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i need the VA expert where are ya??lol..

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    i need the VA expert where are ya??lol..

    hey i was diag'd in aug of last year. again i was urged to start VA claim. i was released from active duty in 96 and the year 2000 i got my discharge(lol)...
    ok well i had some of my issues then and i see that there is a 7 year limit. so i think i have something around then documented.. but, i was diag'd 09.. i'm not even sure what and or why i'm doing this? what kinda of bene's are available? i will take what i can get. my sis in on VA dis for"service" linked Crohns i know its auto like ms, and i have worked with assets vital to nation security that does not even show up in my service record.. and there were accidents i was involved with and i was standing like right there with nothing but a m-16. so how could i even prove anything? it shows where i was in boot,mct,school of infantry, and security forces school. and a years and sum i was back in cali at 2/5..funny how that works?? well anyway i signed up for the health enroll stuff so if anything i will be getting that stuff.

    hey if there any suggestion about top secret situation please let me know!!!!! maybe i can talk to a congressman??? thanks for any info!!!!!!!

    nuked in virginia......

    #2
    Not an expert, but here's my story

    Hi bentvalve,
    I was DXed a year ago and I am in the process of doing my claim. I was discharged in 2004 from active duty, so I met requirements for filing claim. From what I understand, if you had any MS symptoms while on active duty, then you can still be declared service connected even if DX is more than seven years after discharge. I was initially awarded 30% for MS and 10% for my knees. I am now appealing that to get my rating increased. I just had another compensation appointment this morning and doctor gave me good and bad news. He thinks I should get a higher rating, but says there is no way he could see anybody giving me a job. He said it is not that I won't ever be able to work, he says he just can't see me working right now.

    I used the American Legion for filing both my initial claim and my appeal. I have also heard awesome things about Disabled American Veterans and Paralyzed Veterans of America. Do not get a lawyer, use one of the service organizations stated above to help you. You have to pay a lawyer and the service organizations help you for free and you do not have to be a member for them to help you. I am far from being an expert, so please contact one of the service organizations.

    Please feel free to email me, my email is listed in my profile. Good luck.

    Comment


      #3
      Hi Nuke'd.......

      Congrats on getting the Dx, back in the 80s they sent me to the shrinkage Dept instead of finding the PROBLEM. Only took me a couple decades for them to come around. Things are better now and sure glad I have the VA for the MS and Copaxone................

      Assets..would lose their value if made record. Ya might have an easier time getting such info from the KGB....lol
      Some of my active duty med records seem MIA or invisible as well, even a base hospital rec......go figure?

      Even some records there and accounted for are lacking specifics galore. One fun-E-1...I had to pass a lab test before allowed to be released back to duty...all it read is I had to see a med officer before leaving sick bay. I know NOW what it was about, WANT IT, but the important part is MIA.

      REMEMBER....... if it isn't DOCUMENTED (for ANY or NO reason)..it DID NOT HAPPEN, as far as gov is concerned and you/we are SOL. The aforementioned also applies to any info they refuse to let you see or obtain. For some of it the best I could get from my MOPH rep was there was nothing relevant to my claim in there, there being what they did not release in my request for FULL MED recs.

      Good luck with your VAventure. There are some great, and some not so great people, it a mixed bag.

      GOMER been there, done that

      Comment


        #4
        Documentation is a must

        Not to bring your spirits down, but Gomer is correct on the documentation that is required by the VA. If you do not have your medical records, there are other ways, please read the stories below:

        I have my active duty medical records and little did I know a meltdown on active duty that sent me to mental health is now helping my claim. I feel the same way I felt back then. I just thought it was an isolated incident of depression, stress and major sleep issues. Mental health told me I wasn't crazy, my boss was wrong, gave me tips on dealing with stress and pills to help me sleep. Those issues are visiting me once again, so maybe it wasn't an isolated incident.

        My dad's best friend was hurt in Vietnam and he did not file claim on discharge. But later in life the injury started to bother him and his medical records were nowhere to be found. The document that got him his claim was the telegram that was sent to his parents saying he was injured.

        If you do not have documents then statements from fellow soldiers you were stationed with could also help. One soldier in my unit hurt her wrist and hand right before we deployed to the desert and the medical clinic told her it was just a sprain. We get to the desert and she is still in pain, goes on sickcall and they xray and find a break in the bone. She gets a cast and when cast comes off she is given profile to keep weight off wrist. Then a sergeant decides to make her do push-ups for some minor offense and she tries to tell him she can't but he makes her do it anyway. I witnessed that, told the sergeant to stop(I was sergeant, too) and he did but she was visibly in pain from just a few push-ups. She comes up on her two weeks of R&R, goes home and visits the hospital at the local active military base. They freak out because it turns out there were two broken bones. They try and keep her at the base, but our unit freaks out and demands that she come back. Fastforward two or three years and the VA is denying or trying to reduce her claim. She asked me and several others who knew her to write statements about what we remembered. Our statements were able to get the VA to decide in her favor.

        It is a long process and you have to be diligent and patient and accept that it may not go in your favor. As I said in my previous post, use one of the service organizations. You make want to talk to two or all three and go with the one you feel is best suited to help you.

        Comment


          #5
          Yikes, I missed this one.

          As mentioned above, its best to file with a VA rep (paid VA staff or a service org vollunteer). The process can be lengthy but it does get done.

          As far as the seven year window, you can still file for a NON SERVICE CONNECTED PENSION if you're hopelessly outside of the window. I get enough to get by, which was all I wanted. In time, I may push for a service connected pension if more info comes out about gulf war syndrome (if my MS was caused by the shots we got, those monkeys WILL pay!!!).

          Besides the pension, the big deal for me was getting treated. I'm rated north of 80% disabled and had no insurance. I'm covered 100% for meds (this is huge) plus diagnostics like MRIs and I lucked out with a really good Neuro on their staff. In other words, sometimes the type of pension is not the biggest deal. Go for the care first and worry about the pension stuff later.

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