Secondary effective dates on granted/closed bva appeal

[raidertone]

My question is should I be worried that the varo added my lung issues as secondary to graves disease in regards to possible retro money? 

I've had breathing and thyroid issues, along with a list of other things since my desert storm days.

My appeal had been ongoing since 2004 and recently granted and closed by Bva.

For some crazy reason they gave me a 2017 effective date for graves disease and a 2004 date for my  breathing issues secondary to graves. I don't get it. They are to separate issues.

So am I going to get retro back to 2004 on the breathing issues?

By the way, I haven't got my award letter yet, just going off of ebenefits info.

[raidertone]

Got my letter today. They did give me the 2004 effective date for my breathing issues. Even though my overall rating didn't increase, I am going to receive some substantial retro. Good news

[Sleep Apnea]

I got a remand on my sleep apnea to reopen my claim.  I was told it was at the Appeals Management Center in DC.  First submitted for sleep apnea in 2007, again in October 2013 (when it was certified this time).  Still waiting.  My sleep apnea started in 1988, it was not mentioned in my medical records, because we did not know what sleep apnea was.  What are my chances that they will grant it.  I have lay letters from individuals who were sleeping in my area onboard ship and they wrote letters too.

 

[Sleep Apnea]

7 hours ago, GBArmy said:

That is good news! Congrats!

Congratulations

 

[Sleep Apnea]

My remand required me to get a Compensation and Pension Exam.  It was scheduled and I attended.  I even showed up early and had filled out the five or six questions they wanted me to answer prior to coming to my scheduled exam.  I retyped all of their questions and provided the answers to them on a separate sheets of paper.  I put the font in bold and enlarged the pitch so it could be read easier.  The examiner only asked me 2 questions and thanked me for typing my answers so they could be easily read.  Remember this exam was for a remand for my Sleep Apnea appeal.  Sleep studies had already been done, so I did not know how they were going to do a C&P based on Sleep Apnea.  One question was "did I still use my CPAP Machine and I answered yes.  The second question how it effected me for work.  I told her that I sometime fell asleep at the wheel of my car once or twice before I arrived home.  She said, well that's all I need and thanked me for coming it.  This whole exam lasted less than 15 minutes.  But when I finally got a copy of my results, I noticed that she wrote that it was "Less likely than not that my sleep apnea was caused by my service in the Navy.  How can she do that after only 15 minutes or less?  More importantly, when she sends my exam back to the BVA after completing their remand instructions, are they going to just go by what she wrote or take everything into account....my buddie letters, my family letters, doctor reports, sleep study results.  I have been waiting since 2007 and 2013 for this.  Any suggestions or speculations on how this will be played out?

[Buck52]

Unfortunately from what the examiner mention in his/her report  its highly unlikely you will be service connected for Sleep apnea.

you may need to appeal this if your denied  and go get a qualified Dr to give his medial opinion after he reads your service records & EXAMINE YOU FOR SLEEP apnea  or the symptoms YOU REPORT FROM MILITARY   IT is likely as not your OSA WAS /AND RELATED TO YOUR MILITARY SERVICE.

Remember they don't doubt you have osa/sleep apnea  they VA are big on evidence that you must show by documents and medical records as your prebative evidence that you has some type of osa  or sleep problem while in the military.

now if you have other service connected conditions    some of those conditions can  be secondary to your osa.  you would need to file a secondary claim for osa   such as PTSD.

IS IS MOSTLY IMPOSSIBLE TO GET OSA direct service conneted without evidence  or medical records  that shows you had this osa or sleep problems with in military

[GBArmy]

Sleep Apnea Kinda hard to say. What did the remand ask the RO to do: determine if it was S-C, or to determine the extent of your symptoms/conditions? If it was to determine if it was s-c, caused while you were in the service, the examiner said less likely than not. You have other supporting evidence, including buddy letters talking to it occuring while in service. That MAY be enough to appeal. But, if you do, you might see if you can get an IMO from a specialist that opines that it goes back to your service time. Additional evidence. Of course, you may still get a favorable decision from the BVA. Buddy letters, more than one talking to first hand observations is pretty powerful. You got a good shot, but who knows.