diabetes Diabetes Claims Advice

[rootbeer22]

Folks:

I've been away from Hadit.com for the last few months due to work and travels issues. Anyway, I was recently diagnosed with Diabetes and prescribed Medforman and I'm wondering if its worth filing a disability claim for it? During my Army Career, my glucose numbers were always in the high range. Yesterday, I read the Diabetes Training letter and its a very scary disease. I'm already rated overall at 90% with a lot of the injuries stemming from a Tank Accident and Explosion that left me unable to do much physically.  Over the span of my time in the Army my lipid counts and glucose levels were always high (109). I was also SC for Hypertensive Heart Disease  during the processing of my claims.  Ultimately,  I'm trying to figure out if I should submit a disability claim for the Diabetes, because  I also got very sick in the Middle East as a result of Ecoli Poisoning that I had gotten sick from at Camp Doha, Kuwait.   After  that incident, my blood pressure shot and remained up and  my blood labs were never the same so there could be a connection?  I spoke about this with another Vet who said unless a Vet is Vietnam Era and exposed Agent Orange, that SC is tough to obtain?

I've always gotten good advice from this forum and appreciate your help in advance..

Rootbeer22

[Berta]

In 1997 The World Health Organization changed the criteria for diabetes as far as glucose levels go.

When I filed a claim for undiagnosed and untreated DMII due to AO my husband had been dead by then for 4 years so I had to prove his glucose levels were comparable to the older post 1997 diabetes criteria.

Va tried to use the new criteria against me. It didnt work.

Are you using the VA DMII Training letter that conforms to the time that you were in the Army, as far as the glucose levels go?

If your SMRs reveal inservice diabetes, I sure would file the claim if I were you.

I helped a vet years ago prove that the VD they said he had in service was full blown diabetes.(Not an AO vet).It took me  a long time to decifer his SMRS.He had been to the CAVC twice by then and no one, no vet rep and not even his lawyers really took the time to see how probative his case was.

I wrote up a lay opinion, with references to his SMRS and his non VA Endocrinologist gave him an IMO based on it and after many many years he was suddenly awarded.

It was not easy but your SMRs will reveal not only any glucose readings, possibly tryglyceride readings and possibly other symptoms of diabetes, as I found with the SMRs of the vet I helped.

To  prove my DMII claim I used my husband's driver license, his blood work records, VA med recs, even his dental VA records and, unfortunately his autopsy.

This time I also got an IMO, I had never gotten one for my claim before and Dr Bash within a few days prepared an excellent IMO for my claim. He concurred with my lay diagnosis and evidence  and even diagnosed 2 additional problems due to the DMII, and I ended up with 3 IMOs, and even paid for a 4th, and got the award before the 4th one was finished.

Diabetes does not kill anyone, it's complications do. My husband  ended up dead, due to with AO IHD and also diabetic cardiovascular disease, untreated DMII,  plus  multiple TIAs, and then a major stroke, all because of VA's malpractice.The stroke is under 1151 but if I wanted to , I could easily get that SCed to the DMII. Diabetes can cause atherosclerotic heart disease, which is actual IHD, causing plaques in the bloodstream to move and damage other organs.

I have 4 separate DIC awards. That goes to show how deadly DMII and any poorly treated illness can escalate to death. 

Diabetes is fully treatable,however, and they did properly diagnose you.

I feel you should obtain a strong IMO which could also uncover any other potential diabetes related conditions you might have.

Best to go through the SMRS first and then prepare a timeline , as I did for Dr. Bash, of any  entries which would lead any medical person to be able to see you had diabetes inservice.

Our military does not always do a good job of properly diagnosing anyone ...as well as the VA.

The original VA training letter of 1997 is on the older hadit board and I dont think it is here.....it listed numerous complications and symptoms of diabetes, more than the new training letter does....I found, in my dead husband's VA med recs, proof of almost every symptoms and complication except one...he never had kidney disease-another diabetes complication one must look out for.

It will be lots of work but if you are willing to go through those SMRs carefully, you might find a solid inservice nexus.

It still pisses me off that the Army vet I helped----with lawyers and a vet rep-----was denied at the BVA and CAVC many many times until he met me.

He could have done what I did himself however..... but he,like his useless POAs,  never even read his SMRs either...And his IMO was a free one because he had a well known Endocrinologist who had treated him for years.Years that were wasted on the time all those denials took.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2016 by Berta

[Slick]

Route I had to go was claim diabetes for high A1C. as expected that didn't fly

On a follow on C&P, for a totally unrelated issue Doc asked me about Diabetes- told him I was on Metformin and a restricted diet (at primary care Doc's recommendation.) No salt, bread, etc.  He did his thing and VA came back and approved at SC 20%

[Berta]

The AIC test is supposed to be the most definitive one for diabetes.

VA never gave my husband that test and I always hope the VAMCs have their HBIAC equipment properly calibrated.

Good for you! You got 20% and that is probably the right rating.

Maybe in your case the AIC test result was too old or perhaps the med recs revealed high glucose in exams for other things, that the C & P doctor caught.

 

 

[Gastone]

Regarding the A1C test, might not be a bad idea to get another A1C test done by a non VMC, just saying.

For the past 4 or so yrs, my VMC yearly Blood-work, has always reported an A1C result of 5 or less, non-Diabetic. This July, I got a call from my PCP saying the A1C was 5.9, getting close to a Pre-Diabetic 6.0 level. A confirming letter with all the Blood results arrived a few day later.

Just so happened, I had an annual appointment with my non VA Cardiologist the following week. I asked him to do order a Complete Blood-work. Got the results the following week, A1C 5.0. Now, as we familiar with the A1C (no fasting required) test know, it's reading shows how our body has metabolized glucose over the past 90 days. That's why it's considered the Gold Standard for DM DXs.

In response to a MHV Sec Msg regarding another issue, my Pcp agreed that the recent A1C 5.0 reading from the non-VA source was more in line with my prior  VA results, therefore more reliable. She couldn't really offer an explanation of the disparity (without speculation), the tests were only a week apart.

I'll be getting (2) complete Blood test yearly, from now on.

Semper Fi

 

[Slick]

9 hours ago, Berta said:

The AIC test is supposed to be the most definitive one for diabetes.

VA never gave my husband that test and I always hope the VAMCs have their HBIAC equipment properly calibrated.

Good for you! You got 20% and that is probably the right rating.

Maybe in your case the AIC test result was too old or perhaps the med recs revealed high glucose in exams for other things, that the C & P doctor caught.

 

 

A1C tests were current. Historically pre-diabetic- continual results just below 6.0.  Doc finally decided on MEDs.

after that, as I said went in for unrelated C&P and was surprisingly asked about diabetes- response was "1) AIC pre-diabetic (had A1C results) 2) on METFORMIN and 3) discussed "restrictive diet.  Nothing more than that was asked/replied to and VA came back with the 20%

[rdnkjeeper]

Very informative tread!  I was just at a C&P and the Dr told me to put in a claim for DMII.  I asked him why, he said that I have DMII now and I had it over 20 years ago in the military.  I was never told that I had DMII, it is funny that no one told me and it explains a lot about my time in the military.  So going to put in a claim for it.