cervical strain A Lot On The Line.

[Scout Swimmer]

In September I contacted a Veteran Attorney firm. They filed every service connection I had for increase plus 2 new contentions (IBS & Spinal conditions).

I had my C&P exam last Saturday and I think it went extremely well. I had medical diagnosis from a private GI specialist for the IBS and a private Neurosurgeon diagnosis with MRI confirming DDD of the cervical spine with damage to my nerve root causing radiation into my upper extremities.

The lawyers can't officially represent my claim until I receive denial and didn't want me to submit any evidence since if my claim is approved out of the gate they can't legally get paid. Well I did anyway and I have a good feeling about it.

The examiner seemed to confirm all my contentions and she was very thorough (the exam took about 2 hours). She mentioned I had the spine of an 80 year old and at the end, encouraged me to walk away from my job. She even tested me for old injuries that I had long forgot that she found in my C- file, so I feel pretty confident about it all.

The only thing of concern is that although I'm already rated for cervical strain, and I never got a private nexus for the DDD. I remember her saying however that I must have had DDD for a very long time because of the stage it's at and because I'm still very young. Hopefully she will put it all together for me.

I guess I'll just have to wait until I request a copy later next week. I'll keep everyone informed when I do considering the semi unique way I went about this.

Thanks for your time.

[rosypalm]

Good luck!

[NavyWife]

If your goal is to get to 100% & then "retire" from work, then start reading up on SSDI-Social Security Disability Insurance- if you haven't already. A lot of folks that get 100% from va, have a high enough severity of disabilities that also qualify them for SSDI. You can't file until you are no longer working, but something to start researching now...

Here's a link to the estimated benefits calculator.

http://www.ssa.gov/planners/benefitcalculators.htm

Hang in there!

[Scout Swimmer]

Thanks Navy,

I'm pretty confident because how the c&p went. The IBS is presumptive and I have a diagnosis from a GI specialist so that should be gold.

I've seen on the forums were vets who were rated for cervical strain get connected for nerve damage with that, so even if I don't get Ddd I should still have more than enough. I still hope I get connected because my ROM during the exam was less than 15% for up and down, and I have 4 weeks of missed work documented so from what I understand I would fit a 40% rating for that too.

I've looked at the SSDI. Not sure how that will work with my FERRS, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Edited October 17, 2014 by Philgrenier

[john999]

I agree with Navy Wife that if you want 100% or TDIU you should retire on OPM disability and file for SSDI. I was under FERS. That is what I did when I had just 30%. You have 90% plus your job is dangerous in your condition. If you get jumped by inmates how will you defend yourself? You could file for OPM and use any leave while you are out of work? Do you have Thrift Savings? You might have to use some of that while you wait for TDIU. I filed for worker's compensation myself since my job did aggravate my SC disabilites. I worked for USPS. They were bastards and fired me anyway. Are you on light or limited duty?

[NavyWife]

There's some folks on here with extensive knowledge of FERS & SSDI, so you can get the lowdown from them :)

Listen to john999, he has been through this already. His advice is golden!

Edited October 17, 2014 by NavyWife

[Patrick428]

"She mentioned I had the spine of an 80 year old and at the end, encouraged me to walk away from my job."

Be a little leary of an examiner who makes these kinds of statements. Especially to walk away from your job. It's not that you will not be service connected, but the examiner was out of bounds in making a comment of this type. This suggests that your condition is so bad, a reasonable person may walk away from a C and P feeling they have a slam-dunk for a claim. A C and P is just one part of about 20 different processes a claim must go through for a rating. I spent some of my career as a psychologist in a VA Mental Health clinic and as a C and P examiner. We were told to be courteous and polite, and treat veterans with dignity (which seems to have disappeared recently), and not make statements that would leave the impression you were "good to go." In some cases, a good word from the examiner sometimes ends up with a low rating or a denial, This is why an examiner does not want to elude to the idea you will get service connection because this is not their job. Examiners verifies the diagnosis is correct and then determines the severity of the contention being examined. Tada!!

Patrick428

Edited October 17, 2014 by Patrick428