ptsd "gathering Of Evidence" For 9+ Months.......advice Please

[L.A.R.Grunt]

First and foremost I want to say thank you to all the members here on hadit. This my first post, however I have been coming here for help and support the past nine months.

My initial claim was submitted 25 April 2011 (I know that’s child’s play compared to many here on hadit), which consisted of the following: PTSD, TBI, titintus, and depression. I was in therapy at Walter Reed National medical center (Bethesda, MD) 11 months prior to submitting my claim. With that being said; my case was well documented and “had all my ducks in a row”. My C&P exams came and went smoothly on 17 June 2011. After months of silence from the VA about exactly what “additional documentation” was needed: I went to my congressman. To my surprise, a month later received a call from the VA regarding that they still haven’t located my service treatment record. Submitted my medical record 20 October 2011 and was told that no additional information is needed.

My case has been waiting to go to the decision board for over 3 months now and I have been struggling financial for months. I’m 25 y/o and a full time student. I’m trying to do the right thing and stay in school even though my grades are struggling. I work a few hrs a week but that barely feeds me. I have been fighting eviction for the past two months and I’m hesitating to submit paper work to expedite for financial hardship because I don’t want to delay my decision any longer than it will be. Should I go to my congressman again and have them do another Inquiry?(considering thats the only time I've seen progress) I’ve been in the “gathering of evidence” phase on Ebenefits for 9 months and see no type of hope(again, I know it’s not that long but when your worrying about being homeless: every day is a struggle) Any advice about anything I’ve stated would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

[midnight340]

Not a lot of positive reports that I have seen about going to a congress person... don't know if that affected yours, or it just happened the way it did.

Your C&P was much quicker than mine. (which also was my initial claim... for PTSD, depression and a couple of other things) but I know it varies wildly from Reg. office to Reg. office.

From everything that I could gather, asking for your claim to be expedited due to financial hardship does not slow it down, and there is a chance it could get into a smaller pile. (unless like mine they forgot to flag my actual file, even though it showed up on computer as flagged.)

My advice would be to ask for your claim to be expedited and to include any and all documentation showing financial hardship (eviction notices, bank statements, anything) and then to check up on it frequently in any way you can. (IRIS, calling 800, etc.) But also, ask around and try to find some service officer in your area who has a good reputation for getting things done. Someone who may actually call and check for you.

Don't believe anything you are told. Just keep checking on it in anyway possible. Be respectful of the workload, polite and all, but persistent. Good luck.

[L.A.R.Grunt]

Thanks for the advice. I will submit my documentation for financial hardship. Unfortunately I have been working with the DAV in the D.C. Office since my initial claim was filed in April 2011. I can't explain to you how useless their representation for myself has been:never returning calls & unprofessionalism at appointments. Needless to say I've been disappointed with them. Ive attemtpted to find another service officer but apparently once you initial claim is through a particular service office you can't go to another(at least thats what the VFW told me). Taking your advice: not believing anything your told, perhaps I'll re- attempt to find another office. My claim is through the Baltimore Regional office and from what I've heard their quite backloged. Thanks again

[Berta]

LAR stated:

"they still haven’t located my service treatment record"

do you have a complete copy of your SMRs that you could copy and send to them?

But it is quite possible that,by now, they do have them.

The IRIS (Contact Us) at the main VA web site might be able to tell if they do and if you are unhappy with the DAV, you can revoke their POA and obtain another vet org.

Also Military records can be obtained from the National Archives web site:

http://www.archives.gov/

I requested my deceased husband's SMRs via the SF 180 form on line there, from both his USMC and US Navy service ,when I reopened my claim years ago.

They responded with his Navy SMRs and the letter said the VA in Buffalo NY had his USMC SMRs.

That is where his USMC SMRs should have been so I was relieved that at least I knew where they were.