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What the heck just happened??

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Sgt. Wilky

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I posted last week that I was summoned for an RFE C&P exam. I went to the exam and the Nurse Practitioner saw me. It was probably the worst C&P exam I ever had. I logged in to my VA and went to the Blue Button and printed off my exam notes and I've since been furiously wearing out my highlighter on these papers. 

First of all, this nurse practitioner was very impersonal. He told me we were there to satisfy the bean counters in D.C. and that this was a legal exam, not necessarily a medical exam. I knew right then I was in trouble.

Second, during the course of the exam, numerous times he told me "push through the pain, push through the pain" numerous times. He never asked if I was in pain and the times I told him it WAS painful, he quipped, "I didn't ask you that." During the range of motion for my upper and lower back he told me to reach down and touch my toes and told me to bend my knees to do so if I couldn't bend over, which I promptly did bend my knees. He said "you need to touch  your toes." I felt like a freshman football player getting chastised by the coach. He noted in section 3 of my DBQ that "no pain noted on exam" which is a flat out lie. I told him several times throughout the exam that I was in pain, and that it was painful, and told me again, that he didn't ask me if I was.

Thirdly, I've been comparing the medical exam notes carefully, and while the sections are numbered correctly in his notes, entire sections of the DBQ were not included in his report. Coincidentally, sections 4 (ROM measurements after repetitive use testing) which were the same before and after the repetitive use and section 5, which address pain, are non-existent in his medical examiners notes. Section 7 dealing with functional loss was not in his medical notes. These points all would have been in my favor and helped. He obviously only covered and inserted information on those points that would benefit the VA reducing my rates (I'm only at 10% and not asking for anymore).

There are just so many other things wrong with this exam and his notes, he makes me look like a liar, and that's what makes me the most angry. This was purely adversarial and I have no idea what or why he felt that I deserved that kind of treatment. There's no doubt they're going to either reduce me to 0% on this.

I'm basically going to copy and paste and email it to my VSO here in Fort Collins and see what they say about it, but I'm trying to figure out what my next steps should be after I finish documenting my experience with the guy in my notes. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Semper Fi,

Sgt. Wilky

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range of motion test is a BIG  scam.  people with neck and back pains range of motion fluctuates greatly from day to day, and even hourly.  muscle spasm, medication, nerves being pinched, arthritis, ect, all have fluctuating variances of severity.    even weather changes can affect pain levels.   Get an MRI, and see a neurologist for a  opinion and submit the evidence to the VA. The VA doesnt like to send vets for MRI because its conclusive, hard evidence. They play the x ray, and bend until your ass hurts game then say your good to go.  its almost comical when you think abt it.  you go to the CP, they tell you to bend over, and call it done... they should stand behind you with a jar of vaseline before asking you to bend, because they are going to give you the shaft with this scam exam.  Think abt it, have you ever gone to a doctor abt your back pain and been asked to see how far you can bend over? Ive been  seen many pain management doctors and have not once been asked to bend over  as a diagnostic tool.  just ridiculous. really.

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There are MANY diagnostic test that the VA uses that are old and antiquated that should have stopped being used in the 60s, but the ones that are quite effective in screwing the veteran out of compensation die hard, they know that spinal injuries is one of the top compensable injuries that veterans tend to have, so they dont look very hard into the root problems, because spinal issues rarely improve, and are expensive to treat. 

Knowing the full extent of your back problems can open a very expensive can o worms on the VA. Also there are so many causes that can be linked to service such as wearing a 8 pound kevlar helmet for 6 months, sleeping on a rifle in a cot for months, hopping out of trucks with heavy weight in a rucksack, running in combat boots. jumping out of planes,  ect. the list could go on infinitely. 

Now when you finally do get that elusive MRI, the very first thing the va will claim is DDD.. Degenerative disc disease.. the reason being, it is a natural progessive disease associated with aging. so once you can prove you do have actual spinal injuries thru an MRI, that will be the second issue you must deal with when seeking compensation.

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  • HadIt.com Elder

Its getting to where most of us  or most of you guys filing claims now days need to stay on top of everything like these codes for rating purposes and what type Dr to use for opinions, what type claims being filed and that you have meet all the criteria for that claim or claims  get favorable medical opinions from the specialist Dr's ,  Have all your evidence  to be credible and they have merit , well grounded claims 90%of the time are approved the first time around. 

Organize your claim  make it easy for the raters to read  hi -lite the important points you want to make, number your pages  and when talking about certain issue in your claim   point that out by saying see page 3 Dr Smith professional opinion about that medical issue  or see page 8 for my sleep apnea diagnose by VA Dr Ben Carson  ect,,,ect,,,,this makes your claim more easy to decipher and for the raters to read it in a complete manner and usually they are more lenient  opposed to a sloppy and un organized claims.

Always remember to put your name & claim #and date at the top of every page.  I use top left corner  and number the page in the right hand corner at the top.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In reference to:                                                                    page #1

John Smith  claim #*********** 

July /19th /2018

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Sir or Mam

I Would like to thank you in Advance for taking your valuable time to read over my claim,  I have tried to prepare my claim in an easy and proper manner for you to read  ect,,ect,, 

I will present my lay statement and present my evidence as submitted ,my pages will be properly numbered and organized to help find different parts or areas in my claim (for your convenience)

and start in with your claim:

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Before submitting your claim go over it with a fine tooth comb, check with a reputable VSO at your Vet center ask him to look at it and see if he thinks everything is in order...leave no stone upturned 

 

Note: be sure not to write a book  use less pages as you can but make your points.

 

Edited by Buck52
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On 7/19/2018 at 12:24 AM, 63SIERRA said:

range of motion test is a BIG  scam.  people with neck and back pains range of motion fluctuates greatly from day to day, and even hourly.  muscle spasm, medication, nerves being pinched, arthritis, ect, all have fluctuating variances of severity.    even weather changes can affect pain levels

 

On 7/19/2018 at 12:24 AM, 63SIERRA said:

you go to the CP, they tell you to bend over, and call it done... they should stand behind you with a jar of vaseline before asking you to bend

Been there, done that. Agree 100%. But you gotta keep fighting them. Win or Die poker!!!

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the only reason they should ask to see you bend is if your spine was fused, and they want to see how much flexion you have lost. its ridiculous I tell ya.    Ive been recieving alot of treatment on my spine, and learned alot. Once again, I have NEVER been asked to demonstrate how far I could bend, by any medical professional. so where the Va got this hokus pokus  test is a mystery to me.  just some   mechanical test  so the vet  buys the scam I imagine.

when you go see a pain doctor, neurologist, ect you know what they say... SHOW ME THE MRI report... !!!

they dont say, bend over ..  it may say that on your bill, but not your diagnosis. LOL

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