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soaringeagle17

Seaman
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About soaringeagle17

Previous Fields

  • Service Connected Disability
    40%
  • Branch of Service
    Air Force

soaringeagle17's Achievements

  1. Hi Berta, Thanks again for your support. I do have a copy of my Service medial records. Also, even though this is a sensitive topic for me I sat down and wrote out all the issues that have been bothering me and I am listing them below. These are the things I want to try and have looked at from the doctors but that I also want to address with the VA to have them provide an increase to my ratings and to add these other items as consider those as well. I am to the point they are really impacting me and I have to put aside my pride and stubborness. I am worried though that as a result of me not having a continual doctor history for these things they will deny me. Anyway, I guess I will see what happens. Again thanks for your advice to myself and others and have a blessed evening. Health Concerns Related to Gulf War Illness/Syndrome-Gulf War Veteran -Sleep Issues -Gastrointestinal problems -Joint and muscle pain and constant weakness and fatigue -Chronic fatigue feeling without exertion -Headaches All the above conditions have been occurring since my return from the Gulf War. I have dealt with these issues over the 20 years and never wanted to constantly complain. Additionally I was afraid to address the issues because of fear of having to leave the service by medical evaluation board. Also, since I retired I have not had sick or vacation days until now to visit with a doctor to discuss these issues. The issues above and below have intensified to the point I can’t continue to attempt to ignore the issues because they are impacting my daily living and working ability. -Urination issues-a constant feeling like I have to urinate. When I go to urinate I often have a weak stream and a feeling like I have to urinate a lot and just a little comes out and often times I will stand at the toilet feeling like I have to go but nothing or a few drops of urine come out. Then a short duration later (anywhere between 15 minutes and 45 minutes later I have to go again. This has become a huge issue and is impacting my everyday life and impacting my sex life as well. Often times I will go to the restroom and urinate and then attempt to have intercourse with my spouse and after a short time I am unable to continue because I either can’t achieve or I lose my erection (impotence) and have to go and urinate again and it impacts me from being able to continue being intimate with my spouse. This urination condition also causes me to not get a good nights rest. I wake up between 5-6 times each night to urinate leaving me tired everyday. Continual right elbow pain and fatigue as a result of surgery. The weather changes continue to cause pain and fatigue and limited mobility of my right elbow and pain as a result of motion in my right arm -Chronic enlarged prostate issues -Continual gastrointestinal/stomach pains and cramps -Acid reflux and heartburn on a continual basis. This has been a concern on and off since 1989 and has become more severe and I was prescribed 40 mg of Nexium in 2009 and still take it presently -Continual Upper, mid and lower back pain (Disc Degeneration) without exertion causing decreased movement. This condition has caused me to not exercise because of the pain and impacts my daily living and normal activities which I used to enjoy participating in. I feel pain, muscle spasms, and fatigue after short periods of time sitting and attempting to type or write reports. Additionally, I wake up with back and neck pains that radiate into the back of my head and cause headaches on a continual basis. -Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in left rest and left thumb causing weakness, fatigue, and continual pain without relief. The pain is continual with or without movement and I have decreased movement, tingling, numbness due to pain. Additionally, as I attempt to hold the car steering wheel with my left hand it gets very weak and I have to grab the wheel with my other hand because of the fatigued feeling. This condition impacts me on a daily basis at work as I attempt to type reports -Left knee pain. I have continual pain in my left knee and loss of motion with even simple tasks such as walking and standing on it for extended periods of time. In addition to the pain my knee gets very fatigued after sitting for relatively short periods of time and also gives way after any type of exertion. -Fatigue lasting 24 hours or longer when I do not perform any exercise or after exercise as well. I also have generalized muscle aches and weakness in the morning when I first wake up in the morning and it continues throughout the day. I get muscle spasms in the middle of the night in my legs and calves -Increased sensitivity to pain and widespread pain throughout my body. My body aches from changes in the weather, constant morning stiffness, issues with sleeping, headaches, light headedness, muscle twitches and weakness, inability to sleep through the night, jaw pain, urinary and pelvic issues, occasional issue with dysuria (burning sensation while urinating), unexplained weight gain. I believe the issues are related to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. These issues have been occurring on and off since 1991 and in the last year have intensified greatly.
  2. Greetings Again and thanks for the initial answers to my other questions on re-opening my VA disability claim. One of the forum members mentioned to me about going to the VA and being added to the Gulf War Registry and having the exam to determine info to establish a Gulf war Syndrome/Illness claim. I downloaded the Va Form 10-9009a(rs) and am going to fill it out tomorrow and then drop it off at the VA to have them schedule me for the exam. I was wondering if any of you have done this and what I might need to do as I prepare for this. I served in the Gulf War in late 1990-early 1991 and I have had amny symptoms that seem to be related to the Gulf War Illness symptoms. I have not gone to the doctor for this prior to now but have done research and many of my symptoms seem very related. Anyway, just looking for some guidance for this process as I go through this process. I also am beginning to schedule medical appointments for my service connected disabilities to attempt to have them re-open my case and increase the ratings. Anyway, I thank all of you for your feedback and input and again I thank the founders for establishing this great site. Have a great and blessed evneing. v/r soaringeagle17
