Original Claim

[j92mike]

My original claim goes back to June 2010 when I ETSed from the Army. For my back and shoulder primarily this was done in Virginia I did it online by myself. Do to financial reasons I had to relocate my family to Athens GA. A couple months after leaving Virginia I got a call from a RO in VA they wanted to confirm an appt. I had let the VA know I was moving before I left. The woman instructed me to get ahold of the VARO that was closest to me. When I finally got a hold of someone I was told I had to file with Georgia State Dept. So they started a new claim for me. I called back to two months later to find out what was going on because I know it takes a while, and I was told my packet had been sent to the Atlanta RO. By this time it was summer 2011 I can not remember exactly the month because my memory is bad. When I called the 1800 number they told me my packet was sitting at the ATLRO just there. The person filled out an inqury for me. And changed my information because I had to relocate again to Madison, GA and I wanted to let the VA know that I was pregnant and I didn't know if this would have an effect on my case. (When I was in service I could get an appt with a military doctor because I was pregnant) After I called them back because I had not recieved a response they put in another inqury for me. A week later I a had message on my phone saying they were sorry and my packet was found in the developmental dept.

In October that month I got a phone call asking to verify that I was going to be at my exam. I was confused because I hadn't recieved anything in the mail at all from QTC. And I told him I needed to reschedule because I was pregnant and could not do the xrays they wanted me too. After I actually spoke to someone about what was going on. They told me my address had not been changed in the system nor did they know I was pregnant. And that person fixed everything. The day after I had my son I called to tell them I wasn't pregnant anymore and ready to continue the process. This was mid December. I knew I might be waiting a lil while because of the holiday season.

I had two C&P exams my first was March 9th all they did was get 35 xrays from feet to my neck. One of my conditions is a herniated disk I was diagnosed with in 2009 and I know herniated disk do not show up on xrays so I was ticked about that and than when I saw the Doctor he did not have my medical records or nothing on me at all. I know what's wrong with me, but my poor memory went into effect during the questioning. Fortunately enough while he was doing some type of downgraded range of motion on me my whole left arm from fingers to shoulder went numb. I remembered to tell him about my sciatica which I was diagnosed with in 2007 but I had forgot about the numbing.

He asked me about bedrest I told him I had two kids and 21 months and 3 months and little time to rest, I do not work because my pain my body does not allow me to do to much. He wrote down a bunch of stuff on a piece of paper and that was the end of the appt. 15 min face time with him 1 hour getting xrays.

My second appt was March 20th my mental exam. It was for my claim of depression and anxiety. She asked me how long I was treated in service I told her more than two years however I did get confused with the years. She told me I was treated for a long time. She told me she only had the last two months of my records and I was really ticked about that. In service my therapist diagnosed me with something disorder I cant remember at this time I will look it up and post it later. Anyway during my appt. I could not think to tell her I was having problems with my memory and the problems started closer to the end of my service which I had originally played off with my pregnancy cause pregnant women are said to have bad memory. The doctor told me she had five days to send the 411 back so if they sent her the rest of my records she would go through them if not than she would let the VA know she worked with what she had.

I called QTC and asked if they sent my results back to RO the rep wouldnt check she assured me that they hadnt been sent because it was only a couple of weeks. This past friday I called the 1800 number and was told that it would be 4 to 6 wks from my last exam.

When i refiled with the state dept of GA these were the conditions the rep listed after going through my records:

DDD lumbar and cervical

anxiety/depressive disorder

osteoarthritis, cubital tunnel

knees, ankles, shoulder, back tendonitis

chronic fatigue

positive PPD (nonactive TB)

He told me with my conditions I would most likely be rated between 60 to 80%

Currently all I am worried about is making sure I am service connected, that is step one for me, while this has been going on for more than 22 months I am at least content knowing I have had my exams even though the VA was sloppy.

Questions I have:

Can anyone tell me what they were rated for these conditions originally or after their first appeal if they were originally denied?

I left service under an honorable discharge, can I apply for tricare or is it only for SMs that retired?

Can someone tell me about the ATL RO how backlogged it is? I saw a news clip about some months ago vets went for appts and even if they got there early they always were seen late?

I was told orignially that I had to wait until I recieved disability from the VA before I could get treated by them. Recently I was told that wasn't the case and had to apply. Can someone tell me if they will allow me to be seen by a doctor closer to me? The ATL RO is more than 60 miles from where I live and I have my two kids I would have to travel with. With my memory not being that good, I don't know how to get there let alone Atlanta and I have a GPS but I can not concentrate on it and drive at the same time.

Thank you for reading,

Jeter

[Chuck75]

It looks like VA treatment is available in Decatur GA (VAMC), or perhaps in Athens (Clinic).

Given your situation, I'd certainly at least talk to a patient advocate and see what might be available.

Distance is not a primary consideration of the VA's, when it comes to fee based treatment.

