hadit Hadit

[Victor Ray]

20 minutes ago, Berta said:

I agree Buck, that this vet needs to find a good VSO and a lawyer if they are set for the BVA.

Without being able to read the last decisions from VA, we really don't know what to advise here.

Victor, you listed multiple symptoms and multiple diagnoses.

A vet rep will be able to determine what you should appeal and what other disabilities you could claim.

Those that might be from AO would be on the AO Presumptive list here available under a search, like the Amyloidosis.

The rep will want to see your inservice STRs as well as their last denials.

You can tell a lot from a one to one meeting with a vet rep.

Buck is right. He gave some good advise.

 

 

 

Berta.

The decision says "Your current benefit payment will continue unchanged."30% for PTSD remains the same because the evidence does not show an increase in severity.

"Bilateral hearing loss to include ear aches" is service connected at 0%. So I do qualify for hearing aids, and Army documents show the hearing loss in 1972, but they never gave me more testing, as the examiner recommended.

"CAD to include palpitations and chest pains". My ignorant cardiologist says I can play football, hike mountains, jog, play tennis. That shows that he knows absolutely nothing about me, and can't in in a few 3 minute visits. My calcium score was 958 over two years ago,(400 is bad). the good news is I will not survive the "hard cardiac event", so hopefully it will be quick.

"Hypertension, previously claimed as high blood pressure".   "The claim for service connection for hypertension is considered reopened, however, the evidence continues to show this condition was not incurred in or aggravated by military service." I suffered months with severe migraine headaches, and about 7 months of medical records have gone missing. They were removed from my file to prevent this being proved. 

Listen please, my records from 5 different hospitals, 6 different locations, in 3 different countries were all missing. Over the years, I have gotten some of them, but the ones least likely to disappear, are the ones missing. I have some from 3 hospitals in Vietnam, but not Huntsville Alabama, where I had the last medical board, right here in the USA. It is no accident that they are missing.

"History of fractured coccyx". "Considered reopened"but not incurred in service. I took a good fall injuring my right knee and breaking my tailbone in basic training. I did not know it was broken, but made several sick call visits for both the knee and tailbone, just after basic because of pain. it's documented.

"Bronchitis/Pneumonia" considered reopened, not incurred or aggravated in service.

"hyperlipidemia" conginital defect and unrelated and not subject to service connection.

"Loss of hair" "Considered reopened". After Vietnam I would lose round spots of hair, big as a silver dollar. I sent the documentation in where I was treated for it, when the last treatment was about 4 or 5 years old. 

"Individual Unemployability" DENIED because the claimant has not been found unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of service connected disabilities. I had a stroke, and am 100% blocked in the left carotid artery, and 100% disabled by Social Security Disability Income, and They have the proof.

It's just been one joke after the other, one lie after the other at St. Louis. They just got caught getting ready to shred 157 or so documents that would have affected many families. The VA Hospital there just promoted a Dr. Nelson and sent her/him to their home country after being responsible for exposing 1800 patients to HIV. You know the story. Free gov. housing, $160,000.00 salary (average annual income only $2500), 60+ times the average income. I filed a notice of disagreement, and ask for a DRO.

Victor

[OldJoe]

Being in the IT trade (ya, I am a geek), it sounds like your IPad could have been suffering from a couple of things.

If your IPad is trying to run a bunch of different programs in the background and they are all clamoring for a network connection this can cause what you experienced.  It happens on my android a lot.

Other factors that can exacerbate this:

• If the wireless you are connected to is overloaded with other connection requests (you can only get so much water from drinking straw when you have a herd of elephants trying to drink also).  Try turning off your WiFi and turning it back on, this should cause it to re-establish it's connection.  If you are in a public place it might find you a better access point or at least reset your connection.

1. If you are in a library and connect in one room with an access point and then move a couple of rooms away that has its own access point.  Your tablet will try to stay connected to the previous access point even though a stronger/better connection is available to you which means your connection will be totally sucky.  Unfortunately, devices aren't that smart yet.

