Questions Please Help....

[rpowell01]

I was recently rated at 40% for Mechanical Cervical Spine Pain and for Mechanical Lower Back Pain Syndrome. Here are my questions:

1. Can I claim for all the spasms I have in my neck which in turn gives me headaches all the time? Would this still be primary claim or secondary because I do not know if they separated muscle spasms from Cervical Spine itself?

2. Would this be the same for my lower back syndrome (lumbar)?

I am trying to figure out since they separate the spine itself how about the tissue attached to the spine, are they separate or part of each section?

I get a lot of headaches which is driving me crazy because there isn't a day that goes by that I don't get them. I know they are from the spasms I have in my neck because the muscles in my neck feel like a brick whenever I have headaches.

Any info would be very, very appreciated.

I have already submitted my claim for my Thoracic Spine which I missed claiming 14 years ago. Reading over my military records I realized that this was the origin of the problem. Some Doctor in the Army pushed on my back because of a facet dysfunction a physical therapist said I had and she could not push back together.A few days after that pain went down to my lower back then few weeks later to my neck. I have documented proof of this Doctor doing this and highlighted all of it and sent it in with my claim to the VA. I actually feel that because of what this Doctor did I am in the situation I am in today. I really do feel like this, I hate to believe it but documentary proof shows the actual events. I originally hurt my back on a field exercise on the Big Island of Hawaii. I jumped out of a Black Hawk and my one of my feet was stepped on while I was about to jumped. I landed on my face on the ground and the person behind my pushed my legs over while he jumped out. I was bent backwards so bad that I could see my boots in front of me. Well I got up and I didn't feel nothing hurt in my back but my face hurt from the fall. Then two weeks later I was drilling into dry wall in my NBC office to make more room for chemical mask and boom my chest starting hurting. Well after seeing the DR at the TMC he said I strained muscles in my mid back. Weeks later it was still hurting but now I was sitting leaning to the right. He sent me to physical therapy and the PT told me I had 3-4 ribs dysfunctioned. Which at the time I didn't understand what she was saying but now I understand what it is. She pushed on my back a few times for a couple of days and then she said she could get a couple of them back in. She told me she would have to find someone on Schofield Barracks who could do it. Well she gets a reply by a Family Medical Doctor who was the person I was referring to who I believe ruined my back. He pushed on it, I heard it pop and said OUUUUUUUUUCH. He gave me a prescription for Valium and said I should get better. Well 3 days later I awoke to get ready for PT and booooom I had to have my roommate help me out of bed. I then went to sick call and this is when all heck broke lose for me for the next year and a half.

Sorry for the long story but I wanted others to see why I feel like I feel. Something so simple that at Chiropractor could have fixed some other guy ruined my career that I was wanting to accomplish. I talk with a friend who now a 1st Sgt in the Army and man it really upsets me because he is about to go to SGT Maj School and I am sitting at home BROKE because of this Doctor. Do I blame 100% on him, not entirely but he sure played a huge factor in why I am at home.

Please forgive me for writing a bio out like this but I really feel I had to get this off my chest and I feel that now it is time to payback to come back to me for the pain and suffering I have been through for 14 years. I sat on it for so long and I have secondary issues waiting to be claim because of the stress it has caused in my life. I kick myself everyday because I grew up taught not to take "hand-outs" and to work for your $$$$$. But I now I feel I earned this and every cent that is giving to me and I don't feel "prideful" anymore. My family has suffered long enough especially my wife, who has takes good care of me whenever I am in pain. I love her so much....

God Bless...

[rpowell01]

I dont see an edit button and I have another question. I go on January 4 to Bay Pines for an MRI. I do have a right to get a copy of my medical records/reports at their records dept?

[john999]

I think I would go to the pain clinic and a VA psychiatrist and tell them about the constant pain you are having. People with chronic severe pain usually suffer from some degree of depression. I would claim that as well. The VA often rates injuries for the mechanical injury and the loss of ROM. They ignore chronic pain syndrome and the depression that goes with it. If you are taking stong pain meds that is also having an affect on you and can aggravate depression in the long run. I have back pain and it creates a certain fear of doing things because you are always afraid you are going to reinjure it.

[LarryJ]

I dont see an edit button and I have another question. I go on January 4 to Bay Pines for an MRI. I do have a right to get a copy of my medical records/reports at their records dept?

Yes. Give them a few days for the radiologist/neurologist to look at it.

If you haven't gotten a recent copy of your medical treatment notes then ask for ALL your med recs back to the date you last retrieved them.

[rpowell01]

WOW I just talked to a benefits counselor on the phone about getting copies of my records. I also asked if they received my new claim on my T-Spine. She said they did and that it was already sent over to be rated. I asked how because I didn't have a C & P exam yet. She asked me what evidence did I send in with it. I told her my whole military medical records with highlights on each page along with a 2 page claim statement. She stated that if I showed enough proof just with my records and claim statement that they do at times waive the C & P exam. Is this correct or what do you think is happening?

I could be wrong but I feel that since I missed on filing for this 14 years ago and the VA knew about it this why they sent it to the rating dept.

I also talked with her about TDIU. I told her what I did for a living and gave her a brief description of my position. She advised me to submit for TDIU even though I am rated only at 40% because of the demand my job and how it aggravates my neck and back. Is there a special form for this or can I just type out another claim statement requesting TDIU?

I cannot believe how nice this counselor was to me. I am stunned!!!!!

[broncovet]

R Powell

Yes, you can get a copy of your records. Usually you go to the "Release of Information" section at the VAMC, where you will be required to sign a consent form. At my VAMC if the records you request is small, just a few pages, they hand them to you in a few minutes. However, if you need 1800 pages from 12 years of treatment, then they will be mailed to you in a few weeks.

Im pleased you were happy with your counselor. However, Im always skeptical when someone says, "Im with the government and Im here to help you." In my experience, there are sometimes REASONS why when people are "NICE". In at least once case I am familiar with, people were "nice" because they HAD to be nice...probably because they had mucho screwed up in the past. And some are "nice" because they WANT something from you. Im on my guard when people are a little too "nice". I believe it was Shakespeare who said, "Tho doth protest too much".

I knew a guy in the military who was "nice" to me....pretty soon, he was expecting favors "returned". I think this goes on in the VA a lot. The sup is "nice" to you giving you a bonus, maybe that you dont deserve. They EXPECT something for it..beleive me. Be cautious when accepting gifts from strangers...I would much rather someone call me an "A$$ AND MEAN IT THAN TO TELL ME THEY LOVE ME WHEN ITS A LIE.

Larry..

Thanks. I have gotten ripped from the mods and others about my posts a few times...accusing me of not helping Vets, being negative, etc. I think that VSO's or people on this board who recommend "one claim at a time" (even if you have 8 disabilites or dont have a definate diagnosis) are doing Vets a big dis service. One complained that Vets have 10 to 20 issues...basically suggesting that someone with that many issues was a fraud. Im not sure that the number of issues claimed has anything to do with fraud...in fact, wouldnt it be easier to defraud the government with ONE condition than 20? The guy with 20 sounds like an honest fella to me. When these people applied for a job at the VA, Im sure they tried to get the lowest salary possible, right? Yet they seem to be suspicious of a Veteran seeking the maximum benefit?

[rpowell01]

Well I went today and got copies of my VA reports at he Records Information. Then I went over to the VA Regional Office at Bay Pines and requested a copy of my C-File. I had to request it to be mailed to me or wait a long wait for them to be copied. They will "hopefully" be mailed to me. Thanks for the help..