Is this the end?

[lamujerortiz]

Hello all,

If you couldn't tell, I am a new member. I never knew hadit existed until recently but my battle with the VA has been just over 11 years now. A little backstory for me, I originally filed my claims out of the Phoenix, AZ VA in May of 2009. The first time, they lost all of my paperwork and I was immediately denied. I was naïve and attempting to do everything myself, so I did not appeal the decision. I applied again and was again denied service connection. I ended up moving to GA after reapplying for the third time, this time I utilized a VSO and after the 3rd denial chose to appeal. I have since moved up to VA after being denied following the request for a DRO in 2014. My appeal officially became active in 2014 and this year it was remanded following new evidence that I found with the help of my rep through the DAV. They had denied me based off of information that was retrieved more than 2 years after I had exited service. This past May I had a new C&P exam considering my last ones were done in 2014, then I had another for my second claim last month. My status officially updated on VA.gov last Thursday as both of my claims being completed at the RO level and they were both granted as service connected, which that in itself is a miracle to me. I have not seen any updates on ebenefits, which I have read is unreliable with the updates. I have called and asked about what to expect as I had never had a successful claim and they told me that my letter had been sent out on the 21st of this month. I realize it has only been 5 days, but I lived 30 minutes from DC and expected to have had it in hand already. This makes me nervous that it is going to stay sitting and the VA is jerking my chain with whether it was truly sent. I am trying to remain hopeful but I am also pessimistic as well. All of that said, has anyone had any experience with it showing as granted with no further remands and actually receiving their letter in a timely manner? I know this is a long waiting game and I am happy to see that the two that affect me the most have been shown as SC, but I also can't help but be slightly impatient when the screen tells me one thing and I have nothing in hand to show. I have never received service connection, so my awful assumption was that if my letter was truly sent out that it would have updated somewhere, but I am still seeing that large "N/A" in the disabilities section. 

 

Thank you for reading.

[Fat]

Be patient. 

This process is tough especially if you are just starting or don't fully understand the process.

I went through similiar circumstances myself when first starting.

It was my fault because I didn't understand what was needed for service connection.

CALUZA.................

 

1. In service incident or similiar/ like incident.

2. Current disability by verifiable means.

3. Continuous treatment since service (treatment records) or a Nexus statement medically connecting military issue with current issue.

 

GOOD LUCK..................