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jbasser
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Posts posted by jbasser
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Brian, do you have tricare? If you do then get an outside medical opinion as to the extent og your heart diisease gtom a board certified cardiologist. It sounds liek the VARO is ignoring t he heart condition and ist seriousness. If you are able to get an opinion compare it to the the records you have. Use it as AMMO for the VARO. Are you service connected for hypertension?
Good Luck
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I have been told by a Service Officer that in order to file a claim for the PTSD, You have to have been awarded the Combat Action ribbon, or Purple Heart, or have been a POW I have none of these.
Welcome to Hadit.
Statements like this one really is a pet peeve of mine. You are a Marine and you have a combat badge.
I hope this vet rep did not cause you to lose valuable time in filing your claim for PTSD.
You have come to the right place. People here can assist. Post any question you have at the claims research section to get started.
Semper fi.
John
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Kris, Welcome to Hadit. You have landed on the right runway.
Have you taken advantage of the VA's Assault program? I hope so for it is in the Vets best interest.
As far as your claim, The VA will eventualy rate it. The VA system is slow.
There are some folks here at Hadit that have suffered from the same type of assault you have experienced.
They can advise you more spacifically regarding your claim.
I wish you the best and again, Welcome to Hadit.
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Jangrin, I had to consult the expert.
The Cat Scan was actually called a 64 slice ct and it is a great diagnostic tool.
To ease your mind you need to ask Cardiology a few questions.
What is the extent of the calcifications given the score you have.
Are there any blockages and if so exactly where are they. Are they in the main artery or secondary arteries. ( Very important you get this answered)
A blockage in secondary arteries can be dealt with by cath. A blockage in the main requires surgical intervention.
As far as a cath being done, The docs are supposed to know best, however as a person also service connected for theat disease( CAD) I always get second opinions from other doctors.
If you can, email me the ct results and other information and I will have it translated into plain english.
John
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Jangrin a Nuclear perfusion scan only estimates the volume of blood being pumped by the heart. The only true Ejection fraction is by heart cath where the MD actually measures the EF.
If it is actually less than 50, Then the 30 percent rating should be increased to 60.
That would Hold the door open for IU.
I would recommend any Vet to get a heart cath is there is suspected heart disease. The Cath is the only true way to determine the scope of the disease. It also allows a doc to measure the pressure in the pulmonary arteries called a pulmonary angiogram if the patient has sleep apnea. If a patient has service connected heart disease and Sleep Apnea there is a chance of having pulmonary Hypertension.
Service connected PH is 100 percent schedular according to the directives under heart disease.
John
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jangrin, what is the ejection fraction on the last heart cath. Was it less than 50.
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Jangrin, contact the VA in California and call medical records department and ask them if they have any records for your husband. There is a chance the entire record did not get transferred.
The VA used a paper system in the 80s and 90s. They were supposed to scan record into the system.
The VA used a DHCP system in the 90s and now are using a system ironically called Vista, (No relation to microsoft)
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I see a very high rating based on the Scolosis and hypertensive Migraine headaches. Scoliosis is a seriously disabling condition where the vertabrates are badly out of line. The Headaches are also serioiusly disabling. I agree with Pete. You may get IU or even 100 percent schedular.
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Folks, anytime there is money involved there is always the temptation for some to cheat. I Feel that there are some claims out there that are not waranted. Those claims are few. I dont think they are backlogging the system. The problem with the system is Mass confusion the hands of the VA Raters, VSO'S and sometimes the Veterans themselves.
It is a plesant atmosphere when I see people with the experience on this board who actually know what it takes to win their VA claims. A few people are so advanced with their knowledge that I read their posts very carefully so that I may learn something New.
I welcome VA employees or former employees on this board as I am a former employee.
Those folks can show us the way if we listen. If not for their advice it would be like going bear hunting with a BB Gun?
John
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Moving this topic to Social Security Forum.
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Lets look this at another angle. Im a IU Vet and as I get close to 65 my service connected disability gets worse with age aso I file to change the IU to 100% schedular.
Any IU Vet who has evidence of SC worsening should file for 100 percent.
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"The only HBP I could find related to asbestos is pulmonary (highblood pressure within the heart itself). Here's the list of asbestos-related disease a leading asbestos specializing law firm offers:
"The diseases for which asbestos exposure is a generally accepted cause are mesothelioma, asbestosis, small airway fibrosis, scarring, pleural plaques, pleural fibrosis, pleural effusion, and many lung cancers. Diseases for which asbestos exposure is not at this time generally accepted as the cause, include cancers of the kidney, GI tract and ovary.
Each of these asbestos-related diseases can only be diagnosed through medical examinations and tests."
However, excessive noise can cause HBP. If you were a snipe doing the tappet dance for hours on end on ALERT and others, this could create an SC cause for you.
I was on EWING and all the buck and a quarters were fairly noisy. I also drove ALERT from SF to Petaluma (after she and I were both decomissioned) and if I recall correctly, she was not very quiet."
Asbestos related lung conditions can cause Pulmonary Hypertension. That is the pressure of the pulmonary arteries. There are other causes of PPH. Fen Fen was one. Pulmonary Hypertension is a Very serious condition and if not treated the person effected will die. No may die, but will die. This ugly devil is deadly and even with treatment the outlook is Grim.
