jsdwd

Thanks to people who responded. It is helpful. Looks like the route is through my Primary.

I am 100% s/c and currently being treated for Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC - liver cancer). I am on the transplant list and hoping to have transplant surgery within the next few months. The transplant hospital is not a VA facility. My primary VA physician is very supportive and been a huge help throughout. The recovery from the surgery is pretty invvolved and requires a 'support person' 24/7 for the first two weeks after release from the hospital. My ex-wife is a nurse and has agreed to take time off from work and cover that period (lucky me). But over the next few weeks I will continue to need supportive care at home. There will be dressing changes, medication adjustments, physical therapy sessions, etc. So I will need help for a few weeks until I am more mobile and able to drive, etc. I know the VA provides certain kinds of Home Healthcare Services, but that's about all I know about it. How do I find out more? What is involved in applying? Is there a waiting time for approval? If so, how long is the waiting time (a year waiting time won't be of any help because I hope to have had the surgery well before then). Has anyone had experience using VA home healthcare services and, if so, how did it go? Any help in this are would be greatly appreciated. Thanks John

Thanks for your response. I have not applied for service-connected Cirrhosis. There didn't seem to be any point as I was at 100% with the TDIU. I do have a letter that ties my alcoholism to PTSD. Moreover, my rating letter cites "Service connection for post traumatic stress disorder with secondary depression, anxiety, and alcohol dependence" The Cirrhosis has been diagnosed as Alcoholic Cirrhosis, so I think the chain is there. I do not have a letter that ties the CA to the Cirrhosis, but can get one fairly easily, I think. Thanks for the info on benefits, I will follow up. At this stage, the CA is treatable with Trans-catheter Arterial Chemo-embolization which is a localized chemo that should kill or shrink the relatively small lesions that I have. The plan is that this treatment will be a 'bridge to transplant'. Thanks again for your help.

After a long stint with Cirrhosis (Alcoholic), I have been diagnosed with Primary Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). Detection was through a regular screen and is quite early. I have four questions. 1. Does anyone have familiarity with this problem and know of veterans or non-veterans support groups that can help me navigate the whole business of treatment, transplants, etc.? This group was invaluable when I was working with the VA to get disability benefits and I'm wondering if there isn't something like this for my current situation... 2. I am currently 100% disabled via TDIU with an underlying rating of 80% due to PTSD with alcoholism (in remission), Depression and Anxiety, Diabetes II (Agent Orange presumptive), and a few other more minor problems (e.g. hearing loss). Does it make sense for me to file a claim to add the HCC to the list and perhaps move 100% on basic rating? Are there some benefits I would get that I'm not currently getting? (Including survivor benefits) 3. I know the VA healthcare system does do transplants. Does anyone have familiarity with this process? What transplant criteria do they use? 4. Is anyone aware of any research studies or clinical trials underway that look at the effect of Agent Orange on the onset of liver cancer? I'm just looking for information and anything would be helpful. Thanks

I finally got my case clear of appeals and receiving benefits. It has been a long haul and I want to thank the people who contribute to this forum for help in answering the many questions that I had during this process. Your answers and support made a big difference to me and I"m very grateful to have had it. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Thanks, Carlie. Hope its a few weeks instead of a few months....

I have received word from a person inside the VARO that my appeal has been rated and is headed next for promulgation. I have a private attorney. Any estimates as to how long this process might take? Is there anything I'm supposed to be doing? (Already have direct deposit set up).

Berta: I am not advocating slowing down those claims. I'm just wondering what's going on because it affects me. I don't think that's unreasonable. Also I understand that anyone can say anything. That's why I posted here to see what's up. One of my sources works in the RO and told me that ALL raters had been pulled to work only on those claims until the review is complete. There may be a separate group created to do that, but that is not what he told me. Of course, he could be shining me on..... Thanks to folks that responded. I know a little more than I did before and that's good, right?

I have heard from two independent sources that all rating of claims/appeals has been put on hold while so-called Nehmer claims are processed. The edict from Washington is to complete these cases by the end of December. I have an appeal that was handed off to the rater nearly two months ago and has not moved a milimeter since. I'm told that all raters are working on the 'special Agent Orange cases'... Is there any truth to this? Has anyone else been told this? There is not much available via Google and when I call my local representative's veterans affairs person, they knew nothing about it. What's going on?

Absolutely right. The problem starts with Congress and ends in the Executive. Congress just doesn't care about veterans. Look who is on the Veteran's Affairs committees. We have seen that the only thing Congressmen (and women) care about is getting re-elected. Period. Then the same is true in the Executive. The Department of Veteran's Affairs is so poorly managed that it is a national embarrassment. I have been pursuing claim and appeal now for over two years and the number of mistakes, omissions and errors is staggering. Before you blame "federal bureaucracy' I have also been dealing with Social Security Administration since 1998 and have had two IRS audits over the years (one random, the other because I filed the wrong form). Both those agencies had problems, but nothing at all like the VA. Social Seucrity (which handles many more claims) is not nearly as screwed up as the VA.

Come to find out, someone at the VA authorized the Prudential (and other) insurance companies holding of death benefits funds in their corporate accounts drawing interest on dependents' money. Check it out at: http://www.nytimes.c...ml?ref=business Several states are conducting fraud investigations of Prudential and other insurers. They were required to make lump sum payments of survivor benefits on demand and were prohibited from profiting from the interest on retained funds. That interest should have gone into the account of survivors. The American Insurance industry does it again and this time knowingly taking financial advantage of dead service members survivors. Utterly shameless. But anyone who expects anything else from the Insurance Industry is either hopelessly naive or has been living on another planet for the past few decades.

Carlie: Yes I am aware that the VA will not use GAF alone to set a rating (nor should they), but I have three GAF scores about in the same range and that does provide evidence. Together with the twice assessed unemployability I would think it shows impairment beyond the 30% level. I also know that SSA disability criteria and VBA criteria are different and they have a different process. But my medical problems (for which I am receiving the SS) are complicated and the VA claim is straightforward. That is the point I was trying to make. Anyway I have asked the lawyer to try to find out if the review has been scheduled and, if so, for when. I'm sure I, like thousands of other vets, are very frustrated with not only not having a fairly clear date for the rating, but also no published statistic (I spent a lot of last night looking for processing estimates) giving a ballpark estimate of how long they will have to wait. Of course, that leaves room for the rumor mill and reporting of best case and worst case scenarios. I did find grave site forecasts for the national cemetaries so believe me when I say, I looked.

I'm beginning to find out that even simple stories become 'long stories' when dealing with the VA. I processed a Social Security disabiity claim from start to finish in less than a year and it was much more complicated than this. There is no question whatsoever about the validity of my case, nor is there any real question about the degree of impairment. Social Security Disabiity requires 100% disability (they don't have partial disability) and I've been receiving it for years, plus both VA examiners have given me GAF indicative of a higher rating and an examination by a VA psychologist (which is part of my C-File) gave an even lower GAF rating indicating worse impairment.

Thanks, I'll have my attorney call and see what they can find out. Hope you have a favorable outcome on the 20th.

Commander Bob: Thanks for good wishes. How did you find out that your review was scheduled for July 20th? All I know is that the review officer has been assigned, but nothing about a date. I'd love to know (save trips to the mailbox!) Thanks