Advice For New Claims

[angryemu]

Hello,

I am new to this site and am happy to see that there are a lot of folks on here who know the ins and outs of filing claims with the VA. Hopefully someone will be able to offer me advice on how I should proceed. I did not know until recently the issues I've been dealing with were covered by the VA, otherwise I would've started this years ago. I'll try to provide adequate detail.

Background: Navy; Honorable discharge in 2003; Persian Gulf; did just about every job imaginable on the boat.

Claims and questions:

• Scarring/pain: service medical record contains detailed record of surgery for removal of Basal Cell skin cancer on my face, including drawing, measurement and procedure details. The nexus seems very clear.
  • Question: How does the VA actually measure scars, and what rating should apply? My t-shaped scar runs from the inside of my right eye down the side of my nose (about 2 inches), and across under my eye (about 1 inch). My right nostril is now asymmetrical as a result of the skin pulling and settling after the surgery, and there is a small scar "pocket" on the side of my nostril. Also, the skin changes color with hot/cold, becomes irritated by sweat, tingles/throbs and is prone to sores and infections.
• Functional Gastrointestinal Disorder: Nexus: Record contains one instance of gastroenteritis (vomiting/diarrhea), along with "sea sickness". I have civilian medical records for multiple gastro events after leaving service, including hospitalization and surgery (the doc mistakenly diagnosed appendicitis) for gastro and non-specific gastro problems. Not in my records is that I constantly have gastro issues including dyspepsia, frequent vomiting, and bouts of constipation and diarrhea. Also, I am by definition a Gulf War vet, and I understand that this condition falls under "Special Gulf War Rules" as a "Qualifying Chronic Disability".
  • Question: Is this adequate for nexus, or do I need an IMO? How do "Special Gulf War Rules" come into play vs. a standard claim for gastro issues? And, what rating does this condition entail?
• Tinnitus/hearing loss: my service record contains evidence that I was qualified in multiple weapons, and was a sonar tech. The sonar I worked on was I believe one of the loudest man-made noises on earth, and I had my bell rung more than few times when that thing went active.
  • Question: There is no mention of tinnitus in my medical records, but is there enough evidence to establish nexus? My ears ring 24/7 and it drives me nuts to be in silence.
• Question: Will the VA most likely require me to take more tests? What if I'm in good shape the day of the tests? Do they understand the "flare up" nature of certain illnesses?

I've obtained copies of all of my military and civilian medical records (and made more copies), and plan to meet with a VSO before submitting. I hope I have enough documentation and evidence to satisfy what the VA is looking for. I have a few other claims as well, but didn't want to post too much.

I greatly appreciate any feedback on the items above, as well as any other advice that can help make my claims as painless as possible. Thank you all for your service.

[USN_HM_VSR]

Gulf War Service in the Persia Gulf will get you a GW Gen Med for all your contentions. If you have a link to service in your records annotate it with a current diagnosis and treatment and submit with your claim for a direct service connection opinion. Hearing Loss and tinnitus is typically based on MOS or if there's a shift in hearing from pre service to post service hearing exams or if there's any annotations in your records or otherwise to bypass this just write a lay statement on on a 4138 describing your exposure to noise.

[angryemu]

Thanks for the information. Should I get IMOs from civilian doctors on top of existing medical records, or are the records and GW connection adequate?

[USMC_VET]

Hello,

I am new to this site and am happy to see that there are a lot of folks on here who know the ins and outs of filing claims with the VA. Hopefully someone will be able to offer me advice on how I should proceed. I did not know until recently the issues I've been dealing with were covered by the VA, otherwise I would've started this years ago. I'll try to provide adequate detail.

Background: Navy; Honorable discharge in 2003; Persian Gulf; did just about every job imaginable on the boat.

Claims and questions:

• Scarring/pain: service medical record contains detailed record of surgery for removal of Basal Cell skin cancer on my face, including drawing, measurement and procedure details. The nexus seems very clear.
  • Question: How does the VA actually measure scars, and what rating should apply? My t-shaped scar runs from the inside of my right eye down the side of my nose (about 2 inches), and across under my eye (about 1 inch). My right nostril is now asymmetrical as a result of the skin pulling and settling after the surgery, and there is a small scar "pocket" on the side of my nostril. Also, the skin changes color with hot/cold, becomes irritated by sweat, tingles/throbs and is prone to sores and infections.
• Functional Gastrointestinal Disorder: Nexus: Record contains one instance of gastroenteritis (vomiting/diarrhea), along with "sea sickness". I have civilian medical records for multiple gastro events after leaving service, including hospitalization and surgery (the doc mistakenly diagnosed appendicitis) for gastro and non-specific gastro problems. Not in my records is that I constantly have gastro issues including dyspepsia, frequent vomiting, and bouts of constipation and diarrhea. Also, I am by definition a Gulf War vet, and I understand that this condition falls under "Special Gulf War Rules" as a "Qualifying Chronic Disability".
  • Question: Is this adequate for nexus, or do I need an IMO? How do "Special Gulf War Rules" come into play vs. a standard claim for gastro issues? And, what rating does this condition entail?
• Tinnitus/hearing loss: my service record contains evidence that I was qualified in multiple weapons, and was a sonar tech. The sonar I worked on was I believe one of the loudest man-made noises on earth, and I had my bell rung more than few times when that thing went active.
  • Question: There is no mention of tinnitus in my medical records, but is there enough evidence to establish nexus? My ears ring 24/7 and it drives me nuts to be in silence.
• Question: Will the VA most likely require me to take more tests? What if I'm in good shape the day of the tests? Do they understand the "flare up" nature of certain illnesses?

