Jump to content
VA Disability Community via Hadit.com

VA Disability Claims Articles

Ask Your VA Claims Question | Current Forum Posts Search | Rules | View All Forums
VA Disability Articles | Chats and Other Events | Donate | Blogs | New Users

  • hohomepage-banner-2024-2.png

  • 27-year-anniversary-leaderboard.png

    advice-disclaimer.jpg

  • donate-be-a-hero.png

  • 0

Rate this question


ljl

Question

I had no note of any issues with my back upon entrance nor any prior medical records of any kind. I worked as an aircraft structural technician for almost five years. I'm a woman and weighed around 115 lbs at the time. We carried 70 lb tool boxes routinely.

There is a note in my service medical records of my going to the ER or doctor with a complaint of a back injury that mentions that I felt it was caused by carrying a 70 lb tool box. I was told to wear a brace and they probably gave me something for the pain (I don't remember the details but it's in my claims file).

It was the only incident mentioned during service but I've had chronic issues with my back since.

I filed a disability application for the back condition within three months of separation and was denied. I didn't appeal (I was young and dumb), and the claim for that condition was closed. My ratings decision and denial letter stated simply that the condition "was not incurred in service".

Do I have a CUE claim? It goes back to 1990.

Edited by ljl
needed to add additional details
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Recommended Posts

  • 0
On 1/11/2022 at 7:31 AM, pwrslm said:

Nerves do that. If you are smart, you should get you back checked out. If you do, it may save you a lot of trouble in the future because back injuries do not just go away. I did just like you did, afraid that someone would screw me up worse than I already was. Problems got worse though and my spine literally started to curve resulting in scoliosis (three curves in my spine). It became extremely painful before I sought help, and after I did, they bumbled my care. Ended up with 4 level fusion from my L3 to S1 after nerve damage caused foot drop. Fusion was necessary from the start, so don't get me wrong, but the foot drop should have been avoided. Later, I had 5 level fusion in my cervical spine, directly caused by a lumbar strain over 30 years ago.  (wow, time flies, 40 years ago)...

Ha! No wonder my attorney added foot drop to my claims. Geez he knows more about the unattended progression of my condition than the docs do it seems... or, like you I'm getting bumbled care. What you're saying here is identical to my situation.  Wow... scary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
On 1/8/2022 at 1:47 PM, Berta said:

Back claims are often Very difficult to succeed in.

But nothing is impossible, My neighbor had a back strain in the military rated by VA at 10% about 25 years ago. He developed additional problems with severe arthritis and cervical problems, and a C & P VA doctor attributed, with a strong medical rational, the nexus was to his back strain inservice. VA just took him up to 90%. He said it was all from the back strain nexus (link). 

I honestly don't know how I succeeded in getting my back service connected, and just 10% but, despite not having medical evidence (except for here and there...maybe having seen a doc 3 times in the span of 30+ years), I think it was because an M.D.  (an anatomical forensic pathologist) simply pointed to NIH standards to show that I was physically out of range for my AFSC(MOS) together with a lay statement from someone higher ranked than me who worked alongside me on the flightline 30+ years ago who stated the approximate weight of my tool box and power tools. He also stated that the aircraft was difficult to work under causing the body to twist while exerting.  Honestly, I never could have believed I could get service connected but I did have in-service records of the complaint. I don't think I could have if there wasn't a complaint in-service, since I had so little medical evidence in the intervening years. I submitted 5 lay statements to help bridge the gap and by golly it worked. Current diagnoses showed a logical connection of "at least as likely as not."

Edited by Rivet62
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
9 hours ago, Hamslice said:

Work the system.  The system is the VA.  The VA makes it's own rules.  Beat them at their own game.

I agree. Unfortunately they cheat. I am in possession of statement of the case that says "there are no records of an earlier claim" when that claim, going back three decades was listed in the evidence section of that same letter. It's been an unbelievable ride so far. I was finally granted an earlier effective date for that non-existent claim last year for service connection for GAD.

My plan, indeed, is to get service connected first, getting a credible exam first with the etiology, along with lay statements.

I've thought about the fact that I was woman all of 115 pounds doing the same job of aircraft maintenance as men twice my strength and size. It really WAS difficult to keep up and took a toll. I remember practically dragging the 70 pound tool boxes around.

I am going to take direction from everything I've read here and hope for a fair adjudicator rather than a magician.

Linda

Edited by ljl
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
52 minutes ago, Rivet62 said:

I think it was because an M.D.  (an anatomical forensic pathologist) simply pointed to NIH standards to show that I was physically out of range for my AFSC(MOS)

That's interesting because I was just lamenting about how small I was in relation to the guys in my shop and my physical strength as a 115 pound woman was a major issue for me in getting the job done. I could barely lift myself up through the hatch to get on top of the plane but there was always the pressure of proving I could do the job. I felt from the beginning that I wasn't physically qualified but I was all of 19 years old in an environment where you do as your told.