• Network congestion on a server between you and the site you are accessing (sometimes your data gets routed through a traffic jam instead of finding another route).  Nothing you can do about this other than try back later (rebooting may help but probably not, will probably just reroute you through the same mess).
• Line conditions; yes rain does degrade the quality of your connection.  You wouldn't believe the complaints we get from the courts that the primary reporting system is slow.  The only thing that changed is that it had recently rained an inch or two.  All you can do here is suffer through it while the lines dry out (you will notice your connection quality slowly improve over time).
• Sometimes the memory in the device you are using has been inefficiently used by the operating system (for whatever reason, there are many).  All you can do is restart your device in this instance.

Edited June 7, 2016 by OldJoe

[Victor Ray]

Joe,

I think you are absolutely right. I bought a $200 Apple router, which made no difference. Also Safari sucks in my opinion, but I am on another pc right now, and not having trouble. I did last night though, but good today.

Thanks for your help Joe. it's much appreciated!

Victor

[OldJoe]

No problem, thank you for your service my friend.

[Victor Ray]

7 hours ago, Buck52 said:

your welcome victor,

you may need to seek an attorney for all that has happen to you especially with the VA.

You need to keep all copies of your evidence that the VA Never considered or never read  if its not on there record as established evidence thats been denied  you can still use it  so keep all those records you may need them later.

As for as choosing a VSO  its hard to find a good one but there are some out there,most of us that have been **** on with  most of the so called VSO organizations We work our claims our self and with help from Hadit members.

Just hang in there help is just around the corner  some of the better more experienced hadit members will chime in...Ms Berta is one of the best and probably the best in my opinion to have the knowledge about VA Law and to help you understand the claims process the do's and don'ts

It does help if you can post your denials and the reasons & bases of the denials.

those are needed so that we can better understand what you need to do or have to do with your claim.

Just about every Vet s claim is different but the outcome is the same we all want and need to win and get our benefits that are promise to us. Here is a little as to how to choose a VSO..It may or may not be of some help for you  but I would recommend you find a well experinced Attorney in VA Law to further help you with your claim.

FINDING A REPRESENTATIVE (VSO)

When visiting various veteran websites, I have come across a common question,

"How do I find a good VSO?"

Well, that is a question that is hard to answer.

There is no set group of questions to interview one to decide if he/she is savvy, committed and TRAINED.

However, after broaching this very question on a few websites, I did get some common-sense suggestions for trying to evaluate if the VSO individually or the organization at your location of choice is going to be of help to you. I will list them here, in no particular order, so that you may study and perhaps find some you can then utilize when beginning this search.

If you intend to do a lot of the work yourself with the VSO acting as the go between, then you will need to look for someone who will cooperate.

If you are unable to work any part of your claim and need your VSO to take it from soup to nuts, again you will need to look for someone competent, organized, and willing to take on the entire process. This will be someone who will also need to be willing to take it into the appeal process as necessary.

First, BEFORE you start your search for a VSO, decide just how involved you want to be.

The following are suggestions from veterans. They were kind enough to offer their aid as I requested. I thank them. I am leaving their names and the websites out to protect their privacy.
Talk to veterans, especially veterans you trust. Ask them about their experiences with VSO's and/or organizations.

Go to a canteen at a VA Medical Center or go to a veteran center and ask if anyone has some names that could be recommended.

Go on veteran websites (See Support Groups in STEP 6) and ask for anyone's experiences with a VSO or organization in a specific area. This would be an avenue where you would receive a frank answer to questions you might have since the member of the website is usually anonymous.

Assess a VSO's characteristics:

When meeting with the VSO, do you feel your meeting is being crammed into a small amount of time with not enough allowed to complete your queries? Or does the VSO have the patience and provides you with the time necessary to explore your concerns.

Is he/she getting sidetracked while talking with you or does the VSO give you his undivided attention?

