing records good on enlistment ans decreased significantly on discharge... Oh well keeps my mind working figuring out why the VA wear blinders when dealing with files!

Oh by the way they did the forms they sent me from 2003 but the did not send me the right forms to file so they said they couldn't use that date!!

And how is your day fellow vets? Lets hang in there and never give up.

Love, Luck, Health, Happiness to all! :P :(

[halos2]

The records did show modalities used ie tens unit meds,rest,etc. The one Dr did send records he had but did send a letter stating he had treated me since the early 1970's and I sent pharmacy records for 4 yrs but other dr statements list meds too...a few of the dr's are deceased but I did get only some records from one of them for 5 yrs treatment however the one does show from 1970's. I sent others from 1980's as well as VA 1980's records which all state"chronic back pain"

Thanks for your help too.

, but did

Perhaps if you can show Continuity of Care during the majority of these years,

even if it was through non- VA Medical care you may have a shot at it.

You would need to gather all of your old records that show the back brace being

RX'd perhaps thru the Prosthetics Department since this is shown since discharge,

along with the Ten's Unit and who-ever RX'd it, Pharmacy records can be non-VA for Rx'd pain meds,

list of doctor's appointments and RX'd bedrest, loss of time at work - combine

all that evidence with your SMR's and try to get an IMO to provide your nexus.

Eventually, presenting enough medical evidence is what will get a claim granted.

jmho,

xcarlie

[Hoppy]

halos2,

Right now it sounds to me like they are saying that you did not prove your claim rather than your claim was denied for intercurrent injuries. They shot down my angioedema claim using the same argument that the doctor did not review the entire record. They also said my angioedema was the result of post service employment.

When I saw the DRO I told him that dening a claim with as much inservice medical treatment as I had for angioedema saying that the doctor who wrote my nexus letter had not read the entire file was not appropriate. They should have instead told me what reports they wanted the doctor to read and then get a new opinion based on the records of the VA's choice. Denying such a claim results in a failure to properly develop the claim. I also argued that there was no evidence that the documents they said my doctor did not read were significant or related to the inservice condition.

To the contrary the reports they said the doctor did not read were not even for a condition related to the inservice condition.

I think at this point the RO is making a medical determination when they deny a claim saying that the doctor did not read the entire history. It requires medical expertise to say that the parts of the history not reviewed are significant. Rather than accuse the RO of playing doctor, I think it is back to my original statement that they are saying that you did not prove your claim.

If you have a inservice diagnosis and a post service diagnosis I do not think that a denial on the basis of the failure of a doctor to read the entire history results in adaquate development and the entire history should be reviewed by at least a VA C&P examiner prior to such a denial. This is what it would take to comply with the VCAA.

Even if your doctor read all the history he would need to mention in his discussion as to how he determined that the post service incidences were not the cause of your current condition and how it was determined that the inservice events are what is causing the current symptoms. It could be just a problem with the way the reports was written and then the VA dropped the ball by failing to schedule an exam based on the entire history.

I won all my claims with VA doctors and C&P exams. Getting a doctor on your side at at a VA hospital or a C&P on your side is very beneficial. Considering that your evidence shows an inserivce condition with no evidence that it resolved and the fact that the post service accident was a low speed accident and minor falls you do have a good chance of finding a doctor to get on board with you. It really depends on what the treatment notes say after those post service accidents. It does not sound to me like the claim has been properly developed by the VA at this point.

[Hoppy]

I just re-read some old posts and it does sound like they got a C&P from the NP.

You need to get a doctor on your side a rebutt the NP. Maybe a DRO will see through the bogus C&P and give you a new exam. However, I would not rely on the VA C&P process. I was lucky and got the head a immunology at my local VA to help me with my claim. If you cannot get a VA doctor, get a private doctor and make sure you have him read the entire history and write a good discussion as to why your current condition is the result if in-service injuries.

[halos2]

They also say in their denial that "back problem relates to lumbosacral strain(date documented on form 89 discharge is wrong date listed is 2 months before actual injury) treated with muscle relaxants and a corset with good results. No problem since that time."

The SMR indicates 3 weeks of PT, rest, heat, exercise therapy , pain meds, muscle relaxants, pain radiating down legs, no improvement noted, pain still present, had orth eval and states no relief of pain with diagnosis of sprain strain spasms to lumbo-sacral area and pain radiates down leg.

Seen at med clinic 2 months and last documentation states pain still present no relief continue to use corset... No where does it say good rsults...4 pages on both sides of SME state above FACTS! Plus PT form with therapy no relief plus ortho exam with same pain...

The back injury was 2 mths after they wrote on form 89 so this to me looks like CUE! I never went to the clinic at all on the date they said it occured. SO what do I do now except wait for BVA. I did tell DRO in personal hearing all of this info but she still denied case.

I just re-read some old posts and it does sound like they got a C&P from the NP.

You need to get a doctor on your side a rebutt the NP. Maybe a DRO will see through the bogus C&P and give you a new exam. However, I would not rely on the VA C&P process. I was lucky and got the head a immunology at my local VA to help me with my claim. If you cannot get a VA doctor, get a private doctor and make sure you have him read the entire history and write a good discussion as to why your current condition is the result if in-service injuries.

[purple]

Hi,

I'm all for any vet filing their own claim....it can be done....successfully. And yes, you have to do all the work and it's a lot of work.

The main thing is to make sure you send in ALL of your medical records....active duty, civilian & VA. Show the continual "chain of pain" as I call it. Make copies and get out your highlighter and begin. Don't over highlight though....just the important things....dx dates, tests, test results, etc.

Your cover letter is oh so important...the key being brevity. Short and sweet. Anything more than a page and your claim will more than likely go to the bottom of the pile. Let your medical records speak for themselves.

Remember....certified mail always. Never let a deadline from the VARO pass by!!!

Best of luck!!

[Hoppy]

halos2

When I was fighting my claim my SO told me over and over that exposing the VA's errors as to the evidence does not win claims. Strong medical evidence wins claims. When I started talking about the mistakes they made he would just tell me to get a doctor to write a good report in suport of my claim.

It sounds to me like the RO's statements indicate that they have misintrepreted the response to therapy and that such misintrepretation has produced an invalid logic noted in the denial. The RO's make these types of arguments to hide the real issue. The real issue is that you need a strong nexus letter. Without one you will never win your claim.

Why did the DRO deny the claim? What was the reason?

By the way, I had a similar injury when I was in my twenties while working a civilian job. I got a lawyer and was given perminent rating. The back has messed with me my entire life.