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many dic questions


cdw

Question

 please, can you help me...

my husband passed away, last month and i'm new to this part of working(?) with the va.. he was in vietnam 68-70 and he was in duc pho and in the midst of all the combat.. his tent was blown up three times.. was ordered by his commander to walk thru mai lai and inventory bodies of dead  babies, grandparents etc for three of 4 days after the massacre...on his release, he was in vietnam one day and on the streets of the usa, that night, being booed as a baby killer etc. he had no help from the va on re-entry!!. the war had an effect on him, for the rest of his life!!  the first few years after being released, he just was lost.. didn't work, probably drank too much and tried to work thru, how to manage his new life.. after a couple years he was able to self sooth as they call it and started working around the clock to try and forget.. we met a few years later and married..i could see he had some problems related to the war.. we tried counseling etc.. but he didn't want to go and i didn't push.. i started reading as much as i could to see if i could help him.. in 2007 i started reading about ptsd.. and started realizing this was what was going on with him .. i started filing  for him.. as he wanted nothing to do with the va.. after many rejections and appeals he finally was granted his 100% disabled in 2012.. he had small other claims that had come about but it was a 100% disabled for ptsd.. around 2005 he also started showing some memory issues.. and  was diagnosed with lewy body dementia.. as he went further down that path, the ptsd really was more apparent as he couldn't control his outbursts and thin'king as he had for all the years since 1969. lewy body dementia  is like alzhiemers and Parkinson mixed together.. since he was sprayed daily with agent orange daily, as he was a dog handler for 6 month in vietnam, before working for the commander that ordered mai lai.. of course the va will not accept lewy body as a agent orange issue, even thou many other doctors see parkinsons( parkinsons dementia) and lewy body as one and the same.. and at autopsy they cant be distinguished from each other.. but i digress!!

my question for now is on dic..

 my husband was being treated at the time of his death for ptsd.. two meds he was on were for ptsd.. one other for sleep, which could also  have helped for ptsd. when he passed he had been fighting the  dementia for over 15 years, and the ptsd for almost 50.. he was unable to walk talk feed himself and was in the later stages of dementia / ptsd.. but even docs in the va said it was hard to know what caused what?? the ptsd or the dementia ?? i have letters from the va( and outside docs) on how he had ruined his brain from " soothing" his ptsd for so many years and that is what probably caused the dementia at 52 years old..

 when he passed they put the cause of death as pneumonia and infection , caused affixiation of food and  lewy body dementia.. ptsd is listed as a diagnoses, at time of death.. since he did not have ten years of 100% disabled.. my concern is the dic will not be awarded.. 

 my feeling is the ptsd contributed to the lewy body and the two of them contributed to his decline that weakened his system to fight an infection and also caused him to not be able to eat and swallow and casue the affixaition.. also he has had ptsd for over 40 years.. but because being able to  self sooth,  as they call it..  and not knowing about filing he didnt get his ten years in..

 

 can some one please help??.i had him at home with me, as his sole caregiver for 15 years, then when he became more aggressive, and i could no longer lift or care for him, without hurting one of the other of us, we had to place him in a local memory care facility(w hich he was booted from three for aggressive behavior ( ptsd or dementia??)... at the cost of over $250,000.00,, till the va stepped up 6 months ago, for a care facility..

 

sorry this was so long...thank you so much for taking the time to read and offer any suggestions...

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again thank you both for your help... i've plugged away for years getting him his 100%.. wish i had found you all sooner.. it might not have involved so many years and so much paper work.. 

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