Does the VSO exhibit confidence?

Does he/she seem genuinely interested in your claim(s)?

If you phone the VSO, is your call returned within a reasonable amount of time?

Does he/she show competence in the performance of the job?

How do you feel working with this person---comfortable, intimidated, encouraged, patronized? Depending on your response you need to decide if you want to continue with this VSO.

 

Another possibility is to go in to a VSO office just before it closes. Even if they don't have the time then to discuss your situation, setting up an appointment for another mutually agreed time could offer insight into the office. How are you treated, courteous with interest in helping you or in a hurry to just move you out the door?

Sometimes you have no real choice in the matter. Remember, though, you may have signed a Power of Attorney (POA) with that VSO or organization but you can always rescind it and take the claim process over yourself or designate another VSO somewhere else to handle your claim by signing a new POA.

Finally, if your VSO fails to give you the guidance you need, not to mention time to converse, respect and courteous service you deserve, then keep in mind there are other VSO's out there. Do not worry about hurt feelings on the VSO's part. They are there to help you! If they fail to do that, then you need to transfer to someone who can help.

Remember also the VSO's Are not authorized  to rep you if you take your claim to the BVA

Hopefully, this information will help a little. As I said at the beginning there is no set group of questions or actions that can guarantee a good VSO. There are a lot of variables in this complex area.
I wish you the best in your journey.

................Buck

 

Thanks Buck.

Great advice, but is a Decision Review Officer different than the BVA? It is isn't it! Isn't it the step before the BVA, which is the last or almost last step? The DRO has the authority to reverse or award any other disabilities that a veteran is entitled to, im my understanding. Isn't that true? 

DAV got me so screwed up, I don't know if I am coming or going. I went to them to file a notice of disagreement, so what did they do? Well, they made 5 more requests for records naming each one separately. They don't sign, initial or date anything hardly. I don't know what they have done, and St. Louis won't answer their phone to the VA. I have to look for some things. I have a thousand pages to look through, to figure out where I am, or what they have done.

Thanks Buck. Sorry to Rush off, Be back later.

Victor

 

 

 

 

[Buck52]

Yes the DRO is authorized to make a decision on your claim at a RO DRO Hearing  and can expedite the claim ...then all you do is wait for the mail to run and get your packet.

 DRO is the last chance to have someone decide your claim, YOU CAN SIT DOWN WITH THEM GIVE THE NEW EVIDENCE AND TALK MAN TO MAN WITH THEM & explain why you feel you should be awarded your claim  and you can also state some of the CFR's AS TO WHAT YOUR CLAIM SHOULD BE RATED AT DEPENDS ON YOUR SYMPTOMS AND HOW BAD THEY ARE (Found here on Hadit)...  if denied  then you NOD & Your headed to the BVA  and remands if the BVA can't decide   they bicker back and forth from the RO to the BVA  and usually when this happens your left waiting and wondering  and it could be years before someone finally decides your claim usually  VLJ  ( VETERANS LAW JUDGE.)

So needless to say its better to do all you can at the RO Level to make a decision on your claim.

With that said  even a DRO will want to play musical chairs with you (Depends on the DRO)  he/she may ask you to drop a claim to get another one...DON'T DO IT  if you have a lelgit claim keep it, WORK IT if denied, then NOD the decision and  get yourself more New & Material Evidence and submit it.

Appeals are some times good for the Veteran at the RO Level  then if your case goes to the BVA...Then is when its waiting time.

I recommend to veteran when this happens go out and get you an IMO/IME from a qualified Dr/SPECIALIST and render his/her opien.  as back up to add to your NOD.

Evidence wins the Claim Always...some don't read it (denied) but you need to make damn sure they do.

Hadit has tons of research about VA Information , if you can't find it just ask someone Ms berta or MsT bird  than can let you know how to get it.

Stay on top of your claim and you will find it to help you a lot better than  a VSO could .

jmo

.................Buck