Citation Nr: 20021374 Decision Date: 03/25/20 Archive Date: 03/25/20 DOCKET NO. 18-21 497 DATE: March 25, 2020 ORDER Entitlement to a temporary total evaluation based on convalescence following hysterectomy is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s November 28, 2012, hysterectomy necessitated a period of convalescence from November 28, 2012 through January 31, 2013. CONCLUSION OF LAW Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the criteria for a period of postoperative convalescence, following hysterectomy on November 28, 2012 to January 31, 2013, are met. 38 C.F.R. § 4.30 (a)(1). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from August 1988 to August 2008. Entitlement to a temporary total evaluation based on convalescence following hysterectomy is granted. The Veteran seeks a temporary 100 percent rating for convalescence following hysterectomy in November 2012. Temporary total ratings will be assigned from the date of hospital admission or outpatient release and continue for one, two, or three months from the first day of the month following hospital discharge or outpatient release when treatment of a service-connected disability results in: (1) Surgery necessitating at least one month of convalescence; (2) Surgery with severe postoperative residuals such as incompletely healed surgical wounds, stumps of recent amputations, therapeutic immobilization of one major joint or more, application of a body cast, or the necessity for house confinement, or the necessity for continued use of a wheelchair or crutches (regular weight-bearing prohibited); or (3) Immobilization by cast, without surgery, of one major joint or more. 38 C.F.R. § 4.30 (a). Convalescence is the stage of recovery following an attack of disease, a surgical operation, or an injury. The word recovery means the act of regaining or returning toward a normal or healthy state. Felden v. West, 11 Vet. App. 427, 430 (1998) () (citing DORLAND’S ILLUSTRATED MEDICAL DICTIONARY 415 (30th ed., 2003)). The Court (Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims) also defined recovery as “the act of regaining or returning toward a normal or healthy state.” (citing WEBSTER’S MEDICAL DESK DICTIONARY 606 (1986)). After reviewing the evidence of record, the Board finds that the Veteran meets the criteria for a temporary total evaluation under 38 C.F.R. § 4.30. The evidence of record shows that the Veteran underwent a hysterectomy associated with her service-connected uterine fibroids at Southern Maryland Hospital Center (“Hospital”) on November 28, 2012. Although an operation report from the Hospital is not associated with the Veteran’s claims file, a November 2012 surgical pathology report by the Hospital’s Department of Pathology is of record. Also of record is a prescription form filled out by a physician at the Hospital, dated on November 30, 2012, stating that the Veteran had a gynecological surgery on November 28, 2012 and she would require convalescence until January 2, 2013, after which she would be released to work without restriction. A December 2012 treatment record from a military hospital indicates that the Veteran complained of excruciating vulvar pain and urinary tract infection symptoms as a result of incidental cystotomy during the hysterectomy. A follow-up treatment record from the military hospital dated on January 15, 2013 indicates that the Veteran’s surgical scars were well-healed and she was released without limitation. Thus, the evidence shows that the Veteran had a period of convalescence from November 28, 2012 through January 15, 2013 with payment for the full month per regulation, due to hysterectomy, which meets the criteria under 38 C.F.R. § 4.30 (a) (1). Therefore, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Board finds that she meets the criteria for a temporary total rating for convalescence under 38 C.F.R. § 4.30. Wise v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 517, 531 (2014) (“By requiring only an ‘approximate balance of positive and negative evidence’ the Nation, ‘in recognition of our debt to our veterans,’ has ‘taken upon itself the risk of error’ in awarding... benefits.”). MICHAEL D. LYON Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Y. Taylor, Associate Counsel The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.