retiredat44

My skin was soaked with TCE, as I had to clean eiuipment with it, and the nightmare was the doctors had already removed me from contact with chemicals from when I worked wiith fuels, jet fuel, leaded gas, diesel, I became sick the doctors odered my permantant removal, for me, from further contact with chemicals, they put me back in a job with trichloroethelyne, I was soaked in it, and I got sick again... limbs swollen large... bleeding,, heacahes,, btw, these symptoms lasted 2 years.. in service,, not to mention 2 hospitizations for illness including gastritis and pnumonia, and also suffered from tremors and shaking.. swollen limbs, skin breaking open and bleeeding, headaches,,, severe pain, crying..... it was almost 5 years of chemical contact.. and illness.. after waitng 2 years to tell them at the dro hearing, what they refused to read in my smr's, and I also ended up paying for an IMO ($1,600) from a toxicolgist doctor, va records include long hospitalizations, treatment for pancreas disease (necrotizing pancreatitis) (the doctors continue to tell me the only way a person gets what I have is from drinking, and chemical exposure for the pancreas to become diseased..,, but I didn't drink alcohol, (well only a few beers, on a weekend, and that was more than 25 years ago.), neurolgical diseases, thrombosis, spinal disease, eye disease... and the list continues.. The pancreas is dying, and they are unable to repair it and they have threatened to remove it if I get one more infection.. on active duty, I never had a drinking problems and wasn't a drinker, so if they think they can blame alcohol, good luck, because I never once was into drinking liquor... the only other way to develope pancreas disease is from chemicals.. I saw plenty of people busted for being alkies and being sent to couseling for drinking problems... the tried to say my tremors are inherited,, the VA gave me a DNA test for neuro disease,, it came back negative.... the neurolgist cotnues to find another label, so far the last label in my records at the VA Hospital, include neurology, giving me a dignosis of a form of muscular dystrophy, called myotonic dytstrophy, for which I take cloneazepam and Inderal.. I spent one year in a wheel chair unable to move by myself,, but went through physcial therapy to learn to walk again.. my left knee has missing and worn cartalidge between the kneecap and bones... and just had a c&p for that, that was diagnosed on active duty 30 years ago.. the doctors told me a long time ago, they cant fix it... besides, my leggs are swollen from thrombosis and the pancreas disease. I was very close to death in 2008, they had me ina hospital bed without a drop fo food for 6 months, my lungs had big problems and they had to run long needles in bewteen my ribsd to suck water out of the area around my lungs.. the x-ray machines kept showing a growing mass, and the doctor contuned to ask what hazerdous materails I worked with... becase the only way a person could get the symptoms I had was from chemicals... these are all in my medical records.... they just refused to read my records and I had to explain stuff at the dro hearing.. I had to tell them they had exverything in the va records... they just never bothered to read my medical records.. I had at least one xray a day for several months, including x-rays, cat scans,, and more. I have to get x-rays and cat scans every few months. Also, sonograms.. my pancreas has a whole bunch of cysts growing on it, ful of liquid.. if they break open and leak I have a good chance of dying.. I had that happen already at least 2x.. and it caused so much agony my belly was very swollen and I had to have a morphine pump with dilaudid. After one of the cysts grew to 5 inches, and the 2 surgeries failed... the splenic vein and portal veins closed causing another hospitalization for blood pressure drop to 60 over 40...... I gained 20 lbs of water weight in 2 days because of the sepsis, and took dieretics to pee 20 lbs off in 2 days.. my skin was getting ready to break open from stretching, the outer layers shed all over the place..... and the under layers were raw and red when the out layers of my skins stretched and cracked open... I finally was back to 130 lbs... when I first reported into the hospital for my pancreas operation) my normal non fat weight, was about 185 lbs..) I also have glaucoma and catracts..., the already operated on one eye... I don't have teeth, they had to be pulled many years ago, the intestinal disease turned them into melting shards of razor sharp enamal cutting through my mouth, tongue, lips, with blood everywhere, and pices falling out, day and night the VA refused to help , the just turned me away every time I begged them to stop the agony... I had to drive 100 miles to a dental school which charged me $1,000 to pull the pieces (of my once beautiful, white, straight, teeth), out of my mouth, jaw and gums... when people say they were exposed to chmicals, I was soaked in the chmicals and I was soaked in the chmicals by my command, and my superiors knew damned well the doctors had put in my records I was alergic to petroleum chemicals, yet, my command forced me into working with the chemicals (petroleum chemicals) in the newly asigned job that was suppose to remove me from chemical exposure. as you can see, the VA is fighting me to my death, I have a really high chance of cancer (look up necrotizing pancreatits and the complications I have, with the psuedocyts growing around my pancreas), and dying sooner than later, and the va knows they can drag their feet until I die..

