u/Formal332

Seems to be a ticking timebomb.

Here’s my timeline that I can remember, to the best of my ability.

June 2023: I applied for disability benefits on my own terms. This was just for my shoulder, even though I had a handful of things I wanted to claim. Unsure why I just did my shoulder. I received a letter in the mail for my C&P around August 2023. This letter stated a time and date for my C&P, it was late September at 9:00. Nowhere did I see where it would be at. I called the third party multiple times across a few weeks, never got further than speaking to a robot. Left voicemails with no returns. I had zero clue what I was doing, which is dumb, and I didn’t think anything of it and I just let time pass, effectively missing my C&P exam. Claim was denied and it left my train of thought for a bit until 2025.

July 2025: I put in for another claim. This time with more of the stuff I should have claimed the firs time around. I hear nothing for months.

November 2025: I receive a letter in the mail stating my July claim was deferred, and the letter stated it was because “on 11/05/2024, you returned to active duty.” That is not true, I got out in May 2024 and never returned.

January 2026: I go to a VSO. He did some diving around and found out my C&P exam from the first claim was in Massachusetts, I believe Andover. Town could be wrong, I can’t remember, but definitely Massachusetts. Same day, he had me write what I think was an appeal, I had to write out why I missed my exam, and said he’d submit it. My VA.gov account does not show anything like that submitted, unsure if it is supposed to or not. All I can see currently is “claim for freedom of information act / privacy act request. C file requested, DD214 requested and disability exam requested.” This is on step 2 of 5.

How bad of a situation am I in? Where do I go from here? I reached out to my VSO a month ago via email and haven’t received a response.

And to add, of the 7 things I plan to claim, I have only been seen and treated by my PCP for 4 of them.

Please let me know if you guys need any extra information. I’ve come to terms with the fact I’m in a huge pickle and just don’t know what I should do to remain proactive from here.

26M, 5’8”, 220lb- it would be for weight loss

Left the military in 2024 and haven’t been able to get a gym routine since leaving. Diet isn’t horrible but definitely kinda eat whatever I feel like. My mid section / stomach is very jiggly fat and I have insane love handles, also noticing my face is pretty jiggly mostly my jaw and cheeks.

I work very long days 4x a week, usually gone from 4:30a to 5:30p, and finding motivation to gym is hard. Poor excuse but they’re long days and it’s exhausting.

Even at my best as an adult, with gym 5x a week, I would maintain about 190lb. Still was “fat” but not immensely like I am right now.

I’ve put on that 30lb since leaving the military, and my weight significantly affects my work, mental health, etc. I feel like it might be a good thing for my mental health and obviously my general overall health if I lost 30+lbs. I’m 26 and certain parts of my body hurt solely because I’m obese.

I have a solid relationship with my doctor but I do feel like he might give me a hard time for wanting to “take the easy way out” or whatever. He’s never mentioned to me personally that I’m obese and unhealthy weight but I 100% am. What do you think I should do?