Letter

[PassThrough]

Hello Vets,

I searched but came up empty handed because maybe I am unsure of what the specific name for the letter for self is called.  So left/right hip denied but new X-rays show significant wearing of the cartilage.  VA expressed in their decision to deny was due to the one visit to DR during service but due to op tempo and being Gung Ho and of course mission first, I dealt with the pain with Motrin.  The VA rep in the Pentagon suggested I write a letter of how this injury effected me and what treatment I sought over the years.  Can someone point me in the right direction of such a template or examples of what to write in relation to treatment and pain management, Please?  Thank you   

[paulstrgn]

I am not aware of any template for your statement. I have submitted several and simply write a letter in MS Word (any type of word program will work). In the header I put my full name and SSN (this way it shows up on the top of each page of the letter), and I will put a title such as "Statement about (in your case) left and right hip injuries while in the military". Something like this, and then just lay out your facts in chronological order. If you are still in contact with any of your military buddies who can attest to you complaining about your hips and that you just toughed it out instead of going to sick call then add those to your packet for you claim. Go through your service medical records line by line and make sure that you did not complain about your hips in other visits. I know when I went to sick call it was not uncommon for me to mention something else, you never know what you might find. Also did you go to private doctors for your hips within one year of getting out of the military?  If so that can be evidence of injury happening from military service. You may also need to spend some money for an IMO to try and establish service connection for your hips. 

Always remember you are your own best advocate when it comes to filing for disabilities.

Good luck.

[GBArmy]

PassThrough I am assuming you want to appeal a claim for injuries to your hip/leg. You have to have 3 elements for a successful claim. First, an incident, illness or event that occurred in service. Second, you have to have a current diagnosis of injury or illness, and lastly, you need a connection or nexus, between the two. Sounds like you didn't have #2 and #3. You need a diagnosis now from a medical doctor that says you have damage to your leg. It has to line-up with a diagnostic code that shows the symptoms that you have. Go to http://www.militarydisabilitymadeeasy.com/vadisabilityrating.html and find what your disability is and where you stand in terms of symptoms which relate to your ratings. Next your doc has to provide an independent medical opinion that says that your condition now was directly caused by that in-service event,"at least as likely as not" at a minimum. He/she has to provide medical opinion that your current condition has deteriated due to injuries xxx years ago as provided in your str's. This would be the nexus. You can provide an additional lay letter, VA form 21-4138, statement in support of the claim. This would list your personal statement about what happened with all the details, time, pkace, events leading up to the injury what you did after, etc. If you have a friend that witnessed the event or even you confided in after you got the injury, they can also use this same seperate form as your evidence. I would suggest that you post your decision letter here after redacting or removing your personal info like name, etc. so we can see why they denied and offer any additional advise.

[PassThrough]

1 hour ago, GBArmy said:

I have been using the VA for the physical therapy, MRI,  X-ray, and a cortisone shot for the right hip portion for my re-submission.  I have observed one thing about being in Northern VA, the Dr's here are not really supportive of assisting with VA claims. Thank for the info as well.    

 

[GBArmy]

PassThrough  If you get on ebenefits, go to blue button. On there there are progress notes, encounters, problems, etc. notes that are generated when you see their med people. There will be diagnoses there and other notes that you may find helpful for your appeal. Remember, the health people are not talking to the benefits people in the VA. So what goes on in a eval by your health care people isn't notified to the benefis group that would help your claim. As we say all the time, the VA is not your friend. If you want to win your claim, you have to put in the time. Read, learn and ask questions. No one will do it for you. Good Luck!