ptsd Should I Claim This? Ptsd? Treated By Psychiatrist

[MDB1968NM]

Hi Everybody,

Well, I should be getting a copy of my SMRs this week and I have few questions but will start with this one.  In 2006, I had major orthopedic surgery that created a ton of pain.  I was on all sorts of pain killers and anti nausea medicines and was "found" the next day in "respiratory arrest" and "ashen colored" in my recovery room (I was not on monitoring).  The eventual outcome was a morphine overdose (still have not received all the information from Wilford Hall Med Center) and I spent several days in the ICU.  I had some "cardiac ischemia" and after 3 months of testing I was given a clean bill of health.   It was all very scary and up until Dec 2008, I never spoke of the "incident".  I went to see the psychiatrist at the base for some chronic pain problems (looking for relaxation and coping skills) and walked out of there crying my eyes out.  Yup....I had a problem.  We conducted "Exposure Therapy" for months and I finally was able to relive the "incidents" and discuss them without crying my eyes out.

A VSO rep stated ( I have not chosen one yet ) that I should most definitely claim this as PTSD.  I was not in combat at the time and the rep stated that does not matter.....it was a traumatic incident "dying" in the hospital.  I feel pretty OK about the whole situation but at times I still get a bit anxious about it when discussed.

My psychiatrist and I think that I am good to go now...much better than before, but I am trying to understand if this should be mentioned on my claim.  I don't want to frivolously place things on a govt document.  Like I stated earlier I feel pretty OK about the whole incident and can talk about it without breaking down so essentially I feel that I am OK!

I appreciate all your thoughts on the matter and want to do the right thing.

Thank you.....

:P

[john999]

I think a claim for depression due to a major medical condition and chronic pain would fly better. If you had a horrible accident that resulted in the surgery then that would seem to be more in line with a PTSD claim. The incident you are talking about is surgery and a reaction to medication. I don't know if that is considered a life threatening event of the PTSD variety. I think these VSO's are going hog wild with PTSD diagnosis. What kind of mental health medications do you take now? You have to prove a stressor. What in your case is the stressor? I guess it would be nearly dying from a drug overdose the hospital gave you. I guess that is PTSD, but if you are taking pain meds and depression meds that would be just right for a depression claim due to medical condition. Your operation was for a service connected condition correct? Others may feel that you do have a strong PTSD claim. I would like to hear their reasoning. I am playing devil's advocate a little to make sure you are not going down some blind alley.

[Berta]

I hope this USAF nurse Fontana didnt treat you at Wilford-

http://outside.in/places/wilford-hall-medi...ter-san-antonio

Due to the Feres Doctrine I dont know if anyone can sue him-

Court Dates Set for A.F. Nurse Accused of Murder

FOX San Antonio - July 15, 2009

A Lackland Air Force nurse accused of killing 3 terminally ill patients is expected to be formally charged. Air Force officials announced today that Captain Michael Fontana is scheduled for an ar... »

http://outside.in/places/wilford-hall-medi...ter-san-antonio

[john999]

Berta

Yes, if this was an intentional overdose by a nurse it would be a PTSD incident. That I can see. MDB19 would be the victim of attempted murder.

[timetowinarace]

Hi Everybody,

Well, I should be getting a copy of my SMRs this week and I have few questions but will start with this one.  In 2006, I had major orthopedic surgery that created a ton of pain.  I was on all sorts of pain killers and anti nausea medicines and was "found" the next day in "respiratory arrest" and "ashen colored" in my recovery room (I was not on monitoring).  The eventual outcome was a morphine overdose (still have not received all the information from Wilford Hall Med Center) and I spent several days in the ICU.  I had some "cardiac ischemia" and after 3 months of testing I was given a clean bill of health.   It was all very scary and up until Dec 2008, I never spoke of the "incident".  I went to see the psychiatrist at the base for some chronic pain problems (looking for relaxation and coping skills) and walked out of there crying my eyes out.  Yup....I had a problem.  We conducted "Exposure Therapy" for months and I finally was able to relive the "incidents" and discuss them without crying my eyes out.

A VSO rep stated ( I have not chosen one yet ) that I should most definitely claim this as PTSD.  I was not in combat at the time and the rep stated that does not matter.....it was a traumatic incident "dying" in the hospital.  I feel pretty OK about the whole situation but at times I still get a bit anxious about it when discussed.

My psychiatrist and I think that I am good to go now...much better than before, but I am trying to understand if this should be mentioned on my claim.  I don't want to frivolously place things on a govt document.  Like I stated earlier I feel pretty OK about the whole incident and can talk about it without breaking down so essentially I feel that I am OK!

I appreciate all your thoughts on the matter and want to do the right thing.

Thank you.....

:P

I think you should get a copy of your treatment records from the psychiatrist. See what DX was put on paper. Your symptoms may be mild now and I hope they stay that way for you, but my advice would be to file for SC for the DX given by the psych. Even if you get a 0% rating because your symptoms are mild and you are Okay with that, you can't foresee the future. Your condition may worsen and having the condition already SC will make a big differenc in getting treatment from the VA and a increase in rating if it is needed.

[MDB1968NM]

I think you should get a copy of your treatment records from the psychiatrist. See what DX was put on paper. Your symptoms may be mild now and I hope they stay that way for you, but my advice would be to file for SC for the DX given by the psych. Even if you get a 0% rating because your symptoms are mild and you are Okay with that, you can't foresee the future. Your condition may worsen and having the condition already SC will make a big differenc in getting treatment from the VA and a increase in rating if it is needed.

