80% Rating

As I posted the great news a couple of posts ago that I finally got approved for an 80% disability rating by the VA. In reality, the process hasn’t been that difficult. I started it in Jan 2021 and nearly two years later I have been granted 40% right off the bat. The 40% breaks down to 20% for my right shoulder; 10% for each knee and 10% for my right foot. Yes, I know that 20% + 10% + 10% + 10% actually equals 50%, however, the VA uses some common core bullshit math, as they rate that as 40%. There are plenty of websites out there that document how they “math”, so I’m not going to go into that.

I then went after my left foot which was denied as they state my medical records for my active duty time do not support this claim. They are correct, I only have two visits in 10 years of active duty, to medical for that foot.

My next target was my lungs, as I have a cough that I developed while on Active Duty, I also developed asthma while on active duty. I submitted my paperwork and went to the hospital to take a breathing test. And then the waiting game started, waiting for the Big or Small envelope to arrive. It seems that if you are denied disability, the VA sends you a letter in a standard letter-sized envelope and if you are approved, they send a packet of information in an 8.5″ x 11″ envelope. I kept waiting and periodically checked the VA website every few weeks. Out of the cycle that I was checking for updates, I checked my bank account as I was getting ready to pay my bills, and to my surprise, the VA had made a huge deposit. I checked the VA website and sure enough, they made a decision on my lungs, which gave me 60% for my lungs.

I’m in shock as I have just simply learned to deal with constant cough, being out of breath, and other fun lung things. Now using VA math, my 40% and the new 60% equals 80%, damn you have to love VA math.

I’m not complaining as their math is well documented, and I know that I wouldn’t win, so why waste the energy? I will instead focus on my GERD and getting my right knee which I have had a torn meniscus repair surgery. Of course, the surgery failed to repair the meniscus as there wasn’t enough of the meniscus to repair.

Wish me luck