I've obtained copies of all of my military and civilian medical records (and made more copies), and plan to meet with a VSO before submitting. I hope I have enough documentation and evidence to satisfy what the VA is looking for. I have a few other claims as well, but didn't want to post too much.

I greatly appreciate any feedback on the items above, as well as any other advice that can help make my claims as painless as possible. Thank you all for your service.

as USN noted Tinnitus is usually based on MOS, that meaning if your MOS was say artilleryman it is probably easier to get than say if you were worked in the DFAS office. That being said its not imposisble to get it if your MOS was not based around loud noises. If you can prove that you were regularly (or even rarely in some cases) around loud noises such as MRAP, HMMV, or something of that sort, or your barracks were right near where the mortar section was on base then you could make a case. In that case you will want to fill out sworn affidavits (See end of post)

Sworn affidavits hold more weight with the VA because with a normal Statement in Support of Claim (VA FORM 21-4138) these are just statements, but if you lie on them you are not guilty of perjury (you could be found guilty of fraud by the VA for the claim etc if found later) but a sworn affidavit means you could be found guilty of perjury if any statements are found to be untrue and made with malicious intent when you signed them. In the affidavits have yourself and your friends only write facts. Do not write "I believe the sound of the enginges have caused my tinnitus" State just the facts "During my deployment to Iraq from 9/2006-12/2007 on a daily basis for the majority of the day (6+ hours) i rode in large MRAP vehicles which emitted large amounts of vehicle noise inside that i was exposed to. We were not issued hearing protection during this period." also include in your statement how the symptoms came about and how they affect you, such as "My symptoms of ringing in my ears started to occur during the deployment and have become more pronounced afterwards in the years since." "Currently i hear ringing in my ears all waking hours of the day and require a fan to be on to drown out the noise when i sleep. During the day It is very hard to concentrate on conversations or work that i am conducting and drives me crazy"

These are just examples, use your own words.

As far as hearing goes, bilateral hearing loss, the VA has extremely high requirements for hearing loss. the civilian doctor i went to considered me partially deaf in one ear and approaching it in the other. However the VA said that my hearing was "normal" I am fighting for a 0% service connection based on the current audiogram compared to the initial MEPS screening before i went in to show the loss has occured regardless of whether it meets a compensable limit or not. You will need to have really, really bad hearing to qualify. I wish you luck though.

Do you need a IMO for you GI issues? I would recommend it. If you have sufficient evidence to support and the doctor concurs that it is "more likely than not" related to military service that will help immensely. and get a GI SPECIALIST and not a fmaily MD to do it. if you have a MD do it and the VA has their GI specialist do it, the VA wins because hes a specialist.

Dont rely on the VSO to submit the docs. if you can apply on ebenefits do that, upload the evidence there. submit the evidence to the VSO to submit. Submit them via mail to the claims center WITH CERTIFIED MAIL and RETURN RECEIPT, then fax them to the claims intake center and finally (if you have ebenefits) go on the IRIS message system and submit a message that you wish for this message to be included in your C File and that you have submitted XX total pages of evidence via (list all other ways submitted) and that this evidence contains (list all evidence submitted and general statement about each piece of evidence) and that it is to be considered in your claims for ______.

I wrote a

SWORN DECLARATION OF YOUR NAME

STATE OF XX §

COUNTY OF XX §

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1746, I,XX, declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct:

1. "My name is XX. I am more than eighteen years of age, of sound mind, and fully competent to make this affidavit. I have personal knowledge of the matters set forth below.
2. Statement
3. Statement
4. ETC ETC

Executed on DATE

Signed:

SIGNATURE

NAME

[angryemu]

Appreciate the feedback USMC. The post on evidence submission was extremely helpful, as were the illustrative examples above. Good luck on the hearing loss claim. Mine is definitely degraded but not terrible, so I'll see how it plays out.

[USN_HM_VSR]

Wow! Thats a nice template you have there. There are templates for everything here. LOL! Reminds me of work. Submitting a lay statement on a 4138 is good as well, just as long as your submit something. Because if you have a MOS thats low for noise exposure, no shift in hearing in service, no complaints ect.... Majority of the time they will not order you an exam. Yes if it were my claim I would submit a statement regarding each of your contentions, submit a your service med recs tabbed pointing to your link to service, tx, complaints, incident. submit a current dx/tx, and a private dbq w/ nexus medical opinion from a Physician. The GW Gen Med will only get you the GW presumptive opinion. Which will cover you for pretty much everything underneath the sun that is not documented in your AD med recs. If you want direct SC you need the opinion. The reasoning for doing all of this is if you don't you are relying on someone else to do it for you. This goes for N&M evidence hell as well.

[angryemu]

Great information. I'm still a little confused - what is needed to establish GW presumptive opinion? I've got gastro problems in my service record, and several civilian records including hospital and surgery for gastro issues. Do I need a diagnoses like IBS, or do the records and GW service suffice? I've scheduled an appointment with a civilian gastro doc, but what exactly do I need from him?