At What Age Did Your Injuries And Illnesses Start?

[retiredat44]

at what age did your injuries and illnesses start? Also, did your injuries and or illnesses start on active duty?

MY injuries and illnesses started around the age of 22 (on active duty). By the time I reached 35 yrs old I lost the ability to hold a job and work full time... not long after I became housebound and bedridden...

I am just very curious how long people worked and had good health, until their health was bad and screwed up their lives..

[rdawg]

same here except I still work. i knew i was going downhill fast so i took comp classes and changed careers. 6 years after changing i was service connected and eligible for voc rehab, too late.

[brokensoldier244th]

When my mom got cancer I dropped my senior year of college and moved my wife and son back home. I got injured at 22, after enlisting at 21 (it paid better than walmart, and I was supporting my family and helping my mom through cancer) and I was discharged. I was Active for just a hair under a year. I am 34 now, I still work, in IT now, but prior to that I thought Id be awesome and work in a penitentiary. Not a Good Idea. I was taken down by an inmate during a patdown/cell search, and ultimately fired because I could not resume full active duty. I'm in a lot of pain all the time, and I struggle with moody/pain days at work, but I don't have to be super social either.

I did the Voc Rehab thing to transition from physical jobs and 'security' type stuff, to IT/Sys management work.

Edited June 1, 2011 by brokensoldier244th

[retiredat44]

at what age did your injuries and illnesses start? Also, did your injuries and or illnesses start on active duty?

MY injuries and illnesses started around the age of 22 (on active duty). By the time I reached 35 yrs old I lost the ability to hold a job and work full time... not long after I became housebound and bedridden...

I am just very curious how long people worked and had good health, until their health was bad and screwed up their lives..

I went to college 1 year, joined the usaf, thought I would continue school while serving, was working too hard to go to school while working 24/7, then got sick, had to leave because every job they gave me got me sick with chemicals..

btw, I left the USAF after almost 5 years, because I lost 2 jobs I held due to illness... from the chemicals... I went back to school and got degrees in Engineering and Business, but I still ended up too sick to work... I was unable to work, go to school, or function... I lost all my health insurance after 2 surgeries... and won both an SSDI claim and a VA claim... I had to go through appeals on SSDI, , the VA only gave me 50% and denied the rest, a few years later I am back trying to get the full 100%. I was really stupid for not pursuing the full 100% with more appeals many years ago for the full VA P&T. But at least now I will get what's due me, hopefully before I die...

While hospitalized in 2008, I only had less than a 25% chance of living... most people with pancreas diseases die much sooner than healthy people... I need to get these ebenfits to help my daughter get her schooling... she is being cheated out of the school help the VA provides for dependents.. and my wife will be living out of a cardboard box if I don't get these benefits.. and I die before then..

Edited June 1, 2011 by retiredat44

[Commander Bob]

When I was 18 years old, one Sunday morning, just after Tet, 1968, while serving in a light weapons infantry line unit, as my Company Commander's RTO, I was required to enter a mine field to render aid to the wounded, comfort the dying, and retrieve the dead. Incoming fire was reported. I was severely wounded after the 4th explosion. This began my 40+ year odyssey with the V.A.

Bob

Edited June 1, 2011 by Commander Bob

[brokensoldier244th]

Is that you, or a screen cap from a movie I haven't seen? :-)

When I was 18 years old, one Sunday morning, just after Tet, 1968, while serving in a light weapons infantry line unit, as my Company Commander's RTO, I was required to enter a mine field to render aid to the wounded, comfort the dying, and retrieve the dead. Incoming fire was reported. I was severely wounded after the 4th explosion. This began my 40+ year odyssey with the V.A.

Bob

[Commander Bob]

Is that you, or a screen cap from a movie I haven't seen? :-)

screen cap from "Apocalypse Now"... That scene depicts my Vietnam experience...

Here is the real deal ~

Edited June 1, 2011 by Commander Bob