[justrluk]

My original claim goes back to June 2010 when I ETSed from the Army. For my back and shoulder primarily this was done in Virginia I did it online by myself. Do to financial reasons I had to relocate my family to Athens GA. A couple months after leaving Virginia I got a call from a RO in VA they wanted to confirm an appt. I had let the VA know I was moving before I left. The woman instructed me to get ahold of the VARO that was closest to me. When I finally got a hold of someone I was told I had to file with Georgia State Dept. So they started a new claim for me. I called back to two months later to find out what was going on because I know it takes a while, and I was told my packet had been sent to the Atlanta RO. By this time it was summer 2011 I can not remember exactly the month because my memory is bad. When I called the 1800 number they told me my packet was sitting at the ATLRO just there. The person filled out an inqury for me. And changed my information because I had to relocate again to Madison, GA and I wanted to let the VA know that I was pregnant and I didn't know if this would have an effect on my case. (When I was in service I could get an appt with a military doctor because I was pregnant) After I called them back because I had not recieved a response they put in another inqury for me. A week later I a had message on my phone saying they were sorry and my packet was found in the developmental dept.

In October that month I got a phone call asking to verify that I was going to be at my exam. I was confused because I hadn't recieved anything in the mail at all from QTC. And I told him I needed to reschedule because I was pregnant and could not do the xrays they wanted me too. After I actually spoke to someone about what was going on. They told me my address had not been changed in the system nor did they know I was pregnant. And that person fixed everything. The day after I had my son I called to tell them I wasn't pregnant anymore and ready to continue the process. This was mid December. I knew I might be waiting a lil while because of the holiday season.

I had two C&P exams my first was March 9th all they did was get 35 xrays from feet to my neck. One of my conditions is a herniated disk I was diagnosed with in 2009 and I know herniated disk do not show up on xrays so I was ticked about that and than when I saw the Doctor he did not have my medical records or nothing on me at all. I know what's wrong with me, but my poor memory went into effect during the questioning. Fortunately enough while he was doing some type of downgraded range of motion on me my whole left arm from fingers to shoulder went numb. I remembered to tell him about my sciatica which I was diagnosed with in 2007 but I had forgot about the numbing.

He asked me about bedrest I told him I had two kids and 21 months and 3 months and little time to rest, I do not work because my pain my body does not allow me to do to much. He wrote down a bunch of stuff on a piece of paper and that was the end of the appt. 15 min face time with him 1 hour getting xrays.

My second appt was March 20th my mental exam. It was for my claim of depression and anxiety. She asked me how long I was treated in service I told her more than two years however I did get confused with the years. She told me I was treated for a long time. She told me she only had the last two months of my records and I was really ticked about that. In service my therapist diagnosed me with something disorder I cant remember at this time I will look it up and post it later. Anyway during my appt. I could not think to tell her I was having problems with my memory and the problems started closer to the end of my service which I had originally played off with my pregnancy cause pregnant women are said to have bad memory. The doctor told me she had five days to send the 411 back so if they sent her the rest of my records she would go through them if not than she would let the VA know she worked with what she had.

I called QTC and asked if they sent my results back to RO the rep wouldnt check she assured me that they hadnt been sent because it was only a couple of weeks. This past friday I called the 1800 number and was told that it would be 4 to 6 wks from my last exam.

When i refiled with the state dept of GA these were the conditions the rep listed after going through my records:

DDD lumbar and cervical

anxiety/depressive disorder

osteoarthritis, cubital tunnel

knees, ankles, shoulder, back tendonitis

chronic fatigue

positive PPD (nonactive TB)

He told me with my conditions I would most likely be rated between 60 to 80%

Currently all I am worried about is making sure I am service connected, that is step one for me, while this has been going on for more than 22 months I am at least content knowing I have had my exams even though the VA was sloppy.

Questions I have:

Can anyone tell me what they were rated for these conditions originally or after their first appeal if they were originally denied?

I left service under an honorable discharge, can I apply for tricare or is it only for SMs that retired? - Only if you are medically or or otherwise retired.

Can someone tell me about the ATL RO how backlogged it is? I saw a news clip about some months ago vets went for appts and even if they got there early they always were seen late? - The RO handles the administrative side of the VA. The Medical Center handles treatment for those conditions and others depending on your rating. On the medical side, it runs like most other doctor offices/hospitals, but with more people in line for treatment. You just have to clear your schedule when you're making a trip to the Med centers (JMHO).

I was told orignially that I had to wait until I recieved disability from the VA before I could get treated by them. Recently I was told that wasn't the case and had to apply. Can someone tell me if they will allow me to be seen by a doctor closer to me? The ATL RO is more than 60 miles from where I live and I have my two kids I would have to travel with. With my memory not being that good, I don't know how to get there let alone Atlanta and I have a GPS but I can not concentrate on it and drive at the same time. - This is a little trickier. I've tried getting fee-based care, and was unsuccessful. Check here:http://www.visn2.va.gov/vet/vetfaqs.asp for some answers to these issues. BLUF: to enroll, you have to fill out some paperwork, but it looks like you can get it at the FAQ site: http://www.visn2.va.gov/vet/vetfaqs.asp#q1

Thank you for reading,

Jeter

Hope this helps! If I'm off-base on any of these, please feel free to correct me.