hypertension Claim History

[Guest jstacy]

FIrst I want to thank T Bird and Berta for their expertise.

Im 1983 I was personally assaulted on 2 occasions.Both assaults are listed in the service record and I have the ships logs as well as the Master at arms log. The first guy went to levanworth to make big rocks out of little ones. The second guy was never found. I was 18 years old.I went into hiding, got transferred to another unit and had to keep my mouth shut. I was really paranoid and I always looked over my shoulder. It still exists to this day. I gained weight, Got Hypertension.

In 1994 our local VA got a new and exciting MRI machine and was asking for guina pigs to run trial exams. I had been having neck trouble and the exam showed degenerative jont and degenerative disk disease in My neck. left side(exactly where I was hit) I filed a claim in 94 for a neck injury through the local DAV. What a mistake. The response from the ro said I had filed for a head injury. I did have a c and P exam. There were no service records at the time to verify my claim therefore it was denied.

I reopened in 98 with new evidence and the ro denied it again. I di dnot appeal but the ro did state the stressor did happen and was totally beligerate in the letter. I became depressed and did not appeal. In 2003 after undergoing surgury on the neck and finding out the extent of the damage, I reopened the claim again. This time I won and was awarded a whoppiong 10 percent. Since I won I have gone down hill. I have been diagnosed with thoracic outlet and cannot raise my left arm over my head. I also have a paralyzed Left hemidiaphragm and restrictive lung disease. ( My second command I was an asbestos worker) verified in the service records. Dcc says it is related to the neck. Here is what I have filed for.

100 percent restrictive pulmonary disorder ( Diffusion is 40 percent)

40 percent thoracic outlet

50 percent obstructive sleep apnea ( Secondary to endegenous obesity)

TDIU

The Obesity and hypertension with diastolic readings over 100 was diagnosed within 1 yerar of separation.

radicular signs and symptoms left arm.

What chances do I have of winning this claim

I am thinking of applying for PTSD but Iam relujctant to do so. I believe I can win, but I think people already look down on me for not being able to work. I did file for ssa and fortunatly I have a long term disability plan at work.

The hypertension claim is in dro now.

I hope I have covered everything. Sorry to drag this out But I weanted hadit members to reply and giver me some good advice.

[Pete53]

Congrats. I think you should apply for PTSD also. Good Luck.

[Guest Berta]

John- I agree with Pete to put PTSD in your claim .

I am concerned about the lung disorder and asbestos-

That is a good claim if your inservice occupation- as you stated - exposed you to asbestos-

What VA does with asbestos claims is to look for any other etiology or reason for lung disease-to rule against -

like smoking or post service possible exposure-in other asbestos related work sites-

However- asbestos claims can be successful-

is this condition directly related medically to asbestos by a doctor yet?

For Navy vets the VA used an occupational hazard list-

(PIES list)-guress they use something like that for any other branch-

I have an asbestos Navy vet whose claim is in progress.

A vet's DD 214 might not reflect what they actually did in service-

The vet I filed a claim for had a MOS for machinist mate on DD 214 but in service he had two other MOS and one was probable exposure on the PIES list-the other was highly probable. He held those duties aboard ship for some time.

He never smoked and had no other exposure to asbestos before or after service through any job.

The only problem is VA recognizes gastrointestinal cancers as possibly due to asbestos-he has colon cancer-

I was worried that they would not understand this is an intestinal cancer then I found a recent lawsuit in which a man won recently for millions-

not a vet but he had colon cancer and sued a company that exposed him to asbestos-

It shows the probability of colon cancer -asbestos linkage we might need if the VA doesn't read his claim right-as to the gastrointestinal part.

Asbestos is not presumptive but VA does recognize many vets were exposed to it-it can cause latency for decades before it shows up.

VA has an asbestos fast memo and additional info at the VA web site on asbestos exposure.

PS -We sent with the claim a picture of his ship and an article that shows it was sent to Iran many years ago and trashed there. (Probably due to all the asbestos on it -too costly to remove)