hypertension The Importance Of Getting Your "c" File

[OSC]

asknod responded to a post located here on hadit

This response made such a huge impact on me as to its importance; that I had to respond to it and start this thread:

asknod wrote:

You won because you took the time to learn the twisted system. Far too many come here and merely try to get others to do their footwork. Advice is one thing. Asking for a complete book of Cliff Notes is far more. No one is more invested in your claim, more knowledgeable than you about the actual facts, nor capable of bringing the proper legal arguments to the table. It took me 14 years to recognize my 1994 claim was actually still open in 2007 and not a "reopen". VA naturally fought me all the way to the CAVC arguing the opposite. Evidence is king. When they create a c-file, they inadvertently give you a Rand McNally roadmap of all their stupidity. You, of course, are tasked with the job of decyphering it and pointing out the errors. No VSO and few law dogs can find the "magic moment", let alone recognize its significance in your battle. I commend you for following Phil Roger's sage advice on the purchase of the VBM. That's exactly how I won. I went one better and "gifted" it to a young gal in Florida who won her 1975 CUE claim. Pay it forward. Now consider the next chapter--The Independent Living Program. A free computer is one of the obvious low-hanging fruits first off.

My response:

asknod…You sure hit the nail with that statement….And a homerun at that. When I finally received my “C” File it came in a box about 6 inches thick. I thought OMG I sure am going to have a good time here. (not). I took this huge mass of papers and put each piece of paper in its correct order and place. This took many nights, but Oh so worth the time.

After putting it all in order, I made a working copy of every section so I could make notes and still have the “clean” originals the VA sent me. Of course there were lots of holes in what was sent (of which I made note of) and some duplicates.

Then I went though each and every piece, looking for ANYTHING that might help my case, making notes with different colored pens as to what I considered relevant and the level of importance. And since I am a packrat, I also had some of my old SMRs from when I was in the Navy, which I used to fill in the holes, and also all of the VA denial letters (which also were in my “C” File). A yellow pad was used to keep track of ANYTHING, no matter how small that might help me win.

The VA had denied me, for Hypertension among other things, when I first submitted in 1992. Then during the C&P of January 2012, the doctor put down that the primary cause of some of my major contentions was Hypertension (BUT, I was not Service Connected). So, now I needed to figure out a way to Service Connect my Hypertension.

And then I found it….My MAGIC MOMENT. So in going through my SMRs from the “C” File, page by page and entry by entry, I found all of my Blood Pressure readings. I wrote then down as to date, time, reading and the reason for visiting the Sick Bay.

A C&P was conducted in April 2013 where I took all my findings from going through my “C” File including a list of where all of my Blood Pressure readings were located in my SMRs, for the doctor to look at. He could then compare and verify the readings from my list to his copy of my SMRs and then enter the information in the C&P report. The doctor DID IN FACT make the judgment that I had Hypertension while on Active Duty and thereby Service Connected me for benefits.

If I had not gotten my “C” file, I never would have gotten the ammo to fight the VA. Yes, asknod is correct when he says that the VA gave us all a map and it is up to us to use it for our claim.

OSC

Edited June 3, 2015 by OSC

[rootbeer22]

Fat:

I hope so, it's been a long and difficult path and, I'm less concerned about getting a good claims out come, rather then the VBA throwing me a "curve ball" that I have to spend years in appeals challenging? But, who knows, I may actually get lucky...and do good on the first go-round. According to the current stats, vets only get 15% of their contentions approved during the first claims approval review so I'm a little skeptical about the process...anyway...thanks for your responses....

Edited May 31, 2015 by rootbeer22

[Fat]

Rootbeer22 you seem to be ahead of the curve ball for initial claims.

The 15% is partially the VA's fault, but veterans being given bad advice on first claims is the culprit too.

Like: claim everything in your file, ignoring VA correspondence, awaiting VA to get records from private providers, no current diagnosis, no SMR's before filing claim, not using VSO, etc.

I wish I discovered HADIT before filing in 2001, but I didn't and now I'm in the appeal waiting game.

NEVER GIVE UP

[Vync]

OSC,

That basically sums it up

[Andyman73]

3 weeks and counting, waiting for my C-file.