MY claim deals with chemical exposure,, there are no doubts about my exposure, there are no doubts about my neuro diseases,, the only problem is the VA refuses to connect the dots... my in service (SMR's) cleary state, by doctors, that I suffered froma nd was treated for these conditions on active duty and I continue to suffer with worsening conditions... I am in the appeal stages.. I will update as it slowly progress through the appeals stages.. Since I am not a GW or Vietnam vet, there is no automatic win... I have the proof, (they have what I have, they have all my records at the VA, they treat me for my conditions...).. I know there are others out there in my shoes who suffer greatly, and have to go through denials and appeals.. I know that many have won their claims with less evidence.. My first claims started 20 years ago.. I was already rated for some problems from chmical exposure, but was only awarded 50% in the 1990's, I have many more issues and am going for the full 100% that they denied me all these years. MY exposure was extensive I was soaked in chemicals daily, clothing, skin, and all.. and it's in my records.. So, there you go... one more person who is being fought to the death...

I spent some time there, housed in the barracks at Great Lakes,, in fact while in Illinois I got pnumonia and spent a while in the hodpital.. the USAF sent me to a Navy school for a few months. It was a horrible place... really really miserable pace there.. it was some of the worst experiences I ever had.. Sorry if I offend anyone that was there.. but it was (insert cussing here..)

it wasn't the pharmacy, it was the fact that my doctor (a new doctor,, my old one left, ( don't know how many weeks ago, no one said..) they could not find my doctor and 5 days had gone by since she was last seen.. and I needed my monthly morphine..., so it took a long seach through the hospital to find a person (nurse) who called the other clinic to find a nurse to find a doctor.. to write my montly script refill.. it only took me 3 hours... and that was after having a needle inject meds into my spine, before my search started.. I have been taking the pain meds for 20 years, so it wasn't a new case... now I have a bad sore throat,, whoopeee.. this pain and illness never ends... like the damned appeal..

Ever since I got very sick I have had a terrible time sleeping without having to take meds, go to the bathroom, and lay in agony to sick to sleep, until I literally pass out for being up too long... I also had a record of sleep prbolems as an in patient for 6 months with inability to sleep due to pain, nightmares where I would be screaming.. When I told my doctor I was passing out sitting at my computer she didn't understand and had my driver license piulled.. I had extensive health and heart monitoring while hospitalized and wore heart monitors.. connected to wireless computer.. I got my licvense back when they figured out that I was trying to say that my intestines were causing great fatigue when I ate, the block arteries caused the blood to not pump properly, causing drowsiness... had splenic and portal vein (thrombosis). (but my doctor at that time would not listen and thought i had a heart condition..). I have violent nigthmares, I kick the stuff around my bed, and hit things, and get close to breaking everything and almost break my bones... I usually don't make it out of bed but actually sleepwalk up on my bed, but haven't actually slept walked out of the room for many years.. thye vilolence of me kicking things scares the hell out of me, I am going ot do some real bad damage.. I spent a lot fo time screaming when people tried to walke me I would scream like a Banshee on fire when people would strtle me.. the drugs I take for thr muscle twisting in bed has helped a lot,, my feet and toes were tying into knots,, form some neuro disease(s).. Cloneazpam helps a bunch with that, but that can also happen during hte day and my feet and muscles will twsit into knots pulling my joints dislocating the bones... I was sent to a sleep clinic but they couldn't find anything and the ngith they gave me a device to record I was up mos the time only getitng 3 hours sleep before retruning the CPAP machine and recorder.. I can go several days of can't sleep to several days of cannot stay awake at all and passing out trying to sit up.. I dfon't have problems driving, well because I don't drive often, and when I don't feel well I don't drive.. let's face itm driving int he cities sucks enough with al the idiots.. and it's not fun, expecially with old cars that need replaced.. (no money).. and to sick to take vacation, I haven't had a vacation since the 1980's due to health bad and no money... I wonder if the VA claims wil see al the notes taken by the nurses form my 6 months int he hsopital bed.. the nurses recorded eveyr breath I took, didn't take, bad joke I made,, etc... but I doubt the claims people wil read those as they don't read the medical records to begin with, or else I would have gotten my claim approved immediately because al the proof has been in my records from day #1. Going back my whole life.. I gave the Service my medical records wfrom when I was achild because during my etrance exam, I opened my big mought and told them about my congenital cataracts, so I had to go back tot he doctors I had as a child and get the records whoing the cataracts were dormant and may never grow... that was 40 years ago... and the wrote waiver saying I had 20/20 vidion and hte cataracts were dormant.. so they have my records (or had them) going back shwoing eveyrhting known about me from my childhood years and up... which show I didn't have any other pre-existing conditions.. except for any childhood injuries I was treated for.. Anyways, i thought i would chat about sleep issues... oh, btw, I complained on active duty about the inability to sleep because drunken scumbags were running the barracks with drinks and fights, which in turn made it impossible to get good sleep.. I was angry because I worked with aircraft and I didn't want problems, accidents' and other because of lack of sleep because of the drunken scum... so I constantly went to the commander begging them to clean up the problems with the living conditions.. so I could rest and sleep.. I finally got a place off base and made good money living off base, no longer putting up with the drunken scumbags... it was miserable living with these juvenile delinquents who enlisted only to drink like fish.. so if that was considered..... I could prove the sleep issues I suffered from... and do now.. also... since I have so many serious life threatening health issues,, I have enough to win the ful 100% even if many items get denied... sleep issues seem hard to prove... just sayin'

