Nexus Requirement?

[TALON II FE]

"The Nexus is not needed for initial claims filed directly after retirement correct? "

Not if your disability falls under the Chronic Presumptive list.

This is a difficult question to say yes or no to....what disability are you claiming?

I did not want to hijack someone else's thread, so I am starting a new one

Chronic Presumptives:

This is reply to vet who had the inservice nexus question.....

That link is shot...here it is

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.benefits.va.gov%2FWARMS%2Fdocs%2Fregs%2F38cfr%2Fbookb%2Fpart3%2Fs3_309.doc&ei=wMZxVcCqJ8eyogSlwIFg&usg=AFQjCNGpfJQk5dvWXONaefaqMr1wlIEA-Q&bvm=bv.95039771,d.cGU

[Andyman73]

That's what I've been doing, since day one. Only trying to claim the stuff that actually bothers me. I have not filed one single contention that I am not actually feeling. I also never went to sick call for anything that was a non-issue, either, which is now haunting me. However, I do wish I could actually sit with just one person who could look at my SMR and compare it, with a laundry list of ailments that I do live with everyday.

When I was going through TAPs near the end of my enlistment we were afforded the opportunity to have a face to face with a Benefits counselor. He went through my SMR and found only 3 things he thought were SCDs!!! I actually had to show him where I fell down the stairs on Day 5 of boot camp!

I am struggling mightily just to make an inch of forward motion. Between work, home, wife and kids, I have little precious time to be here with like minded Vets. I even stopped buying newspapers, so I could be on Hadit before work and during break times, just to glean some tiny morsel of info that will point to the next brick on the "yellow brick road". I finally reached out to the MH folks to start that process...it's so hard to keep it all together waiting for that part to get rolling.

Talon, I feel you, can barely imagine your life, but as a fellow Airwinger(KC-130s and CH-53s) I imagine it's time to pull chocks and launch the birds!

Semper Fi!

Andy

[TALON II FE]

All of these are from the chronic conditions list in my SMR Almost all are backed with multiple testing imagery. They are all things that I deal with. PTSD was diagnosed while still on AD and confirmed by C&P psychologist. All those nerve issues are confirmed by EMG, almost all have more than one showing the same abnormalities and over half were done by Fellowship Doctors. I don't "come off as a medical expert" at a Doctor's, but several of my issues are unusual and Doctors in general don't always like to show when they do not know something. Who would go into a doctor's office like that?

Using your example, AVMs are extremely rare, especially an acquired extremity AVM. Less than 200K cases worldwide last time I checked. If you don't throw a clot from a "bleed" and stroke out, you usually die eventually from High Output Heart Failure. AVMs are usually found inside the brain and many aneurysms in the past were misdiagnosed AVMs. It took them two years to finally take imagery instead of giving me waivers for push ups and, when they did, they told me I had a rare sarcoma. That was the consensus from Bethesda, Balboa and BAMC tumor experts, and they were wrong. I have four children who thought I had a very high probability of dying. I have no ROM pulling my hand back towards my shoulder. I have to wear a brace most days because it hurts too much and I was in Physical Therapy for a year twice a week. Multiple nerves in my arm are damaged permanently and are included in the list above. I lost significant grip strength which caused me to leave my flying job and retrain at 18 years as a SNCO. My hand and arm don't work right anymore, but I was told before my medevac that they were going to take my arm so I chalk that up as a win, sort of. You see, I feel that it is my duty to myself to KNOW about conditions that I am diagnosed with. I have met plenty of inept doctors and if I don't know about my conditions, how can I "keep them honest" and feel comfortable with their abilities and knowledge? I make a point of researching every diagnosis I am given and becoming familiar with it. I don't understand why anyone wouldn't.

As to the "filing 31 things" I agree wholeheartedly. I was getting conflicting advice on this so I listened to my VSO and she was clueless, but I didn't know that then. At this point, I have to deal with it how it is. I was going to claim my sinus issues, PTSD, my neck fusion and my OSA. The VSO talked me out of it and said that I was better off claiming it all, broken down to match my SMRs, which is what she did. From what I know now, I see another problem that would have caused; effective date. By filing everything, you have an earlier effective date then I would filing a couple things and waiting for a decision before filing the rest.

[Fat]

I agree with BroncoVet.

Unfortunately veterans are being given bad information about claiming every issue in their SMR's.

Just remember medical evidence is going to have to support every claim.

You may very well have several claims which deserve service connection; however know that every issue claimed is gonna have to meet the standard of in service disability, current disability, and/or nexus, IMO, IME tying all three issues together.

Make sure you have a knowledgeable VSO in your corner too.

And read HADIT to continuously learn.............

I wish you luck.

[TALON II FE]

Thanks. Either way, I have to play the hand I have been dealt at this point, I am not going to erase the last 9 months and refile. I would have changed from TVC months ago based off of what I know now, but, again, that resets things in the VA system. On top of what was claimed, the DBQ Doctor was pulling out and addressing things that were not claimed. I don't expect ratings on all of these items, they will be combined by what is affected, etc. I am sure that the claim format just confused things, but hindsight is 20/20. The fact that she was pulling other things gives me some hope that she was doing due diligence and was re-formatting the DBQ more traditionally, which I hope will smooth things out somewhat. I trusted the SME and the SME has proven to be clueless over and over as I expand my knowledge. A very disappointing experience. Often, I believe, the VSOs work TOO closely with VA agents and start to get buddy-buddy. I have to drive 1.5 hours away every time I want to see them and they would not take appointments, so it was drive all the way up to wait in line for hours or wait for someone to come back from lunch, etc. At least once, they had "taken the day off?" and I found out from a follow up email that the supposed TVC agent I saw was not with TVC at all, but was a VA employee. Nepotism and cronyism abound!

Edited June 7, 2015 by TALON II FE