Me again, bet some of you are getting tired of me, right? I know I sure am!
Anyway, I have an appointment with pain management for consult and/or treatment for pain in my lower back. More specifically for the pain in the illiac crest region, Physiatrist referred me to them recommending injections in my lower back to treat the pain in my waist. My concern is this, will this impede any claim for pelvic region pain, if the injections work and eliminate the pain? I had a C&P exam back on October 30th, for this, but at the time it was filed as hip pain.
During the exam I kept pointing everywhere I felt the pain, as examiner was moving my legs. As it turns out, it wasn't my hips, since I was pointing to what I now know as my illiac crest areas. The illiac crest is the bony plates in your waist area between hips and lower back. And the pain is coming from there, most likely where muscles are attached. And he was recording the ROM and it put me in 30% or higher rating block. Afterwards I couldn't sit up with out his help.
I'm trying to get someone to tie it down to something, either lower extremity related, or back, for a secondary claim. The physiatrist was quite intrigued by the whole thing, since I already tried the physical therapy and lasted only 3 sessions. Therapist was disappointed at the lack of improvements and didn't want to make things worse. He's on my side! Lol. Physiatrist said this kind of pain is more common with patients who were in a head on crash where their knees were driven back into their waist. Or with major muscle injuries in the back like deep tissue lacerations or major blunt force trauma. But since I fell down some stairs, 23 years ago, and have had over 2 decades of knee, feet, ankle and back issues ever since.
And this illiac crest related pain only showed up after my PCP took me off ibuprofen due to effects on bp, and switched me to tylenol. We all know what that means, right? No more anti-inflammatory benefits, since Tylenol is not an anti-inflammatory. I firmly believe that is when I first began enjoying this new pain sensation, and it was masked by the ibuprofen previously.
Anyway, any thoughts, opinions, and suggestions are welcome.
I met with a VSO today at my VA Hospital who was very knowledgeable and very helpful. We decided I should submit a few new claims which we did. He told me that he didn't need copies of my military records that showed my sick call notations related to any of the claims. He said that the VA now has entire military medical record on file and would find the record(s) in their own file. It seemed odd to me as my service dates back to 1981 and spans 34 years through my retirement in 2015. It sure seemed to make more sense for me to give him copies of my military medical record pages that document the injuries as I'd already had them with me. He didn't want my copies. Anyone have any information on this. Much thanks in advance.
Caluza Triangle – Caluza vs Brown defined what is necessary for service connection. See COVA– CALUZA V. BROWN–TOTAL RECALL
This has to be MEDICALLY Documented in your records:
Current Diagnosis. (No diagnosis, no Service Connection.)
In-Service Event or Aggravation.
Nexus (link- cause and effect- connection) or Doctor’s Statement close to: “The Veteran’s (current diagnosis) is at least as likely due to x Event in military service”
VA has gotten away with (mis) interpreting their ambigious, , vague regulations, then enforcing them willy nilly never in Veterans favor.
They justify all this to congress by calling themselves a "pro claimant Veteran friendly organization" who grants the benefit of the doubt to Veterans.
This is not true,
Proof:
About 80-90 percent of Veterans are initially denied by VA, pushing us into a massive backlog of appeals, or worse, sending impoverished Veterans "to the homeless streets" because when they cant work, they can not keep their home. I was one of those Veterans who they denied for a bogus reason: "Its been too long since military service". This is bogus because its not one of the criteria for service connection, but simply made up by VA. And, I was a homeless Vet, albeit a short time, mostly due to the kindness of strangers and friends.
Hadit would not be necessary if, indeed, VA gave Veterans the benefit of the doubt, and processed our claims efficiently and paid us promptly. The VA is broken.
A huge percentage (nearly 100 percent) of Veterans who do get 100 percent, do so only after lengthy appeals. I have answered questions for thousands of Veterans, and can only name ONE person who got their benefits correct on the first Regional Office decision. All of the rest of us pretty much had lengthy frustrating appeals, mostly having to appeal multiple multiple times like I did.
I wish I know how VA gets away with lying to congress about how "VA is a claimant friendly system, where the Veteran is given the benefit of the doubt". Then how come so many Veterans are homeless, and how come 22 Veterans take their life each day? Va likes to blame the Veterans, not their system.
However, (and I have no idea of knowing whether or not you would likely succeed) Im unsure of why you seem to be so adamant against getting an increase in disability compensation.
When I buy stuff, say at Kroger, or pay bills, I have never had anyone say, "Wait! Is this money from disability compensation, or did you earn it working at a regular job?" Not once. Thus, if you did get an increase, likely you would have no trouble paying this with the increase compensation.
However, there are many false rumors out there that suggest if you apply for an increase, the VA will reduce your benefits instead.
That rumor is false but I do hear people tell Veterans that a lot. There are strict rules VA has to reduce you and, NOT ONE of those rules have anything to do with applying for an increase.
Yes, the VA can reduce your benefits, but generally only when your condition has "actually improved" under ordinary conditions of life.
Unless you contacted the VA within 72 hours of your medical treatment, you may not be eligible for reimbursement, or at least that is how I read the link, I posted above. Here are SOME of the rules the VA must comply with in order to reduce your compensation benefits:
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Andyman73
Me again, bet some of you are getting tired of me, right? I know I sure am!
Anyway, I have an appointment with pain management for consult and/or treatment for pain in my lower back. More specifically for the pain in the illiac crest region, Physiatrist referred me to them recommending injections in my lower back to treat the pain in my waist. My concern is this, will this impede any claim for pelvic region pain, if the injections work and eliminate the pain? I had a C&P exam back on October 30th, for this, but at the time it was filed as hip pain.
During the exam I kept pointing everywhere I felt the pain, as examiner was moving my legs. As it turns out, it wasn't my hips, since I was pointing to what I now know as my illiac crest areas. The illiac crest is the bony plates in your waist area between hips and lower back. And the pain is coming from there, most likely where muscles are attached. And he was recording the ROM and it put me in 30% or higher rating block. Afterwards I couldn't sit up with out his help.
I'm trying to get someone to tie it down to something, either lower extremity related, or back, for a secondary claim. The physiatrist was quite intrigued by the whole thing, since I already tried the physical therapy and lasted only 3 sessions. Therapist was disappointed at the lack of improvements and didn't want to make things worse. He's on my side! Lol. Physiatrist said this kind of pain is more common with patients who were in a head on crash where their knees were driven back into their waist. Or with major muscle injuries in the back like deep tissue lacerations or major blunt force trauma. But since I fell down some stairs, 23 years ago, and have had over 2 decades of knee, feet, ankle and back issues ever since.
And this illiac crest related pain only showed up after my PCP took me off ibuprofen due to effects on bp, and switched me to tylenol. We all know what that means, right? No more anti-inflammatory benefits, since Tylenol is not an anti-inflammatory. I firmly believe that is when I first began enjoying this new pain sensation, and it was masked by the ibuprofen previously.
Anyway, any thoughts, opinions, and suggestions are welcome.
Thanks,
Andy
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iceturkee
andy, i, too, fell down two flights of stairs (but broke it after the first flight) when i was in the army. i sustained a shaarp pain in the middle of my back but never went on sick call because of al
pwrslm
The spine is a funny critter. If you know how you stack dominoes, then knock them over, this is how the spine falls apart. One bad disc at first just upsets the level balance of the one above, and t
iceturkee
i definitely have had problems with va radiologists reading my xrays.
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