I often have a doctor in a specialty for one of my conditions, and they will issue/precribe me a new dose.. but when I get the next refill it's the same old dose,, I ask my primary about the increase and they look at the compute r(I don't actually see the screen) and thye say they didn't see a different dose.. so I continue taking the old dose.. I am tired of this fight... I don't understand why these screwups continue... if you try to reason with soemone, they take it as an argument... when I go back to the appointments where they moved the dosage, I wil just explain that no one would listen and soemthing int he computer wasn't updated.. and I suppose my last nigthmare i Posted about my new doctor missiing for 5 days should have gone here,, after spending 1/2 the day running around the huge hsopital begging for help for my pain med refills and everyone telling me they can't help. until I finally found anurse who took the time to call my primary care clinic 50 miles away, then a nurse got a doctor to fil my monthly pain meds.. (belive me, 20 years of narcotics, I hate when I run out and go into withdrawls, its extremely cruel...)..... at least I had a new c&p to help move my appeals.. not sure what is next and when,, like I said, they denied 3 out of 6 issues in my dro hearing and never got an SOC for the 3 with nop answer, and all the rest that are denied are ont he docket somewhere to the BVA, someday.. in year 4..

Any increase in speed of claims going through the system? It seemed last year nothing was moving.. is there some math being kept soemwhere showing if the claims are moving faster, or the same? thanx.

Once again, would like to chat with people who have Pancreas disease thanx, Steve

seems to take about 3 months to get a DRO hearing (after two years of denials and appeals process starts..), but 2 years to get results.. which is about 4 years after you first apply... my experience in San Diego

Thank you, that was very helpful... I really appreciate the info.. If only this forum and other were around 20 years ago... and for those that served way before me, it would have been great..

