tdiu The Saga Continues

[63SIERRA]

Ok aside from everything else im battling for, I came to a realization. back in 04 when I fell deathy ill with my service related hepc which at the time was rated at zero percent I was put into a 48 week treatment of chemotherapy that means some very powerful meds that can kill you, and have killed folks., They bring u to the edge of death, to kill the virus. I was very sick most of that year of treatment . incapacitating episodes where I could barely get off the sofa for days, vomiting, 20 lbs weight loss, weakness , tired, abdominal pain, sweating chills,near constant burning diareeha , nausea , depression, rage, ect. I refiled for an increase near the end of my treatment and the va granted comp at 40 percent/. I recently read the regulations, and at least while I was on the chemo, I should have been rated 60 to 100 percent .. ALSO, even if they lowballed me at 60, that would have made me eligible for temporary TDIU. So what I want to know is specifically what I have to do, to try and get my temporary rating of 60 to 100 percent for the year I was being treated.

do I reopen, file a new claim, file a cue claim, file a special claim, ect.

also while I was on the chemo, a side effect is depression, so I was on depression meds for abt a year, and still depressed.

I struggled to pay my bills, and could only do a few service calls a week, and I had to hire my buddy to drive me around because I didnt trust myself, and was scared to faint at the wheel/ I was one sick puppy, and had to work during the hellish treatment of chemo. thse dirty bastards could have told me I was eligible for that compensation. they knew how sick I was my liver enzyme count was over 6.3 million and the liver biopsy said stage 3.5 to 4 out of possible worse 5. liver disease.

Edited November 5, 2013 by 63SIERRA

[free_spirit_etc]

"my way of thinking is wouldnt taking one of a persons kidney out " decrease kidney function, ? I dont think they work intermittently, like one works while the other doesnt, they work together to filter the blood."

Yes. The kidneys do work together. But they do not consider the loss of one to be significantly disabling. You can actually function quite well with one kidney. That is why people can be live donors and donate a kidney to a person with kidney disease, because they can can function quite well with one kidney. Now if you start having trouble with your remaining kidney, you have got BIG problems.

[free_spirit_etc]

I think you are on to something here. They should have rated you at 100% for kidney cancer until at least 6 months after surgery. It looks like they considered the cancer to be service connected, but only rated you on residuals (for the removal of the kidney).

So on this one, you might very well be able to file a CUE claim that they made serious error in only rating you on residuals, without rating you for the cancer itself for the appropriate time period.

What was the time-frame between when they found it and when they did the surgery?

ok as far as the kidney cancer, I filed the claim the day before surgery. di you think they should have comped me at 100 percent from the day I was found > the day the girl found it on ultrasound while checking my liver?

[63SIERRA]

a few months, the doc said it was pretty urgent because of its size and location.He actually called me the night that the ultrasound found it. I didnt have active symptoms where it was attacking my body yet, but when they tested the growth after surgery it was 100 percent positive that it was definitely cancerous. every 3 months after surgery , they tested me, and ultrasound every 6 months. I am now at the 2 year mark as of halloween of this year.l I will be checked once a year with ultrasound for the next 5 years, unless they see something they dont like .

So so far, I have beat hepc and kidney cancer. 2 killer diseases. jot to mention a long list of other ailments. so if the va thinks they are dealing with a loser or a quitter, they got another thing coming. They will either compensate me fairly or spend many years and lots of loot fighting me, thier choice. You are what you do, I never lost my fighting spirit, of the soldier I was destined to be. They will never break my spirit. praise god!!!

Edited November 3, 2013 by 63SIERRA

[free_spirit_etc]

Did they take the kidney out from the back or from the front? I had a friend with kidney failure and her sister donated a kidney. The surgery was MUCH harder on her sister. The doctor explained it was because they removed her kidney from the back. They placed the kidney in my friend from the front. The removal from the back is a much harder surgery to recover from because they have to cut through a lot of muscles. At least that was the way the doctor explained it to them.

[free_spirit_etc]

Has the decision on that rating become final? i.e. are you still within the time frame to appeal?

[free_spirit_etc]

I would be interested to know what they actually said in that rating decision. I am wondering if they only rated you on residuals, if the rating for cancer could still be considered pending and unadjudicated. I am not sure. Just a thought I am throwing out there. Because they should rate cancer at 100%, through the time you cease treatment and AT LEAST six months past that. The day of your surgery might not even be considered the point you "ceased treatment."

7528 Malignant neoplasms of the genitourinary system ....................................................... 100

Note: Following the cessation of surgical, X-ray, antineoplastic chemotherapy or other therapeutic procedure, the rating of 100 percent shall continue with a mandatory VA examination at the expiration of six months. Any change in evaluation based upon that or any subsequent examination shall be subject to the provisions of §3.105(e) of this chapter. If there has been no local recurrence or metastasis, rate on residuals as voiding dysfunction or renal dysfunction, whichever is predominant.