Doctors Letter

[JohnM]

John will be going to the VA office on Aug 2nd. I wrote a 4 page letter out about all of John's problems including about how his depression, paranoia and anger play in. Took the letter to the Dr. yesterday and he said it sounds good and wanted to know if there was a form that he should fill out to confirm what I said or are we to wait till VA contacts him. The Dr. is very much willing to help us out with this.

Thanks in advance for your input.

John's Wife

[Berta]

If this is for an Independent Medical Opinion-

is this a psychiatrist?

A good IMO means the doctor has reviewed all available records, and has diagnosed the patient.

Then the doctor states that it is more than likely or as likely as not that the veteran's disability stems from service.

Then the doc should give a brief rendition of their education and experience with treating patients who have the disability-PTSD,or depression , etc to support the rationale for their opinion.

This is not a nexus statement however,

a veteran has to support their inservice nexus (meaning the link to their service)

either by virtue of specific decorations or combat awards on their DD 214, or by their service records or by buddy statements.

Does this doctor have treatment records that show he has seen and treated the veteran?

[JohnM]

Thanks for the reply: yes this is a IMO. He does however go with me to my psychiatrist and we have discussion in my sessions about John. Would this help also? He does have decorations and combnat awards on his DD214. Will my letter help? I'm not sure I did read some where that the person close to him would be of help. I explained the best I could, because John hasn't gone to DR'S until this last year and everything just hit all of a sudden, one thing after another

[Guest terrysturgis]

John's wife. The first C&P I had I took extra copies of my recent medical records and handed them to the examiner. If you do that it goes right into the C-file. The records showed my treatment for DMII, etc. and DMII is a presumptive condition for in country Viet Nam veterans. I believe in one of your earlir post that your husband had DMII and secondary conditions. Be sure to do all the claims as early as you can as there is time to gather evidence but the early effective date is what you get paid for once the claim is finilized. I avoided the doctor as your husband did for as long as posible but I did have a medical history of four years with my private doctor once my Diabetes was diagnosed. All his letter said was yep this veteran is DMII with PN and stated his credentials.

My wife wrote letters about my conditions and from my experience the VA pays attention to it as my Service Officer told me that the regional office would quote some of the things she said in her letters. No one knows me better than the woman I married 38 years ago.

Good luck with your claim and keep up the good work. As Berta told you bombard them with evidence. Terry Sturgis

[john999]

John' Wife

You are doing a great job. John needs to recognize that he has a problem. I know that this is part of the PTSD denial system. He is very lucky to have you there to help him get this claim together. John is the one who will ultimately have to go to the C&P exam and describe his symptoms and how it affects him. Your statements are important also. My wife helped me when she made a statement and went with me to my DRO Hearing.

[JohnM]

Should we have the DR. write something down before we go to the VA office or wait ( Aug 2)?

Thanks for your replies, John is feeling more positive about doing this since we came on board and are hearing all of the replies

[Berta]

I would get something documented now if I were you-

I forgot- of course your husband has not only presumptive DMII but also the stressors would be proven by his DD 214.

They will still make him talk about this or write it down- but he will get through that all- and I agree with others here that your input will be invaluable to him and his claim.

Dont know if I am repeating myself-sorry about that but the time is now to start setting up a file system for his VA paperwork.

I use tagged manila folders,and my daughter took the time years ago to separate my husbands med recs by year. Also she made separate folders for Rod's Voc Rehab records as well as his PTSD inhouse program stuff.

Since then I have added so many manila folders that I have a stack probably 3 feet high. This is not unusual for some claimants to have quite a bit.

I sure do not think you will be incurring any large amount of VA paperwork but it helps to have a file with a copy of his claim, copy of the whole 21-526 if you have it, his DD214 , your marriage license, birth certificates etc in it-as well as a file with a phone log as to keeping track of any correspondence he gets from the VA.

John is not alone at all in this matter and I understand his reluctance to even think about it all.

But he will be OK.

They might let you attend any C & Ps with him- then again- maybe not but it pays to ask.