update: 02-01-12 fixed spelling and fixed a few things, although it's probably still not right.. sorry.. ----- this wasn't my first rodeo, but many years have past since I was up fixing bizarre problems... they changed things too and no longer say they have case mangagers... and the people at the primary desk at the primary clinic seem to have a complex about letting you contact higher ups for problems they have no clue how to handle,,, if they had given me the right person to begin with I would not have goe back downstairs to the Emergency room.. I am not sure if anyone understands the dire situation I face if I get sick again... i have bee through withdrawls several times, and even before necrotizing pancreatitis, it was horrible, now I face death if I get an infection... having people blow me off telling me they can't help.... and putting me though this, well, it will hurt me with anger, something I can't afford... The nurse that found the person by phone back at my clinic 50 miles away, was trying to catch up on something like 40 voice mails when she stopped to help me... I was puzzled when I tried to explain how I also use the secure messaging to send my doctors notes and it was broken, she told me that not important.. but it is another way to communicate with doctors and nurses,, I don't think she understood the importance of that way of communication.. the patients don't get diret lines to doctors we go through voice mail hell and call centers... and if we go in person and talk through holes in 3 inch glass to clerks who have low IQ's... well, you probably know how far that get's you.. I sent several call center messages and so did several. other people..... my clinic never recieved once message accoring to some head nurse who got the wheel rolling after this higher up nurse called my clinic, apparently, even the call center messages 'All' went unanswered, and they were never read over those days,, and it appears the whole network was broken at the Oceanside clinic... how do you explain them not getting any messages from anyone who sent them in? by phone e-mail, and secure messaging.. semething bigger happened here.. also, I was told that 3 doctors had quit within several days making a mess out of how they handle patients, and learned it can take up to 4 months to get a new doctor... the last doctor I saw was a temp... but I was only told my doctor was on vacation, not that she had left for good... I learned there are no case mangers, they abolished those, but it don't amke sense to me, I have had several case managers in 2 or 3 different clinics over the past few years.. when someone is sick with a life long illness they used to assign a case manager.. now they claim they didn't work so they did away with them, I think that is a huge mistake, that is exactly what some of us patients need! I wish someone could alert the VA director and them them it's broken... I am too sick,, I can't handle all this... btw, at leat one years before I was hospitalized witha 5 inch cyst on my pancreas, a huge large ball of mass was crushing my stomach and intestines.. it wa spushing out my stomach like 'he Alien' I begged the doctors to feel the mass pushing out and they said they could'Not' feel it.. the next year was spent in the hospital bed fighting for my life in hell, from them trying toremove the cyst.. for 20 years I was treated like a mental patient because no one believed my sickness and though t I was a kook.. and most if not all were government workers (except for Kaiser, who are not feds) of some type.. during my SSDI aplicatio proces they sent me to quacks of al type calling themselves doctors.. one pshyc doctor asked why I was angry and I tryied telling him I was very sick.. I've been treated as an animal,, and there is no one that seems to have the gut or intelligence to makes things right.. I have to say that as an inpatient I was treated very well... and for the most part I am. but in seems no one has the power to fix problems... but there are few hidden.. you have to walk the isles and beg people to tell you who there is the right person to talk to,, as if they are under orders to shoo people away... sorry,,, it's late and another shitty day in paradise awaits my screwed up miserable body tomorrow..

I went by the library of th VA in La Jolla today (they setup the MyHealth accounts..), the guy wasn't there, he stepped away, so I left a note.. he called me, I called him back, I got a recording, again, I told him, the secure messaging is not working with my doctor to the Oceanside office,, it worked for 6 months, then when they got a new doctor it stopped working... I am sick of calling and going there in person...

MY regular Primary care doctor, was not around, and I saw a fill in doctor for an appointment... The VA makes me wait until the end of the month for my pain meds, even though the pharmacy continues to tell me I can orde rmy meds (morphine one week early to allow for U.S.. mail time for delivery. I sent messages, then the my-benefits gave me errors saying it longer works... I called the call center at the VA and left 2 messages for my doctor saying it's time for my Morphine for February.. Note: I have been on morhine at least 10 years.. before then other heavy narcotics for ten years.. no answer back,, none... I left more messages saying I will be in San Diego to pick them up Tuseday... (the VA has no pharmacy within 50 miles of me...). I go my my regular appointment, shot in spine... I go the pharmacy, they have no prescription,, I go to the primary care and ask, they tel me they will send my doctor an email agian... no answer.. I go the the pharmacist for primary cary, she sends an e-mail and tells me my new doctor has no communicated or logged onto her computer for five days! no one can find her, I go back to pahrmacy, no help, I go to the emergency room, and they tell me go back to the primary care clinic and ask for my case nurse,, I go back and ask them to find a case nurse, they tell me they don't have any... they find a nurse, who contacts someone 50 miles away, back at the clinic I use in Oceanside,,, and they find a nurse who find a doctor who will write the prescription. I go back to pharmacy.. and they first say they don't have anything, then they said they do... mind you this has taken 2.5 hours of work since I left the clinic that shot stuff in my spine... I wait 45 minutes,, then I go back to the DAV and find the driver who told me I could go take care of business because no one else was finished had left without me, even though leaving time is 12:00pm.. he left 45 minutes early without waiting for me,, even though I tiold him were i was going and I gold at least one other person.. so, I have a doctor no one can find for five days,,, I called my wife who happned to be home and she came to get me... I still have no doctor... mind you have havr been under a doctors care the for about 14 years... everyone knows me.. I am dying from pancreas disease,, I just don't know the day the pancreas puts me back into the death bed,, but it's coming soon.. oh, btw, I told the nurse to tell the other nurse their computers no longer let patients use my health to use secure messaging at that clinic, she told me not their problem, go talk tot he office at the library.. I go ther today too, but the only person there deson't know anything, the regular person sptepped away... I left them a note asking them to fix secure messaging with my clinic.. he said leave your number so we can tell you when it's fixed, I said, I will know it's fixed when it works.. but left my info anyways.. and they actually have press one if you are feeling suicidal when you call them... !!!!

