100 % temporary disability

[ThomasD]

My question is I have 10% service connection for arthritis in my elbow, From day one I have complained of numbness and tingling I finally seen a rivate dr and had a nerve study done and just as i thought I have nerve damage my dr wants to do surgery. So if I have a service connection for my elbow can i receive temporary 100% if I have the surgery or does it need to be on what I'm having surgery for?

[Vync]

Welcome to Hadit!

Check out this link: http://www.benefits.va.gov/COMPENSATION/claims-special-convalescence.asp

Quote

Evidence Requirements

• The evidence must show the surgery or treatment was for a service-connected disability, AND
• The surgery required convalescence of at least one month, OR
• The surgery resulted in severe postoperative residuals, such as incompletely healed surgical wounds, stumps of recent amputations, therapeutic immobilizations, house confinement, or required the use of a wheelchair or crutches, OR
• One major joint or more was immobilized by a cast without surgery.

Getting 100% temporary might be possible, but it would depend on the problem. Is the surgery to simply decompress the nerve or perform more involved work on your elbow? Consider filing for the nerve as secondary to your arthritic elbow. I had several nerve decompression surgeries. They help, but are not necessarily permanent.

[ThomasD]

Yes it is to decompress the nerve I have an open claim on the nerve damage just haven't heard anything in some time now. I'm trying to wait itout as long as possible but my Dr is riding me hard about it.. ivI've also heard horor stories of people getting this surgery and it being a lot worse afterwards have you heard this?

[Vync]

Hey Thomas,
Let me share my experience with you to help shed some light on it.

I had multiple nerve decompression surgery on my elbow, forearm, and hand a couple of years ago. When I came out of surgery, my arm was wrapped in a giant pillow type dressing. If you have seen the movie Hellboy, then you know what I mean. I did not have arthritis in my elbow, but the surgeon removed a lot of scar tissue that was impinging on the nerve canals. It took a couple of months before I could return to work. I still feel numbness, tingling, and shooting pains, but nowhere near as severe as it was. I am SC for cervical spine issues and when my neck seizes up, it goes down both arms far worse than before I had the arm surgery. Keep in mind that the nerves are like a garden hose. If it kinks up near the faucet, it affects the flow of everything further on down. Also, after surgery, don't get in any hot baths, hot tubs, or saunas. You'll want to keep that arm cool in order to prevent infection or lymphedema. I had the surgery during the hot season and ended up sweating under the bandages which caused an infection. Most of my scars are practically invisible, but a couple of them look kinda ugly, swell up, and itch and ache periodically. Aside from that, I have had no other side effects.

I did not file for temp 100% because I had short term disability insurance backfilling my income and FMLA protecting my job. Keep in mind some docs might not want to state you will be out of work for 30+ days straight. If you can get your doctor to state 30+ days, it might help qualify for the temp 100%. My doc did the "come back in one week" again and again and again. the insurance people were haggling me constantly for more paperwork after every visit. Because it was a private doctor, I had to pay the co-pay plus an extra documentation fee to get them to fill out the papers for insurance. It added up, but when tax time arrived, I was able to write it off.

With any surgery there are risks so it is up to you to weigh the pros and cons of the situation. Sometimes doctors genuinely want to help the patients, but others either need another procedure under their belt, need more experience, or want to buy another luxury vehicle. I would beware any doctor who has less than 500 of these procedures under their belt. My surgeon was a grumpy older guy, but my wife worked with him in surgery for years and insisted what he lacked in personality was more than made up with prodigal surgical skills.

Ask your doc why is is in a rush and see what type of reasoning is behind his urgency. If he says something like irreversible nerve damage, then that might be reason enough to go through with it.

This part is really important. My surgeon offered me the option of allowing surgeons in training to "assist" in the procedure. I said "NO" and signed a document refusing consent to do that. Ask if your doc will be the person doing the surgery. Some rockstar surgeons have an entourage of noob surgeons. They enter the surgical room, spend just two minutes working on the patient, and then turn it over to a noob. Although the noob is "assisting" they literally are doing all but just a couple of minutes of the surgery. It's your arm. Don't settle for less than the best.

Look on YouTube and check out videos of the surgical procedure. Some of them might be a bit tough to stomach at first, but in the end I believe it is better to understand what they are doing. Learn as much as possible that you can. Make sure your doc answers all of your questions to your satisfaction.

Contact the VA or your VSO about the temporary 100% and the fact you have an outstanding claim. If the doctor needs to provide some sort of nexus linking the nerve issue to your arthritis, then you might be knocking out the secondary nerve issue nexus at the same time. Try to get the 100% temp approval in advance. If you take that route, your recovery might be better because you will not be worrying about it.

[ThomasD]

Thanks this very helpful.. since you are so full of knowledge hope you don't mind if I ask another question? I've had a claim that has been appealed several times now I'm waiting on a hearing now for my lower back and right shoulder the reason they have denied me is because I didn't complain about it hurting me till 5 years after my discharge my reason for that was I wasn't an Infantrymen to complain plus the pain wasn't unbearable until it had worsened some years later I had a spinal fusion done in late March of 2015 and now have a plate 4 screws and 2 rods in my lower back. And I had shoulder surgery in 2006 to repair the damage in there. Anything you can tell me to help with the outcome of myhearing when I finally get it

[Vync]

5 hours ago, ThomasD said:

Thanks this very helpful.. since you are so full of knowledge hope you don't mind if I ask another question? I've had a claim that has been appealed several times now I'm waiting on a hearing now for my lower back and right shoulder the reason they have denied me is because I didn't complain about it hurting me till 5 years after my discharge my reason for that was I wasn't an Infantrymen to complain plus the pain wasn't unbearable until it had worsened some years later I had a spinal fusion done in late March of 2015 and now have a plate 4 screws and 2 rods in my lower back. And I had shoulder surgery in 2006 to repair the damage in there. Anything you can tell me to help with the outcome of myhearing when I finally get it

What kind of hearing is it? Decision Review Officer (DRO) or BVA?

Keep in mind direct service connection requires three things:
1. Illness, injury, or event in service
2. Current diagnosis
3. Medical nexus connecting the two

I recommend you go through any active duty service treatment records. If you have paper copies, check both sides because sometimes docs like to write on the back. You'll want to look for any medical treatment for things which could be responsible for your back and shoulder. This may include, but are not limited to, training injuries, exercise injuries, falls, motor vehicle accidents, etc... Create a list of dates, injury/illness details, diagnosis, type of treatment, prescription, therapy, etc...  This is helpful because you can say something like you were treated X number of times for whatever issue. When you go to the hearing, you'll probably want to take those copies with you. Don't expect them to sit and read everything, but it does help to have your evidence highlighted and include some form of brief letter describing why the VA is wrong. Remember, you are guilty until you are proved innocent with the VA.

The tricky thing is that some injuries may not appear until years later. If you have not had a C&P exam for these from the VA, that is likely because they are trying to say that it took too long to appear and must not be related. If you do not yet have a medical nexus, you'll probably need one. If you have a good relationship with your doc (preferably a specialist), consider showing them the service treatment illness/injury records and ask if they might be willing to write a nexus letter on your behalf. Some docs are too busy, don't care, or are scared they might get in trouble. They don't have to state with 100% certainty unless they really feel that way. They need only to state 50% certainty and use the phrase "as least as likely as not". If you can get them to fill out a VA Disability Benefits Questionaire (DBQ) then that could also help. You can find good examples of nexus letters by searching this site. You can find the DBQ's for specific conditions by searching the VA web site.

[ThomasD]

Outstanding thanks a lot and yes it's a BVA hearing