diabetes Agent Orange Question(S)

[CCC]

Hey, all. Not new here, but can't remember my log-in information, so I am ashamedly starting over. :)

I have a question or two related to Agent Orange exposure, disability, etc. If there's a place where I can read up on it, please direct me so I don't have to waste anyone's time, but y'all have been so helpful before.

OK, my husband is disabled. His paperwork says 50% but he's rated at 60%. I don't understand how that works, but he said it's a VA thing, and not supposed to make sense.

Reading here, and online, we got a little information regarding his exposure. He was never in Vietnam, but was Vietnam era. He was working at several Army bases as an MP, where AO was sprayed as a defoliant. Many of those Army bases are now considered "superfund" sites by the EPA because of the toxicity levels.

He has heart disease, type 2 diabetes, emphysema and a myriad of other conditions. The only one, at this time, considered service connected, is his heart. He had a heart attack when he was stationed in California, and this was about 10 years after his exposure to AO. This is all in his records, and he has no history of heart disease, himself or family.

We got notification yesterday of other documents needed, such as proving how AO resulted in heart disease, etc. I was wondering if anyone had any idea of how I would go about doing that? I'm not sure what my next step should be.

We are a little confused on how we are supposed to proceed. There were no tests done on him while he was in the military for anything - he said in the entire 20 years he was in the military, never once does he remember his finger being pricked or being checked for sugar. He remembers being in Ft. Carson, CO, and they were going to have to ship him to another base because he was having so much trouble breathing - he couldn't acclimate to the higher climate.

He was stationed at 5 different sites which are now considered EPA superfund sites, and especially remembers AO being sprayed along the fenceline, regularly, at Seneca Army Depot, also a superfund site. He said they sprayed it regularly, because it was a nuke depot, and they had to keep the weeds away from the fenceline.

Anyway, any help would be appreciated on how to proceed.

Thanks in advance. :)

[CCC]

Thanks so much everyone - I just got back from class and found myself inundated with all of this information! I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of this information.

I do hope it's OK from time to time if I pop in and ask more questions - as I come across things that may confuse me.

And I will continually check this thread to see if any other information has been posted.

Y'all are just awesome. Thanks so much.

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Capt. Contaminate -- he was at Ft. Carson (retired from there ) and we have tons of evidence to back it up, but he was there much later than 1973. He was there from 89 to 92. He has documents from all the way back to 1984 that says he is physically unfit to remain in the Army because of all of the problems, yet they never retired him. He went out on TDRL for 5 years, they brought him back saying he was fit for duty. 2 months later he was back in the hospital having more chest pains.

How would one find out the time frame that this stuff was done? Like for instance Ft. Gordon - what I read said things were sprayed there until October of 1967. He got there in January of 1968 and spent two months in MP training. See, that's the kind of stuff I was wondering about. Would he be able to claim anything from Ft. Gordon? He was there, but the dates are a few months separate.

Also, the list you posted with all of your illnesses? Yours and his match almost to a T.

[Capt.]

Hello CCC... Your welcome..... Please remember that Agent Orange was outlawed in 1975 so your dates need to be before that. However if he was involved in some type of exposure to say a dump or burn pit then it could be active for years later. It will take a cadre of evidence from buddy statements to doctors IMOs and Smrs. to collectively connect the dots. Agent Orange may remain in the ground and very active and deadly for decades according to Dr. Arnold Schectter who James Cripps and I both used in our claims. James won with his and mine is in adjudication process.

Your husband has IHD and another presumptive from the VA list of Agent Orange. You need to get your claim filed and continue to develope it as best as can be.

Jbasser and I were talking and he and I suggest you go back to the SVR radio show and find James Cripps show. Remember James Cripps was at Fort Gordon and he was an MP also ..... I hope this helps out . God Bless,,,,,,NEVER GIVE UP. C.C.

Edited January 10, 2012 by Capt.Contaminate

[CCC]

I feel like an idiot, but what is SVR radio show?

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Now another bit of advice if I can. I don't know if I've mentioned this already, and if I have, I'm sorry.

We filed the AO claim back in August. We got the dreaded manila packet on Friday, asking for all this documentation.

As I was looking through his medical records, I saw so many things that threw up red flags.

He isn't rated for a few things that should be rated, as SC. Now these things we have documentation on, signed by VA doctors, like his hearing loss. He's rated for tinnitus, not hearing loss. Should I send in the documentation and ask them to rate him on the hearing loss and the compartment syndrome, and inform them that I am working on the rest of his claim? And that the documentation backing up his AO claims will be coming at a later time?

Or should I wait and do it all at the same time? For the hearing loss and the compartment syndrome, and possibly chronic cough/bronchitis, that's all right there, in black and white, in his medical records. That would (I think ) be quicker to get to them and then that will give me time to work on the AO a little more at length.

[boomer2]

Should I send in the documentation and ask them to rate him on the hearing loss and the compartment syndrome, and inform them that I am working on the rest of his claim? And that the documentation backing up his AO claims will be coming at a later time?

I don't think you can do that they may deny the AO claims because you did not send in the proof. I may be wrong on this, I'm sure others will chime in about it.

You can find the link to the SVR shows on the home page on the right hand side near the top.

When you say your husband is not rated for hearing loss, does that mean he is at 0% or not rated at all? How long has it been since he had a hearing test? To get compensated for hearing loss you need to be dam near deaf. I would recommend that you look at this link before he takes another hearing test. http://www.nmcphc.med.navy.mil/downloads/occmed/toolbox/va%20audiology%20best%20practices%20&%20procedures.pdf

[jbasser]

CCC here is a link to the SVR show with James Cripps.

http://www.svr-radio.com/images/07132011_James_Cripps_AO.mp3

Basser

[CCC]

Should I send in the documentation and ask them to rate him on the hearing loss and the compartment syndrome, and inform them that I am working on the rest of his claim? And that the documentation backing up his AO claims will be coming at a later time?

I don't think you can do that they may deny the AO claims because you did not send in the proof. I may be wrong on this, I'm sure others will chime in about it.

You can find the link to the SVR shows on the home page on the right hand side near the top.

When you say your husband is not rated for hearing loss, does that mean he is at 0% or not rated at all? How long has it been since he had a hearing test? To get compensated for hearing loss you need to be dam near deaf. I would recommend that you look at this link before he takes another hearing test. http://www.nmcphc.me...0procedures.pdf

OK so I will wait and send it in all at the same time. About the hearing loss - it's not rated at all. It's high frequency hearing loss, and it's pretty much gone. It started out diagnosed as mild, with a doctor acknowledging that it started around 1972, and it later on was diagnosed as profound hearing loss. He isn't deaf on a normal range, but high frequency is gone, completely. His alarm goes off on his watch? Can't hear it at all. I have to tell him to turn it off. He leaves the fridge door open? He doesn't hear the alarm and I have to tell him to go close the door.