Is this particular Discussion Board effective for your needs? Let me know please.

I was on active duty from 91-95, now reserves. When i came to the reserves in 95, I went to the VA for an injury I sustained as an LOD for disability. They said there was nothing they could do without my records. Somewhere in my outprocessing, the medical records never made it to my reserve unit. They were then found at my old TMC in Ft Lewis during my search. I was told I needed to submit a signed document for them to be released. So i went to my unit and asked my Unit Administrator for the document. To this day, i still haven't found my records and the TMC no longer has them. When i called, St louis told me to call some other number. The number they gave me to try told me to call St louis. Upon returning from Iraq, I spoke with a VA rep about this and she said "go ahead and submit the claim, if you were on active duty, we can get your records."

I recieved a letter from the VA with a "this is what we've done for you" and all it said was, "we've requested your records from your unit" and "we've requested your records from St Louis". Also included was a statement of "you have one year to submit all the documents for your claim" So i called the VA to make sure they understood I had been trying to locate and get my records for 13 years. through that 13 year time period I had to live with the pain since I couldn't afford medical expenses on what I was making.

The lady I spoke to in 1995 at the VA told me nothing about a claimant form or i would have filled it out then and there. The VA called me in for an MRI for my claim I made in 2007 after my return from Iraq and I had medical for 2 years so it didn't cost me. I'm sitting here now, still without my records even after the VA rep informed me "if you were on active duty, we'll find your records, not a problem", earning 10% disability (without records submitted for the claim) and loss of most use in my right arm due to 4 protruding disks which are putting pressure on my spinal cord. They say it's a mild multilevel disc degeneration with foraminal narrowing at C4-5 as well as finding moderate size central/left paracentral extending into the left lateral recess disc protrusion at c6/7 and left paracentral disc protrusion osteophytre complex at c5/6. Flare ups of pain are intense but the VA declined my knee's and back (when i have proof of LOD's, and resorted to telling me my PTSD isn't PTSD, but a readjustment disorder (even though i suffer from mood swings, weight gain from appetite disturbances, slight short term memory loss, insomnia, low self esteem, and anxiety attacks) even after showing my DD214 and Da Form 2823 Sworn Statements from combat in Iraq.

I guess what I'm asking is what's the next step in acquiring my medical records and what should i do since the VA ignored my proof of LOD's?

The only counseling I have really recieved was "join DAV" but I live paycheck to paycheck (which atm aren't even coming in due to the loss of use in my right arm) and can't afford the dues.

Your SMR's are required by VA regulations to verify your on active duty treatment and diagnosis. You need to involve your reserve unit commanding officer, to get the admin's in charge of records to locate yours.
Best of luck to you.
Thanks for posting here.
Dave Barker

quote:

guess what I'm asking is what's the next step in acquiring my medical records and what should i do since the VA ignored my proof of LOD's?

A quick way to get help will cost you about 41 cents. Write a quick not to your Congressman and they'll help out if all else fails. The VA is very responsive to communications from them.

A few years ago I was awarded a 30% disability rating. During the process I went back and forth with the VA about records that I knew where in my medical record. They said that they couldn't find them. I also found out that MRI's that I had done, post-service, were missing from my claim. After receiving the award, I remembered that there was something that I forgot to mention in my original claim. I re-filed with the VA. I was told that they could not recover the medical records. I was told that the records did not exist. I requested copies of my service medical records from the VA, since they had my records in their possession. They sent me copies of procedures that they had done after my discharge. I wanted copies of my in-service medical records. It was like dealing with my seven year old son, except he makes more sense. Is there any way that I can get copies of my in-service medical records? I'm pretty confident that they records have either been removed or ignored by the VA. Thanks - Jeff

Contact the National Archives at http://www.archives.gov/veterans/

I have been retired since 1998 from the Air Force In that time I participated in Desert Storm,readiness,in so I was given a DNA test I was told the test goes to Washington DC.now when I am out Im curious is the test still in Washing DC should I care where is it any answers,when I mentioned it to me colleges no one seems to have an answer

Sounds like Dave has good advice!

Well a big fat zip/nadda/zero/ in trying to obtain my medical records thru the National Archives, much less any response from them regarding both my Medical Records, and hospital inpatient/out patient records. Fortunately the injury I had incurred was well documented in the Line Of Duty Investigation, and had host nation hospital records. There was no indication of concern over the lack of documentation with my VSO, and the good folks at the VA in Muskogee turned my paperwork around in two weeks.
The question being does it make nay difference to not have the mentioned missing documents to support my claim?