New To Forum-Need Help/advice

[soaringeagle17]

Greetings Fellow Veteran's,

First, I want to thank all of you for your service and for your time to advice to everybody on this Forum and thanks to the founder of the site. This is a copy of a post I put in the new members welcome area. I copied and pasted a reply with some questions one of the members asked me. Anyway, please take a look at what I provided and any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Have a great and blessed day. See below...

On the issues you want to re-open :

they are for what disabilities ? I had 11 items (Benign prostate hyperthrophy-20%, Right triceps tendonitis-had elbow surgery to fix tricvep tendon that ripped out while fighting a fire-10%, Left wrist sprain-10%, cervival spine degenerative arthritis clained as cervical DDD and spondylosis-10%), that were listed when I received my decision letter form the VA back on 2007. Of the 11 items four of them I received a service connection and a percentage. the others were listed as service connections and a zero percent assigned. The zero % assigned issues included Thoracolumbar degenerative arthritis-intervertebral disc degeneration, Right shoulder rotator cuff tendonitis, Left thumb carpometacarpal joint sprain, left knee patellofemoral syndrome, impotence, surgical scar right elbow, left carpal tunnel syndrome-minor) They did not give a rating for the high cholesterol that has been an issue for many years during my 21 years of military service.

I have been having issues with five of the areas and they have gotten worse. I have not gone to a doctor for all these issues because I had started a new job and did not have sick time and vacation built up and I have always been a person with a strong work ethic and not wanting to take time off for me to take care of my issues. I know that probably has not been the smartest thing to do, but I have been dealing with the pain and not complaining about it for many years to include before I retired. I was one of those guys that never complained very much when on active duty and lived with issues rather than complain because I loved the military and did not want to get kicked out for a Medical Board or anything like that. Also, some of the issues were personal and embarassing to discuss with doctors.

However, it is at a point now where all these things are impacting me. I also had questions about the Gulf war syndrome because I served in the Gulf war and never gave a lot of thought to filing any type of claim for the Gulf War Illness/Syndrome. I do and have had a lot of the symptoms such as sleep issues, gastrointestinal problems, joint and muscle pain, weakness, and fatigue. Anyway, I was not sure if I could have that addressed since it was not specifically mentioned in my claim when I retired.

On the Rating Decision that denied the issues -

what did it state in the Reasons and Bases Section - A lot of the reasons they stated were because I went to the doctor once or only a few times and a lot of other things they said about the issues I got zero % for. Some things said that at the mediccal appointment I was abIe to tie my shoes and button a shirt, etc... Well, just because I was able to do those things did not mean it was painful. Unfortunately I did not appeal during that first year because I had so many things going on in my life at the time. So, that is why I am asking about what I need to do to re-open my case for the issues to attempt to get the ratings changed. I now have some leave and vacation days to make some appointments to get some of my issues looked at and documented in my records. I am guessing I have to have a current documented history before I attempt to ask the VA to re-open my claim. I just want some advice on the best way to go about this whole situation.

what is the date on that Rating Decision ? The date of the rating decision is March 20, 2007.

Anyway, as I said in the first forum post I did yesterday, I was wondering if someone had any advice on the best way for me to go about re-opening, what I should do, how long I need to wait, and if I have to have doctors visits on file before I can re-open and then does anybody have a good recommendation of which service agency in San Antonio I should use to file, such as Texas Veterans Commission or some other agency. Any suggestions, support, or assistance is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely

SG

Soaringeagle17

[john999]

The Gulf War Registry provides you with an exam whose main function is supposed to be to identify possible Gulf War conditions. It is a free exam and it might help you with your claims. I think the VA believes that if you are not getting treatment for a condition then either is is negligible, or you have improved. They also believe that you should be getting treatment at the VA for your disabilites. This is their mission. I believe you can sign up for the Gulf War Registry exam at your local VAMC. When VA's own doctors say your conditions are getting worse or expand your diagnosis the VA has a harder time arguing with that opinion. Sometimes you need to go outside the VA system to get independent medical opinions or exams to win claims. This often happens when your claim is complex or the VA low balls your ratings. The main thing is to stay in treatment.

[stillhere]

At the VAMC I go to you just need to go to the info counter and ask which room they give the exam go there and fill out all the paper work. If they find something that you can be compensated for they even fill out the paper work and send it in.

Good luck to you and thank you for your service!