Good advice or “say wut”?

I had a VERA call recently that was truly sobering. The rep began the conversation by stating that my claim was on step 5 of 8, to which I said, “Correct. But seeing that I have a TJ, is it close to being completed?” The rep said, “No. And that TJ doesn’t mean anything”. I replied, “it says on the VA website that a recent activity took place on Dec. 17th/20th”. The rep said, “Not true because it’s not showing on whatever screen they were referring to. And don’t rely on anything that you read on the internet, including the VA’s website”. I was gobsmacked.  Was told or “advised” to delete the VA app or any other app, tracker, etc., stay off the internet and be patient. Your claim will close when it's completed. Also, it could take several months or years to complete because each claim is different. Stated that they give this advice to Vets all day long, every day. Ended the call with the obligatory “thank you for your service” my call lasted no more than 4 mins. 

After the call, I thought about the number of times I’ve refreshed the claim tracker (my claim has been open for 148 days and stuck on step 5 since Aug 30th) always hoping for a different result, but sadly, it’s always the same. No new update. It’s almost akin to buying 148 scratch-offs and not one winner in the whole bunch.

And so, for the new year, I’ve taken a new approach. No more daily checking of the claim status, I enrolled in my local gym and have been doing lap swimming, water aerobics, attending several yoga classes, and now doing strength training. Before my knee replacement surgery, I was an avid marathoner and triathlete. However, those days are long gone. During my recovery period, I had a temporary 100% rating and just like Cinderella at the stroke of midnight on October 1st, I returned to normal status. Since then, my VSO has ghosted me, the VA 800# is useless most of the time and VERA is hit or miss. 

Some may say "Dude, it's only been 8 days!" and I'll reply with "I know, but it's 8 days that I was in control, it feels good and I want more days like it."

So…. as I stated above, I’m off the tracker for a bit, leaving the VA app alone, and except for this post, a lot less Reddit. In the process, I hope to regain my mental and physical fitness and stop worrying about a journey that I can’t control. Like the rep said, it’ll be completed when it’s completed. Until then, just chill. I think it's good advice.

 Peace all