Waiting For The Exam

[Arizona Garry]

Hey everyone,

Monday I got my letter from the regional office telling me that they have requested an exam date at the Phoenix VA Hospital, seems to be going smooth so far.

I also got a call from the RO rep to go over my package and to inquire if I had anything else to submit, he also suggested that I have a POA with one of the service organizations,

that made me wonder, why does it look bad for me. So what happens at the exam? what questions are asked and do they xray, just trying to get a picture here..

thanks for your time..

[Notorious Kelly]

Garry,

It's routine for VSO to have a POA so they can file papers and act on your behalf without you coming in for every action.

I ended up bypassing my VSO due to some attitude issues and just handled the rest of the claim process myself.

In my opinion, the POA is mainly for those who don't feel comfortable doing the research and handling their own claim.

In the past, the main benefit of using a VSO is that you could call them and find out claim status. Now that we have more tools available for that i.e. eBenefits, they may not be as important.

All the best and don't worry yourself too much over this!

[john999]

There are good VSO's and bad VSO's. After you get your rating and file a NOD you can even hire a lawyer. Just make sure you get to the exam on time. You will get a rating. It may or may not be all you want. If it is not then file a notice of disagreement. When you have done this you can hire a lawyer or get a VSO. VA is going to rate you on the evidence they have when the exam is done. The VA rep was trying to help in his warped sort of way. If you had a VSO like Larry you would be OK. But he only works in Texas or Oklahoma I think.

[Pete53]

I don't think you can do much to prepare for those types of exams. They will ask about pain and meds you take. Do you hurt all the time. My recommendation is to be truthful but make sure the answer represents what it is like normally for you.