Gulf War Presumtive Gi Bleed

[Fred Bear]

I just recently got out of the hospital for emergency surgery on my bowels. I had to have 15" of my colon removed because of a bleed. I ended up with a costomy bag that the Dr feels he can reverse in about 6 months. Because this came out of the blue and the Dr could not figure out what caused this I started to do a little research and quickly came across the Gulf War presumptive conditions and one of them is GI problems.

On to my questions -

1. Because this is presumptive and I did serve in the Gulf War do I automaticly rate a VA dissability?

2. Should it be code 7333 and @ 100% because I do have a colostomy bag?

3. If reversed, what would my rating be at that point?

any info would be appreciated. In either a positve or negative direction. I am currently rated at 40% because of a back condition and a severed thumb.

another question is, my medical bills, Because this was an emergency and not VA connected I went to the civilian hospital. If rated by the VA are any of my medical bills covered?

[rdawg]

nobody said any of it would make sense. I read the link you posted (did you read it??) and applied it to what you described and offered my opinion.

My opinion is still the same. It is not a chronic reccurent unexplained illness/condition. Therefore does not fall under the presumptive. You could still get it connected if you had some event in service that caused it.

If you want to scan and post the dr notes from your surgey (leave out personal identifying information like name, ssn, etc) someone here may be able to offer some suggestions.

[JT24usn]

http://www.vbdr.org/faq/38cfr3_309.pdf

Look at 3.309(a).

http://www.benefits.va.gov/WARMS/docs/regs/38CFR/BOOKB/PART3/S3_317.DOC

Note to paragraph (a)(2)(i)(B)(3): Functional gastrointestinal disorders are a group of conditions characterized by chronic or recurrent symptoms that are unexplained by any structural, endoscopic, laboratory, or other objective signs of injury or disease and may be related to any part of the gastrointestinal tract. Specific functional gastrointestinal disorders include, but are not limited to, irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, functional vomiting, functional constipation, functional bloating, functional abdominal pain syndrome, and functional dysphagia. These disorders are commonly characterized by symptoms including abdominal pain, substernal burning or pain, nausea, vomiting, altered bowel habits (including diarrhea, constipation), indigestion, bloating, postprandial fullness, and painful or difficult swallowing. Diagnosis of specific functional gastrointestinal disorders is made in accordance with established medical principles, which generally require symptom onset at least 6 months prior to diagnosis and the presence of symptoms sufficient to diagnose the specific disorder at least 3 months prior to diagnosis.

Edited October 2, 2012 by T8r

[Fred Bear]

all of that is is very interesting and I really appreciate your response. But it still makes no sense to me. I guess if all of a sudden my bowels blew up for no apparent reason it could not have anything to do with Gulf War. But a person who has diarrhea every so often can make a claim. I know what it says. I bet I have an irritable bowel now!!

The Dr has no explanation for why my bowels did what they did. Maybe my bowels were irritated here and there before this happened and I just ignored it. I dunno but it just seems to me that a worse condition should be recognized as easy as a less sever condition.

Think about the logic - it something in the Gulf caused people bowel problems, then it did. Not if it gets so bad that it requires surgery it could not have possibly been caused by something else.

There is a reason the VA has recognized this as "presumptive" That means that enough people have had GI problems that they think something over there more than likely caused it. It is possible that there is varying severity of the medical condition. What you are saying , and I understand why, is that if I just had some "flare up" of an irritated bowel, I would have a case. But because it "flared up" to the point of a bleed that would not stop I could not possibly have a "presumptive" condition. In other words, if the Dr could have just got me through this without surgery, it's approved. But because of the severity it required surgery including removal of the affected area, there is no way it is connected to the service in the Gulf.

I fully respect your opinion and understand where you are coming from. However I am going to attempt to file a claim and we will see where it goes. There has to be a reason this happened to me. I'm an otherwise healthy young man . To think some service members have GI trouble here and there and they rate a SC but a guy who develops a bleed so severe it requires surgery and he could not be SC is absurd.

again, I respect your opinion and this makes for great conversation. If something in the Gulf caused this to our service members they deserve the compensation and treatment from our VA, regardless of severity.

[71M10]

Your physician must have some theory or idea why this has happened?

In general, people do not develop a GI bleed out of the blue with no predisposing condition.

Ask the question during a follow up appointment, "Is this the result of a chronic condition?" Indicate you had heard many gulf war veterans are having GI problems, and the VA has actually presumed that chronic GI problems are prevelent in Gulf War veterans, do you think some chronic problem caused the bleed?

If you don't get a nexus letter or qualifying diagnosis before submitting the claim, about all you will do is take up space in the system until you are denied.

Just my 2 cents,

[Fred Bear]

I was diagnosed with diverticulosis without diverticulitis. The rarity is that I developed a GI bleed. This has happened to me at a young age.

[rdawg]

were you ever sick in service with similar complaints that led to your surgery? If so, is it documented in your SMRs or can you get a buddy statement verifying your illness? This would be a start to the only way I see you getting service connection for this.

It would be direct service connection, not presumptive. You will lose on presumptive because you have a diagnosis of diverticulosis. Who knows what caused it? It may have been GWService.

The presumptives for GWS and gastro are for functional disorders. What that means is that the digestive system does not function properly and all medical tests turn up nothing for a diagnosis and therefore nothing for a cure. Some medicines help but basically you are stuck with it the rest of your life. It may not even shorten your lifespan like sleep apnea or other conditions but it is a pain in the ass. In your case they removed the diseased tissue and in 6 months you should be back to normal. If it keeps happening and there is no explanation for it and you've tried everything to prevent it (like eating more fiber) then you may have a valid case.

One last note... In one of your earlier rants you said " Maybe my bowels were irritated here and there before this happened and I just ignored it". I have irritable bowel syndrome and there is no way to ignore it. It is something I deal with not on a daily basis but a minute to minute basis. And the VA does not award compensation on "Maybe". I had many documented instances of gi trouble that were unexplained. They put me through the ringer trying to figure it out.