Auto Grant ?

[Guest Jim S.]

I was wondering if you have to be 100% service connected to apply for a Auto Grant from the VA?

I still have a long way to get their, but I am NSC with IU, but that is off set by SSDI. I haven't given up being SC, but if I do not have to wait for that day, then I would definetly apply for the Auto Grant.

I have an ever increasing need to change from my standard shift to an automatic, with power stearing, powerbrakes, and can also carry my electric wheel chair or Kart as well as my vehicle does now.

I also need a better way to store my oxygen supplies while transporting them in my vehicle and extra cylenders when I must be away from my home for extended periods of time.

My current income source, that being SSDI, is not sufficient to even consider a purchase on my own.

Jim S.

[RAWDOG966]

Jim,

You were in the Navy! What was your job? If you were exposed to asbestos from the pipe insulation you could have service-connected asbestosis. It is a horrible disease and takes minimal exposure to get it. By the way, it is not unusual for it to manifest up to 40 years from the time of exposure. It is known to show up between 10-40 years.

By the way, it seems likely to me that you have obesity due to the lung problem, instead of the other way around. When was the sarcoidosis diagnosed?

I helped a vet recently with multiple heart and lung problems. He had spent a year on Navy ships before he was honorably discharged 30 years ago. Sure enough, he has asbestosis.

If I can help you let me know. I try to help when my husband is sleeping, which isn't much these days. But maybe some of the things I've learned about it would be helpful to you.

Carrie

[RAWDOG966]

I SERVED IN THE NAVY FROM 1995-1998 , 3YEARS WERE SERVED OVERSEAS ON A DESTROYER. I WAS A BM FOR 2YEAR BEFORE I BECAME A SK. AS A BM ALL I DID WAS PAINT AND RIP UP NON SKID SANDING AND PAINTING AND STANDING WATCH. AS A SK I DID A LOT OF SUPPLIES FROM DIFFERENT STORE ROOMS. I BECAME IN CHARGE OF MAINLY "D" STORE ROOM WHERE ALOT OF ASBESTEOUS AND ASBESTOUS PRODUCTS WERE STORED. I GOT OUT NOV 98. IT'S 2008 NOW WHERE I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH SARCOIDOSIS OF THE LUNGS, I'M ALREADY ON A CPAC FOR SLEEP APNEA AND LAST WEEK THEY GAVE ME ASMA PUMPS FROM THE VA. MY PRIMARY CARE SAID MY CONDITIONS CAME FROM MY EXPOSURE TO TB IN 98 IN NNMC, BETHESDA, BUT I THINK ALL OF THESE RESPIRATORY CONDITIONS(SLEEP APNEA, SHORTNESS OF BREATH,ACID REFLUX, AND THIS SARCOIDOSIS/GRANULATOMAS COME FROM ASBESTOUS EXPOSURE AND FROME ALL THE DUST AND NON SKID. I HAD ALREADY FILED A CLAIM FOR OTHER CONDITIONS BEFORE I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH THIS A FEW MONTHS AGO AND MY DOCTOR TOLD ME TO GO AND FILE A CLAIM FOR THESE CONDITIONS AS WELL BUT THE REP SAID THAT I SHOULDN'T. I'M AT THE POINT WHERE I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. THE REASON THEY FOUND THE SARCOIDOSIS/GRANULATOMAS IS FROM MY LAST C&MP EXAM AND THEY SAW SOMETHING SO I HAD TO DO MULTIPLE X-RAYS. IS THIS A POSSIBLE CASE FOR COMPENSATION IF SO WHAT ROUTE SHOULD I GO. ANY INFORMATION IS HELPFUL.

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND SERVICE.

YOU CAN REACH ME AT (RAWDOG966@YAHOO.COM) KEITH