I got an 1-800 number, from the VA in San Diego, to ask the VA place that runs the servers, for help with Secure Messaging.. and was put on hold with crap music for 40 minutes.... I finally gave up.. what a sick joke it is..

I called this morning, and was told my doctor is gone and I have another new doctor again... I think I wear them out .. LOLOL I had to order morphine, as they make me go through this procedure every month,,, and if run out I have to go the emergency room, or suffer in great hell... anyways, I supose I have to figure out how to send a message to the new doctor, maybe the (the intelligent morons) who setup the data base did not allow for the message system to work when the patient gets a new doctor? but that doesn't make much sense because it looks like you can send, are supose to be able to send anyone int he VA system a message.. but the error came no matter who I clicked and chose 'New Message'. When Bell called Watson, I bet he didn't envision the VA screwing it up...

sorry, to bug you again, but i wanted more specific, of why they gave you the ms disability... I know the general symptoms (I have lived with those symptoms and many more, a very long time),, but wanted to know what you had (in general, I don't want to emabrass you, or anything), but wanted to know when what showed up, and when.. and how it was enough to win the claim on it.. thanx..

Congrats... I would like to ask if you could possibly tell me symptoms of MS. I have been under the care of the va and also the neuro doctors there, but they don't yet want to give me a new label,t he last label was myotonic dystrophy, then they may have backed off on that, but they are not sure... I take several meds, morphine, cloneazepam, and proponolo (I have saking and body jerks, leggs and arms kick and shakes...(crying for no reason) (myclonic) uncontrollable body movements, (I also had extreme muscle loss a couple years ago) with pancreas disease and degenrative disc disease, and eye diseases , and much much more... the dna test was negative for ddytrophy so it wasn't inherieted, but came with a disclaimer telling the neurolgists, that order and get test results, that if they feel the patient has the disease disregard the dna test results.. (I don't have the exact working with me, but the doctor read it to me..). Neuro disease is part of my ongoing claim... and was re-opened after 15 since the last denial.. in the 1990's... was treated for chemical exposure and tremors on active duty 30 year ago..

myhealth.va.gov Secure Messaging Broken? http://www.myhealth.va.gov/ https://www.myhealth.va.gov/mhv-portal-web/anonymous.portal?_nfpb=true&_nfto=false&_pageLabel=mhvHome&WT.ac=splash_MHVHome_EnterBox Secure Messaging to my doctor no longer works.. I use it to send my doctor messages like getting pain meds.. re-ordered each month.. now I log onto my account and it tells me, that they no longer use it and I ,must ask them to use it... When I click 'New Message' to type and send a new message and a window pops up and says 'No Provider Relationship Found'. I then tried to use an older message to use reply and it also rejects that approach... The people running the VA computers must be using better drugs than they give.. This blows... guess I will go back to phone calls...

