Ao & Lung Cancer

[USMCVetWife]

I am trying to help a friend with his AO claim. He said he filed before but was denied. As near as I can tell the prior filing was for a rash on his hand.

He did 4 or 5 tours in Vietnam. He is classified as a "brown water vet" as he was in the Navy stationed on the rivers. He was recently diagnosed and treated for lung cancer. A portion of his lung was removed and he began chemo treatments. He was unable to tolerate the chemo treatments and they were stopped. Here's what I'm trying to figure out for him.

1. As I understand it, there is no longer a 20 year time limit on AO claims for respiratory cancers. Correct?

2. If he was a smoker will this impact his claim? Will that impact change if he began smoking with the cigarettes provided in his rations?

3. Are there rashes or skin irritations associated with AO?

I think that's all I have for now, but I'm sure I'll have more as I get further into this claim. This is a whole new area for me, but he and his wife are very dear friends and I'd really like to help them.

Thanks!

[vmo]

File, file, and file as soon as possible for the lung cancer----forget about the cigarettes and "NO" time limit. What type skin condition and was he treated for it on active duty? Regardless, get the lung cancer claim filed-ASAP. **If you are not comfortable doing the application on your own, you may want to seek out a County or State Veterans service officer. Or possibly some one thru the DAV, VFW, Legion, AMVET. **What state are you from and where is the nearest VA Regional Office to you??

[USMCVetWife]

I live in Jacksonville, Florida. The nearest regional office is in St. Petersburg. I've already started the paperwork to begin the claim. Just working on getting dr reports and all of that together. I'm pretty comfortable dealing with the VA, this is just a new area for me. My husband is a Beruit era vet with arthritis and Chronic Adjustment Disorder. AO is a new field for me to delve into so I appreciate any help and direction I can get. :)

As to the skin condition, I don't believe he was treated during his service time. It's only on his hand and it gets dry and scaly at times and is always rough. Not sure exactly what it is. I'm just now getting his service records from St. Louis to review.

[jbasser]

Get the claim filed for the Lung Cancer in asap. You can get the records later. All he needs is a diagnosis and proof of RVN service.

J

[Berta]

Chloracne is associated with Agent Orange but VERY difficult to get service connected:

http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/conditions/chloracne.asp

The only vet I know -who has SC chloracne (and other AO disabilities )is also the first AO CONUS veteran ever awarded for AO exposure in the USA.

He was diagnosed with chloracne in service and also proved his duties at Fort Gordon put him where they sprayed AO. A Milestone decision that made big news about 2 years ago.

Is this veteran's lung cancer of a soft tissue sarcoma type?

If you give us the actual medical terminology for his type of cancer I can see if it appears on the STS list.

Years ago the MOPH told a widow that her husband's lung cancer and Vietnam service put her DIC claim "in the bag."

VA denied the claim as the type of lung cancer he had was not a soft tissue sarcoma.I dont know what other rationale the VA used for that denial but apparently the widow could not succeed in the DIC claim.

"He is classified as a "brown water vet" as he was in the Navy stationed on the rivers ….."

Does his ship or type of river vessel appear on the Brown Water ships list? That list should be here in our AO forum.

[Berta]

Here is the VA's ships list:

http://www.vawatchdog.org/10/nf10/nfjan10/jan10files/CP%20Bulletin%20-Jan%2010%20Final.pdf

I am sure any updates to this would be found at BlueWaterNAvy.org site.

[USMCVetWife]

I am going through his service records now. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to re-request some information as none of the medical records were included.

Here's what I know so far.

He was stationed on the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt

He served in the US Naval Support Activity, Saigon

He served as a River Boat Captain attached to River Division 573

He was stationed on the USS Valley Forge

He was stationed on the USS Lake Champlain

He was awarded a Bronze Star and a Gold Star (in lieu of a second Bronze Star) for injuries sustained while captaining "river boat patrols acting as escorts to two dredges" and a "river boat patrol which was providing base security."

He was also awarded a purple heart, but I haven't found the information on exactly what it was awarded for.

Still researching. :)