Both the VA and SSD rate this as disabling. If anyone is diagnosed with it, Get treatment fast. The symptoms are fast heart beat, Irregular heart beat, pounding in the chest with minimal exertion, shortness of breath.
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Billyboy, Being SC for hypertension ( Direct) I was exposed to asbestos in removing it from ships and Subs during my Naval Career. I am not SC for asbestos but it should not be long.
Hypertension is probally not secondary unless you can get a Doc to say so. This would be like having the following events take place.
1: Exposure to asbestos proven and the amount of asbestos length of Time of exposure.
2: Pulmonary disease (active)
3: Effects pulmonary diesase has on cardiolvascular system, Such as Cor pulmonale, and was it caused by the pulmonary disease actually caused by asbestos.
Ships built in the 20s up to the end of WWII used mostly African Amosite Asbestos as the core for steam piping. This asbestos is a flaky gray fibers that could become airborne if the insulation was tore.
The Lagging as it is called on the pipes was covered by a sheet of asbestos called Chrysotile. It was not as easy to get airborne exposure but it was the most beadly type since the fibers were larger.
Any Vet who has had prolonged exposure to asbestos of airborne origin is in trouble. It can take up to 40 years for this dragon to start to shoot flames.
There is a great deal of information about asbesto son ships on the web. You just have to get past the Attorney web sites.
John
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Events occur in service that can be traumatic. for example, If a Vet was marked or assaulted and had to go into hiding in fear of their own life. This could lead to PTSD . Since the Vet has gained weight and is resulted from the PTSD and it can be proven fromt he stressor. The Obesity, the secondary causes like DMII, Osteoperosis, Spinal, Knee, foot problems caused by the weight should be granted.
The Kicker is getting an MD to place the conditions in relativer equipose. It can be done.
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List the condition on a medical alert bracelet and wear it.It is a lot easier than trying to dig through a wallet while having an episode of dizzines. Hope this helps anyone who has that dreaded disease. My father in law has the symptoms.
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" Adding a veteran's dependents to an award has nothing to do with the RVSR and the rating decision. The dependents are normally processed when the claim goes to the Post-Determination Team so the decision can be promuligated. The RVSR doesn't look at ho wmany dependents a veteran has, it makes no difference to them when they are deciding a claim."
Many times the VSR in the Post-Determination Team can't add the dependents to an award if the rating is over 30% because the veteran didn't send the VA the required documentation, such as birth certificates ect... This happens more often than one thinks. Many times when a veteran files their 526, they'll fill out section C and list their dependents, but forget to send in the supporting documentation. Then the veteran thinks VA is somehow stalling on paying the additional payments because they "claimed" their dependents already. When in fact they didn't submit the needed documents.
Vike you are correct as usual. The Dependant form should be filled out and sent in with the claim.
If a Vet applies on line there is a section for dependants and the VA should act off of that information but too often they dont.
If Retro takes longer than 30 days to hit the bank, then someone is either out or sitting on it.
I had mine within 3 weeks of decision. Then I had to file for the dependants and 2 weeks later, I received the extra money.
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Being the problem is with a toe, you may have to ask for an extra schedular considerations based on the fact that the surguries and infections are keepong you from obtaining employment.
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Veteran, are you service connected for Hypertension?
If you are that will be the fastest avenue to take to obtain SC for a heart condition. The VA will take their time if a claim is considered as a secondary such as DMII.
Anyhow according to your post, I am willing to bet if you call back again you may get an entirely different answer.
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If a vet moves the Transfer can be automatic. A vet does not have to request it to be moved. A change of address will often take care of the move.
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I agree Vike, there is not enough money in the budget to do that. It would take an increase to get it done and the people who hold the purse strings are not going to allow it.
The time it takes to verify evidence is the cause of the backlog. If they find a method to make that step easier that would decrease claim timing.
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Go to the walk in clinic and tell them your hurting and the nexium is not working. Do this until they prescribe it.
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That is funny........because I had the "positive Tinel's" test, positive EMG for bi latterial CTS and was awarded S.C. but ZERO Percent! with it being told it affects my work and home life but next time I will bring my digital recorder with me for the Exam.
You have to show them pain and weakness iand loss of motion in the nerve distribution.
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Does anyon know if there is a code for pain from the shoulder to elbow to wrist. The doc said I have nerve & muscle damage. But he didn't do a nerve conduction test???
David, People who have had surgury at c5/c6 can also have CTS. It can be diagnosed higher in the Nerve at the C spine. Mine is from my neck. Unfortunatly there is no treatment except meds for this area of CTS. I believe it is called nerve root inpingement instead of Cts but its effects are the same. The nerves that inervate the shoulder muscles are located below C5. It depends on the muscle that is effected.
John
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In the world of the VA the MD is King. That is why if you get an outside opinion you should make sure it is from an MD.
Pete is right. it would help if the Md is a specialist in his area, Fellow or higher. Diagnostic ewvidence is the Key, That often envokes the benefit of doubt rule.
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in VA Disability Claims Research
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I feel this topic should be moved to the claims and research board to better serve this Veteran.