A week after an emergency appendectomy, I suffered a nearly fatal case of bilateral deep venous thrombosis (DVT, or blood clots in legs) that caused bilateral pulmonary emboli (PE, or blood clots in lungs). I spent most of a week in ICU for this. They inserted a permanent inferior vena cava filter (IVC is large vein below heart), and I'm on anticoagulant Coumadin therapy, probably for life.
After a lot of research, I am convinced that this was caused either directly or indirectly by one or both of:
a) too much inactivity after the appendectomy because my SC back disability was killing me, so I likely didn't get as much exercise as would have been ideal
B) noted side effects of at least three meds that I use (in high dosages) for my back include DVT and PEs. (The steroid shots for the spine are the likely culprit in my lay opinion, but that is neither here nor there.)
When I mentioned awhile back to my VA PCP that I thought there was a link, he looked at me like I had just told him there were screaming monkeys flying out of my derriere.
I made an appointment with a Medical Professor (who is also a practicing physician) at Univ. of Texas Health Sciences Center, one of the country's top heart & lung clinics. He has board certifications in Pulmonary and Internal Medicine.
He reviewed my records, and I think otherwise dotted i's and crossed t's in explaining his opinion, then signed off on a nexus statement of "as likely as not, 50/50 probability" that my DVT/PE problems were caused by the SC disability and meds.
Will the VA be likely to try and fight this? If he was just a plain old general practitioner like the VA PCP docs, I would be more concerned about a challenge, but will they go up against a Professor of Medicine?And, if they approve it, what kind of rating would they probably give?
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acesup
A week after an emergency appendectomy, I suffered a nearly fatal case of bilateral deep venous thrombosis (DVT, or blood clots in legs) that caused bilateral pulmonary emboli (PE, or blood clots in lungs). I spent most of a week in ICU for this. They inserted a permanent inferior vena cava filter (IVC is large vein below heart), and I'm on anticoagulant Coumadin therapy, probably for life.
After a lot of research, I am convinced that this was caused either directly or indirectly by one or both of:
a) too much inactivity after the appendectomy because my SC back disability was killing me, so I likely didn't get as much exercise as would have been ideal
B) noted side effects of at least three meds that I use (in high dosages) for my back include DVT and PEs. (The steroid shots for the spine are the likely culprit in my lay opinion, but that is neither here nor there.)
When I mentioned awhile back to my VA PCP that I thought there was a link, he looked at me like I had just told him there were screaming monkeys flying out of my derriere.
I made an appointment with a Medical Professor (who is also a practicing physician) at Univ. of Texas Health Sciences Center, one of the country's top heart & lung clinics. He has board certifications in Pulmonary and Internal Medicine.
He reviewed my records, and I think otherwise dotted i's and crossed t's in explaining his opinion, then signed off on a nexus statement of "as likely as not, 50/50 probability" that my DVT/PE problems were caused by the SC disability and meds.
Will the VA be likely to try and fight this? If he was just a plain old general practitioner like the VA PCP docs, I would be more concerned about a challenge, but will they go up against a Professor of Medicine?And, if they approve it, what kind of rating would they probably give?
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