Secondary Issues

[shillnav]

I have a 10% SC injury on the left knee. A C&P was done last week on the left knee only. Am awaiting the results of a request for increase.

1. Because of the left knee injury which occured 30 yrs ago, my right knee is giving me problems due to favoring it all these yrs. Doctors early on told me this would most likely occur.

2. After the injury to my left knee, I had a numbness, tingling, pressure type sensation down my leg and into my foot. I told the VA drs about this decades ago but it wasn't severe and nothing was ever done about it. Main thing was treating the knee. This foot is now in bad shape, arthritis has set in, etc.

Question : I know this will not be a quick or easy thing, but how should I move forward on connecting the foot and my other knee as secondary conditions caused by my original injury??

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks Much

[free_spirit_etc]

I have a 10% SC injury on the left knee. A C&P was done last week on the left knee only. Am awaiting the results of a request for increase.

1. Because of the left knee injury which occured 30 yrs ago, my right knee is giving me problems due to favoring it all these yrs. Doctors early on told me this would most likely occur.

2. After the injury to my left knee, I had a numbness, tingling, pressure type sensation down my leg and into my foot. I told the VA drs about this decades ago but it wasn't severe and nothing was ever done about it. Main thing was treating the knee. This foot is now in bad shape, arthritis has set in, etc.

Question : I know this will not be a quick or easy thing, but how should I move forward on connecting the foot and my other knee as secondary conditions caused by my original injury??

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks Much

That certainly is a distinct possibility. What does your treating physician say about your left foot and other knee? The first thing you might want to do is pick up a copy of the C&P report and see what it says. You don't have to wait to get your decision from the RO. You should be able to get a copy of the C&P report from the facility where you had the C&P.

If you get a copy of it yourself, then you will know what the doctor actually said. (Sometimes it loses a bit in the translation).

My husband had a claim for cervical problems when he retired. The claim was denied because they said they could not find a current disability, though they did find a slight problem at one of the areas. He was given another C&P on his appeals. The same area on the x-rays was noted - with an increase in the gap in the disk space - but still no finding of disability.

Later, he had a claim for his headaches. He went to a C&P exam, and the claim was denied. The RO denied it because it was not an "undiagnosed illness." Their profound statement was "Your headaches have been diagnosed as headaches." LOL

What they FAILED to tell him was that the C&P examiner had actually attributed his headaches to the service. He stated the headaches originating in the back of his head were from the cervical area. He included copies of xrays, and drew arrows to the area of the injury (the EXACT same area they had noted before) which showed it had become MUCH worse since he originally filed a claim for the cervical strain (when they couldn't find a "current" disability). The examiner also indicated his headaches that started in the front were the result of his chronic sinusitis. The examiner pointed out that this had been diagnosed in service, confirmed by xrays in the service, and treated in the service.

Yet the RO merely informed him that his claim for headaches was denied because they had been diagnosed as headaches and thus were not an undiagnosed illness.

So always, always, always get copies of the doctor's reports and read them.

Free

[carlie]

I have a 10% SC injury on the left knee. A C&P was done last week on the left knee only. Am awaiting the results of a request for increase.

1. Because of the left knee injury which occured 30 yrs ago, my right knee is giving me problems due to favoring it all these yrs. Doctors early on told me this would most likely occur.

2. After the injury to my left knee, I had a numbness, tingling, pressure type sensation down my leg and into my foot. I told the VA drs about this decades ago but it wasn't severe and nothing was ever done about it. Main thing was treating the knee. This foot is now in bad shape, arthritis has set in, etc.

Question : I know this will not be a quick or easy thing, but how should I move forward on connecting the foot and my other knee as secondary conditions caused by my original injury??

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks Much

shill,

Welcome to Hadit.

You will need a doctor to state #1 and #2 in writing.

jmho,

carlie

[john999]

Since it has been 30 years since the original injury I would want a really detailed explanation from the doctor to make the secondary connection. The VA will probably come back with the fact that these are just ordinary results of aging, blah, blah. The doctor should explain the mechanics of your injury and how it has affected your gait etc to cause these secondary conditions.