Thanks for all the input.  I think some clarification is in order....

1.  I do NOT think that the incident was anything other than an accident.  The entire anesthesiology team was with me throughout the entire process and cared TREMENDOUSLY for my pain.

2.  The Lead Anesthesiologist (O-6) told me that he felt the diagnosis of a morphine overdose was wrong.  He stated that my body probably shut down due to all the junk going in there...epidural, femoral nerve block, morphine PCA pump every 8 Min, oral pain meds, and anti nausea meds.  He thinks that what most likely happened is that someone accidentally misread one of the dosage instructions and thats what triggered the shutdown of my body.  Sounds reasonable to me and I accept that accidents happen and I harbor NO ILL WILL towards the med team at WHMC whatsoever.  The bottom line is that they found me, saved my life, and as far as I can tell this was in no way intentional.

3.  John999....I do not consider myself depressed at all.  In a ton of pain but not as a direct result of this.  I am on NO medication for the condition.  As far as stressors....talking about dying in the hospital was pretty bad (blocked it from memory, seeing doctors on TV or in real life hospital settings put me through the roof, tearing up when talking about it).  Those issues, aside from getting choked up about it now, are gone.  THAT IS A GOOD THING!  My psychiatrist is incredible and she really really helped me through a great deal with this.

What I am concerned about is the fact that since the incident, of which they have no idea on how long I was not breathing or getting oxygen to my body parts, I have had some issues that MAY be associated with this.  In March of 2008 I began losing my vision at times...no migraine pain but lost the vision in 1/3 of my field of view.  Then after this, I have had about 10 bouts with migraines (some with vision loss preceding the pain).  Doctor prescribed Zomig and Naprosen and that pretty much will "get me through" but the day is essentially lost to me as I end up in bed with a frozen bad of peas over my eyes.  

I was sent for numerous tests: MRI, bubble test on heart, carotid doppler scan, etc and everything was normal.

What is truly frustrating and bad on my part from a treatment point of view, is that when these incidents happen, I essentially sucked them up for fear of being relieved of duties.  I am not a doctor and have no idea why the migraines/vision losses started or if they will continue....its pretty scary essentially when driving.  I was medically disqualified from flying (no MEB as the reg changed according to the FS) and the reason for the DQ was the Total Knee Replacement and two shoulder surgeries (shoulders were a result of an aircraft severe turbulence incident that dislocated both of them temporarily and knocked a molar loose).

My body has a myriad of issues right now.  There are major things that I will most definitely claim but I was curious as to if the VSO rep was correct in stating that I should at least claim the PTSD for the incident at WHMC.  What I am concerned about, is that although the exposure treatment went very well, and I have since had two major surgeries....I still get a bit choked up about talking about what happened.  Sometimes I have to have my wife stop watching ER or House on TV because it just hits too close to home.  I do not want to go BACK to where I was a year ago.

I also think, correct me if I am wrong, that PTSD is not something that should be considered lightly.  I have many friends that have truly been in crappy situations and it is obvious that they have issues.  For my situation I consider it, lets say an "inconvenience", and don't want to burden the system if it is not warranted.  That may not make sense but I do not want to claim something if it will waste the people already swamped with claims.  I also have some other major issues that are really bothering me and by claiming something that would be "questionable" to some and only an "inconvenience" to me now, I would think would just make me look as if I were trying to "game" the system.  Hence my question here....the PTSD issue never came up until I spoke with a VSO rep about my issues....she seems to really care and have my best interests at heart.

Sorry for going on more than I intended to but hopefully that will help get me some answers on how to proceed!

Thanks again for all your responses and I look forward to the continued advice!

:P

[Berta]

If I were you I would not claim PTSD at all Based on what you just said here.

Do you have proof of the in air turbulence incident and proof of the inservice treatment?

"What I am concerned about is the fact that since the incident, of which they have no idea on how long I was not breathing or getting oxygen to my body parts, I have had some issues that MAY be associated with this. In March of 2008 I began losing my vision at times...no migraine pain but lost the vision in 1/3 of my field of view. Then after this, I have had about 10 bouts with migraines (some with vision loss preceding the pain). Doctor prescribed Zomig and Naprosen and that pretty much will "get me through" but the day is essentially lost to me as I end up in bed with a frozen bad of peas over my eyes."

I think you should be concerned about this-you mentioned MRI-ECHOs etc-did they include MRI of brain?

Have you googled the meds to see if they are causing side affects and exactly what they were prescribed for?

I dont mean to alarm you or anyone-

but I see their medical error as negligence.

Then again-I am biased.

My husband and I thought he was receiving adequate VA health care.

They admitted to causing his death.

Money cannot in any way whatsoever compensate for malpractice.

I think you were victim of extraordinary negligence and malpractice here-

it is good that you can get that behind you.

I only hope your VA care (if you do get VA care now) is a heck of a lot better.

The visual problem could be result of the in hospital incident.But that would take a Neurologist to determine.

You might want to consider getting a private doctor to exam you and get an independent medical opinion.That could be costly but a real doctor can assess your disabilities and opine on what the cause of them is.

Did the VSO rep fully assess your medical records to determine what disabilities other then PTSD you could possibly claim?

Edited September 13, 2009 by Berta