  3. Greetings Again and thanks for the initial answers to my other questions on re-opening my VA disability claim. One of the forum members mentioned to me about going to the VA and being added to the Gulf War Registry and having the exam to determine info to establish a Gulf war Syndrome/Illness claim. I downloaded the Va Form 10-9009a(rs) and am going to fill it out tomorrow and then drop it off at the VA to have them schedule me for the exam. I was wondering if any of you have done this and what I might need to do as I prepare for this. I served in the Gulf War in late 1990-early 1991 and I have had amny symptoms that seem to be related to the Gulf War Illness symptoms. I have not gone to the doctor for this prior to now but have done research and many of my symptoms seem very related. Anyway, just looking for some guidance for this process as I go through this process. I also am beginning to schedule medical appointments for my service connected disabilities to attempt to have them re-open my case and increase the ratings. Anyway, I thank all of you for your feedback and input and again I thank the founders for establishing this great site. Have a great and blessed evneing. v/r soaringeagle17
  4. Berta, thanks so much for your responses and your time. I really appreciate it. I am adding it to my homework and research and will put the information to use. Have a wonderful and blessed evening and thanks for taking the time to help others. It is a blessing.
  5. Thanks for the info John999. I appreciate it. I was wondering if you could provide me with more info on what the gulf War Registry exam is and who does it and how do I request it??? Thanks and any other info you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Have a great and blessed evening.
  6. Greetings Fellow Veteran's, First, I want to thank all of you for your service and for your time to advice to everybody on this Forum and thanks to the founder of the site. This is a copy of a post I put in the new members welcome area. I copied and pasted a reply with some questions one of the members asked me. Anyway, please take a look at what I provided and any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Have a great and blessed day. See below... On the issues you want to re-open : they are for what disabilities ? I had 11 items (Benign prostate hyperthrophy-20%, Right triceps tendonitis-had elbow surgery to fix tricvep tendon that ripped out while fighting a fire-10%, Left wrist sprain-10%, cervival spine degenerative arthritis clained as cervical DDD and spondylosis-10%), that were listed when I received my decision letter form the VA back on 2007. Of the 11 items four of them I received a service connection and a percentage. the others were listed as service connections and a zero percent assigned. The zero % assigned issues included Thoracolumbar degenerative arthritis-intervertebral disc degeneration, Right shoulder rotator cuff tendonitis, Left thumb carpometacarpal joint sprain, left knee patellofemoral syndrome, impotence, surgical scar right elbow, left carpal tunnel syndrome-minor) They did not give a rating for the high cholesterol that has been an issue for many years during my 21 years of military service. I have been having issues with five of the areas and they have gotten worse. I have not gone to a doctor for all these issues because I had started a new job and did not have sick time and vacation built up and I have always been a person with a strong work ethic and not wanting to take time off for me to take care of my issues. I know that probably has not been the smartest thing to do, but I have been dealing with the pain and not complaining about it for many years to include before I retired. I was one of those guys that never complained very much when on active duty and lived with issues rather than complain because I loved the military and did not want to get kicked out for a Medical Board or anything like that. Also, some of the issues were personal and embarassing to discuss with doctors. However, it is at a point now where all these things are impacting me. I also had questions about the Gulf war syndrome because I served in the Gulf war and never gave a lot of thought to filing any type of claim for the Gulf War Illness/Syndrome. I do and have had a lot of the symptoms such as sleep issues, gastrointestinal problems, joint and muscle pain, weakness, and fatigue. Anyway, I was not sure if I could have that addressed since it was not specifically mentioned in my claim when I retired. On the Rating Decision that denied the issues - what did it state in the Reasons and Bases Section - A lot of the reasons they stated were because I went to the doctor once or only a few times and a lot of other things they said about the issues I got zero % for. Some things said that at the mediccal appointment I was abIe to tie my shoes and button a shirt, etc... Well, just because I was able to do those things did not mean it was painful. Unfortunately I did not appeal during that first year because I had so many things going on in my life at the time. So, that is why I am asking about what I need to do to re-open my case for the issues to attempt to get the ratings changed. I now have some leave and vacation days to make some appointments to get some of my issues looked at and documented in my records. I am guessing I have to have a current documented history before I attempt to ask the VA to re-open my claim. I just want some advice on the best way to go about this whole situation. what is the date on that Rating Decision ? The date of the rating decision is March 20, 2007. Anyway, as I said in the first forum post I did yesterday, I was wondering if someone had any advice on the best way for me to go about re-opening, what I should do, how long I need to wait, and if I have to have doctors visits on file before I can re-open and then does anybody have a good recommendation of which service agency in San Antonio I should use to file, such as Texas Veterans Commission or some other agency. Any suggestions, support, or assistance is greatly appreciated. Sincerely SG Soaringeagle17
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