My knee and legg problem happened on active duty while jumping in and out of fuel tankers.. I went to sick call for it a few times.. it started to hurt bad, and never got better, just continues to get worse.. I used to go see a doctor in the 1980's who sent me to physical therapy, then I develped degenative disc disease and a disc broke.. the VA saw me for leg and foot pain, neuro disease, panceas disease,..then I also developed neuro diseases (also was treated with medicine on active duty by doctors for shaking), and swollen limbs from chemicals I worked with fuels and cleaning solvents. (currently 50% for headaches).,, (also treat for concusion, struck in the head by some jerk on active duty, don't worry, I had them arrested, and was treated by the base doctors). I had health insurance through Kaiser for about 7 years, they treated me for the leg and back, gastritis, gallbladder surgery, Lamonectomy (L-4)... I have been taking narcotics for pain for 20 years.. I lost everything as I got sicker and went total disability in the 1990's. I started getting treatments with VA health insurance in the 1990's, where they have been treating me for intestinal disease, eye disease, back disease, legg and foot pain, neurolgoly, physchologist have seen me for about 13 years.. 12 years ago my teeth disolved from intestinal disease (yes dissolved, a condition when teeth melt away and lose the substance that make enamel due to lack of proper nutrition due to intestinal disease) the VA refused to even look at my teeth, and they were falling out , and melting, and sharp as glass cutting my mouth to shreds, I had them all pulled at a dental shcool for a discount... then , a few years later.. I had a 5 inch cyst on the head of my pancreas, and several bad infections... 2x in the operating room, draining of liquid around ly lungs with long needles.. very bad infections, sepsis, and lots more... and 6 months later the infections slowed down and I was able to stay at home after having 2 nurses from the VA come to my home and help me,, they also gave me a special electric bed to raise my leggs to drain the water, as my leggs swell.. splenic vien thrombosis,, (also was portal vein thrombosis). The liver clinic was close to surgically installing a draining tube in my liver because of lack of drainage for some stuff.., but, the levels went back to 50 (close to normal), they were at 500 (albimum. will look up the proper name soon, it makes you turn yellow and goes into the digestive tract and causes the yellow appearance when you get jaundice) at one point I was too weak and sick to walk, but that was also from being in a hospital bed for 6 months.. and was bedridden then stuck in a wheel chair.. My legg took a back seat to all the really big life threating problems,, I have also since developed glaucoma on top of cataracts (and some mole on my lense in my eye),, I had the cataracts on active duty and the doctors knew I had them but gave me a waiver because they were dormant.. I know I forgot lots of stuff.. I have been to the emergency room (a couple time recently) for an intestinal infection, another infection in the urinary tract.. I Have had an ongoing nasal fection, or just puss from sinusitis or rhinitis from the feeding tube I had in my nose for 6 months.. I have no clue if they will try to link different problems together or leave them seperate.. My claim, Knee, intestinal (was hospitalized for gastritis and also pnumonia on active duty)(pancreas), depression, swollen limbs (was treated for big arms and hands swelling on active duty), neurolgical disease (tremors, for which I was given meds on active duty) (the doctors said it was Myotonic Dystropy, then, they said somethings else, then they don't know exactly, but I take several meds for involuntary body movements, jerking, shaking, muscles twist in my feet, arms, and hands and move by themselves, twisting my toes and also sometimes my fingers (the pain when they twist is horrific, the dislocate and trun into knots.....).. and problems walking too.. no balance and weak..), so just say neuro, I need to lookup all the issues I missed one or two... My claim in the 1990's for M.S. was denied.. but again, they gave me 50% for headaches back then.. What a mess! I got an IMO for the pancreas from a toxicologist doctor and added it to my claim a couple years ago... she specializes in people working with toxic chemicals and illnesses from those, including pertoleum chemicals, fuels, cleaning solvents, etc.. that was $1,600 and she said each inch of paper would be $600. I could not afford any more... I want to find a neurolgist too, but since then, the neurogists at the VA see me every few months.. but it would have been nive to get a neuro IMO.. for those that don't remember or don't know I worked with jet fuel, dieseal, leaded gasoline (fuels specialist), the doctors pulled me fromt he job and said I could not work with chemicals, I am alergic to them.. I then went and wored at a weather sqaudron a few weeks, and was happy. Them one day, I got new orders and had to work with printing presses,,, after a few months, and receiving a new rating and promotiion from the new job, I got the same illnesses and swelling (swelling that causes such large swelling, the skin breaks and you leak fluids and blood fromt he skin breaking open because it cannot expand any more... from the chemicals (trichlorethelene).. used on printing presses to clean ink.. so I was sick all over again, and they sent me to work with chemicals after the doctors pulled me from all contact with chemicals.. No one at the VA claims would listen until I finally got a DRO hearing where I could explain about all the chemicals and illnesses... it took two years to get that hearing.. and am still awaiting a decsion on 3 main issues. My paperwork has been in pipline as request for BVA hearing for all issues denied.. I only got an SOC statement for three out of six issues up until now. I had no choice but to leave the USAF after 4.5 years (I extended my enlistment for a three year tour in Europe after my first 2 years in the states. Ihad lost my jobs because of illnesses. sorry, I linked the knee problem with all my problems,, and missed a few.. I wonder what they link and don't link..

