Melanoma: Vital Health Facts For Veterans

[allan]

MELANOMA: VITAL HEALTH FACTS FOR VETERANS

http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?n...le&sid=5747

[purple]

There are also 2 other forms of skin cancer, basal cell and sqaumous cell (I've had both of those), that if left untreated and undetected can turn into melanoma. My sister had melanoma at age 17 on a place on her body that was rarely exposed to the sun. We are both extremely fair-skinned, blonde hair, blue eyes....so sometimes even a little sun exposure is all it takes as well.

I had to fight the Dayton VAMC like hell to get a derm consult for suspicious moles even though I've had these 2 forms of skin cancer and am SCd for them.

Keep an eye on any spots that don't look right and don't take no for an answer from your PCP if your doc refuses you a consult......tell them you know one mean blonde who will come after them! LOL!

[darkhorse]

Can you get Service connection for residuals of a basal cell carcinoma such as for the scar after the procedure. My scar is more disfiguring than the basal cell carcinoma ever was. The stitches had opened up after the procedure and it didn't heal correctly. I even went back to the Dermatologist and he said just let it heal like it is. Now i'm left with a big scar on the right side of my face.

DH

There are also 2 other forms of skin cancer, basal cell and sqaumous cell (I've had both of those), that if left untreated and undetected can turn into melanoma. My sister had melanoma at age 17 on a place on her body that was rarely exposed to the sun. We are both extremely fair-skinned, blonde hair, blue eyes....so sometimes even a little sun exposure is all it takes as well.

I had to fight the Dayton VAMC like hell to get a derm consult for suspicious moles even though I've had these 2 forms of skin cancer and am SCd for them.

Keep an eye on any spots that don't look right and don't take no for an answer from your PCP if your doc refuses you a consult......tell them you know one mean blonde who will come after them! LOL!

Edited September 11, 2009 by darkhorse

[JamesBreckenridge]

If you were service connected for the basal cell carcinoma, you should be able to get service connection for the scar secondary to the surgery to treat it. Disfiguring scars are certainly covered by the rating schedule under diagnostic code 7800.

Can you get Service connection for residuals of a basal cell carcinoma such as for the scar after the procedure. My scar is more disfiguring than the basal cell carcinoma ever was. The stitches had opened up after the procedure and it didn't heal correctly. I even went back to the Dermatologist and he said just let it heal like it is. Now i'm left with a big scar on the right side of my face.

DH

[darkhorse]

Thanks James, how do I go about service connection since the surgery has been done and the basal cell has been removed. I should have filed for service connection for this but I waited too long and now the surgery is done.

Also, since the stitchs opened up there is a larger scar. They told me the stitches would hold but I woke up in the middle of the night with blood everywhere. It was a mess.

Am I SOL or do I have a claim here for the scar.

DH

If you were service connected for the basal cell carcinoma, you should be able to get service connection for the scar secondary to the surgery to treat it. Disfiguring scars are certainly covered by the rating schedule under diagnostic code 7800.

[sharon]

Your claim would be for the residuals of basal cell carcinoma.

[JamesBreckenridge]

This is not a problem if your basal cell carcinoma existed in service as shown by your service treatment records. I don't see basal cell carcinoma listed as a condition subject to presumptive service connection if manifested to a compensable degree within some period of your discharge; so it looks like you're looking for service connection on a directly incurred basis. If your service treatment records are positive for basal cell carcinoma, I would look at those, as well as the records of your surgery (they tell me that you had surgery for the carcioma instead of something else), and I request a medical exam of your skin to evaluate your resulting scars. I would grant service connection for scars secondary to basal cell carcinoma. Presumably at this point you no longer have basal cell carcinoma, so I can't really service connect you for a chronic condition if you don't have it anymore, so I can't grant the carcinoma even at 0 percent. But the scars, yes, I could, because the SCARS are chronic (they're permanent by definition, and they'd be secondary to a condition that you had in service).

If your basal cell carcinoma wasn't diagnosed in service, or within some sort of presumptive period that I'm not aware of, you would be out of luck for getting the scars service connected.

Does that make any sense?

Thanks James, how do I go about service connection since the surgery has been done and the basal cell has been removed. I should have filed for service connection for this but I waited too long and now the surgery is done.

Also, since the stitchs opened up there is a larger scar. They told me the stitches would hold but I woke up in the middle of the night with blood everywhere. It was a mess.

Am I SOL or do I have a claim here for the scar.

DH