We bathed in MEK every day, climbed into fuel tanks, walked on wings without harnesses and wedged ourselves into and around corners into the tiniest of spaces to do the work. My first occupational exam a little over a month into my job as a structural repair specialist says I had begun coughing chronically and it only got worse from there. The VA says it's because of my anxiety, not the chemicals.

Ah well, it it what it is. I'm not sure how to find those people from thirty years ago for lay statements. They all experienced the same things, of course. I wonder how they fared in the long run?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
13 minutes ago, ljl said:

That's interesting because I was just lamenting about how small I was in relation to the guys in my shop and my physical strength as a 115 pound woman was a major issue for me in getting the job done. I could barely lift myself up through the hatch to get on top of the plane but there was always the pressure of proving I could do the job. I felt from the beginning that I wasn't physically qualified but I was all of 19 years old in an environment where you do as your told.

We bathed in MEK every day, climbed into fuel tanks, walked on wings without harnesses and wedged ourselves into and around corners into the tiniest of spaces to do the work. My first occupational exam a little over a month into my job as a structural repair specialist says I had begun coughing chronically and it only got worse from there. The VA says it's because of my anxiety, not the chemicals.

Ah well, it it what it is. I'm not sure how to find those people from thirty years ago for lay statements. They all experienced the same things, of course. I wonder how they fared in the long run?

Ahh MEK... yes, that and a lot of fiberglass dust.  I tried looking up MEK to determine whether or not it had been banned over time. I don't know. But it seems to me that you don't need to find someone you know who worked alongside you. Try to find 2 or more people who did the same job even if it was on a different ship. You can draft a letter and they might alter it to suit them but they'll sign it if the letter is true to their knowledge.  I would use 2 or 3 in the same occupation, if you can't find 1 eyewitness.

The NIH link that points to the BMI standard referenced in my lay statement is this:

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicale.htm

It is no longer online. So here, I'll try the Wayback Machine (Internet Archive). It is not indexed on the Wayback Machine.  So I did a search for the subdomain and domain name and found links to the BMI table.

Here it is:

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmi_tbl.htm

The pathologist used her expertise to make the statement that I was physically out of range for my AFSC(MOS) based on my BMI (Body Mass Index). I believe a physiatrist can do the same thing since their expertise is musculoskeletal. They are spine specialists who can determine or opine causes. The difference between a physical therapist and a physiatrist is that the physiatrist went to medical school and did the residencies and internships which make the physiatrist an M.D.  My own VA primary doctor is referring me to one, in which I will get my measured range of motion tests using a goniometer in addition to preliminary pinched nerve assessments. The greater part of your back claim(s) rely on measured range of motion using a goniometer, not eye-balling.

Anyway back to the BMI...

You look up your weight and height to get your BMI then do some research to find out if you were bearing too much... but it's not a difficult thing to ask an M.D. to give a general opinion that you carried too much weight based on your BMI.  Most any specialist or doctor would be willing to give such a generalized opinion. It's not like you're asking a doctor to commit to saying "it's caused by service" or stating "at least as likely as not" when you're not even their ongoing patient, but if you do ask that doctor they might want to charge you a lot to pour through your records.

I will post a scanned copy of that M.D. lay statement so you get an idea of the wording. You'll notice that the pathologist is clear about where she was educated and where she did residencies and internships. Credentials are required for these kinds of statements to VA.

 

BMI.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
On 1/13/2022 at 6:35 AM, Rivet62 said:

You look up your weight and height to get your BMI then do some research to find out if you were bearing too much... b

As near as I could tell, the max someone of my gender and general size is supposed to lift in any one instance is around 30 to 40 pounds but that was from what I could glean from the internet. I couldn't find anything definitive for the U.S. besides some complicated equations. I'll look for a specialist carefully as I move forward.

I just found out the VA made a decision on a supplemental claim I filed only a week ago concerning a now 30-year-old claim. The matter involves an earlier effective date for TDIU to match the recent grant of an earlier effective date for service connection for GAD. They denied the EED for TDIU based primarily on the now-defunct date of service connection for GAD in 2017 so I sent them that decision along with evidence supporting my inability to earn a decent living for almost thirty years. I averaged over that time, $6000 dollars a year.

How much consideration went into records that support a retroactive rating the same as my current of 70% I don't know but most of the supporting documents are long-gone. I made the unavailability of those records as a part of my argument as I was granted the EED for service connection for GAD under 38 cfr 3.156(c) where service records are added to your file later on that prove your case.

Nervous because they decided so fast- 7 days. We'll see.

Edited by ljl
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Guidelines and Terms of Use