had my C&P for 'Chondromalacia' (Knee problem) this morning... not sure what to make of the diagnosis,, it's constant problem I just learned to live with and took a back seat to the real big problems... has anyone else gotten a percentage for it? yes, it was diagnosed on active duty and has continuned to be painful... and stops me from doing tasks, walking, putting the dishes away, climbing stairs.. it feels like bone on bone when the knee bends and cracks and pops.. My leggs are already swollen a bit form more problems, so you really can't see anything form the outside.. my main fight is with the pancreas disease, but htis is one of the items of my claim, which includes 6 items.. I also get treated for back disease, and get shots, in the spine every few months.. I don't get treated for the legg any more, because of the life threating disease (pancreas) and the back (degenerative disc) took priority, but have seen several doctors over the years for the legg pain... again, just wondered if anyone else had experience with this? (my case is very complicated with all my problems.. so I am not sure what to make of this issue, how they treat this particular health problem..as far as a claim goes..) If it were alone with no other problems, what would they do? since I also have back problems, neuro disease problems, and limb swelling from edema,, and more how does this fit in?

The VA called my house Friday, and left a message.. i didn't hear the phone or I would have answered it.. it says they will call back Monday I wish they would just leave a full message.. why not just say whatever they need to say?? They also said they will send me for an exam (a letter in the mail says they are sending me for the exam) for my 'Knee Pain: Chondromalacia' which I was diagnosed for on active duty. You would think after the huge amount of times I had work done on my body, and hospitalizations, surgeries, and very long hospital stays they wouldn't need anything.. very odd.. I stopped getting treatment for my knee when my L-4 disc broke (I get spinal shots ever 3 months) and my pancreas disease took over my life.. plus the doctor who treated my knee in the 1980's was no where to be found when I went looking for copies of records from back then.. but the USAF has copies in my Medical records from active duty.. The knee is an annoyance compared to pancreas disease... 'when you are ass deep in alligators, you forget your job is to clean the swamp.. 'is that how they say that'? but, any little win is better than none,, but if all my problems were added up with VA math I would get 2,000 percent easily.. I am still waiting for my pancreas disease (necrotizing pancreatitis = pancreas is dying.. the pancreas is dissolving, being eaten away, but a person needs a pancreas to live...) decision... Had my DRO hearing in 2010. At least there is movement... I hope I live to see the end of this..

I posted a the link to a health flow chart ( a year or 2 ago) for healthcare under new passed, and was told never to do it again, and was told it was political.. it only had the name of the law which was named after the politician... it was a wild health care chart that took a very long time to follow the maze..

the VA called 911 when I went to an appointmnet after an extrmely long hospital stay , 6 months, 2 weeks back home, the back to the VA clinic to be looked at.. my blood pressure was to low so they called 911. The ambulance took me to the local hospital, and kept me for 3 days because there were no beds avaible at the VA hospital.. I kept getting al the bills for 1 years and the va took more than one year to pay the bills.. the hospital and al the doctors were constatly try to send the bills to collection agencies, and I even had to setup payment plans while waiting for the va to pay the hospital the va sent me to.. after more than one year of working with VA fee basis by phone, fax, and mail,,, they finally paid the bills.. but it was hell, the whole time i was finally able to walk and was just starting to eat real food and not liquid (after 6 motnhs of laying in a hospital bed and tube fed..) and was stuffed with morphine while I was fighting to keep these billing compainies from ruining what was left of my life.. I will just die before I ever go back to a non va facility, it is not worth the hassle of trying to get billing to work..

14 months and waiting for DRO decision.. another crappy year, waiting for my pancreas to finally die... will I die before I get the decision and award? Very good possibility, since my prognosis written while an inpatient (for 6 months and surgeries) is 'poor' (as written in my records by surgeons). Necrotizing Pancreatitis..

I spent 6 months in a hospital bed (fighting for my life with pancreas disease) in 2008, and my vso told me I cannot get 100% until they say it was service related, so I was unable to file fo it, until I win my claim..