Hearing Coming Up

[Dean]

I got a letter the other day and was told that I have a hering in about 3 weeks. I do not know what is on my docket at all. I have so many things filed, I do not even know whatthings that the hearing is about. I have went through this before. It sux how they do not tell you in the letter that the hearing is about. When I call the idiots in Atlanta they tell me that they do not know. The person acted like it was a problem to just answer the phone. I finally found out what was on there but I can't count on her to be correct since she was trying to get me off of the phone every time she got finished with a sentence. I was writing this as I was on the phone.

I am thinking that Depression will be on the docket along with other things that I have filed. I have been trying to get service connected for depression for a long time now. The only way that I think that I can get them to do this is to explain to them that the depression is secondary. I have tried to get every doctor to put that in my records. I have been denied for this even though I gave them the record years ago to look at that this doctor put this on. Now I have to find that 1 paper in about 5 boxes of my files. I am going to try to get a copy of that record from the V.A. but it was years ago and the doctor is gone now.

If anyone has any idea's that can help me please send me an e-mail. I am going to be up to my neck in paperwork for the next couple of weeks. Thanks in advance.

[Dean]

I have been hard at work getting ready for this hearing. My nerves have been so bad that I had to break my zoloft after 2 years. It seemed to calm me down and ease my migraines. I have had to go to the doctor twice in the past week for another sinus infection and 1 of those times I had to get a shot for the migrain.

I never got time to post all of the information that I had. I have been working this case around the clock and fighting a migrain everyday. Nothing that I found will work. Case is tomorrow. I gave my representative about 100 pages to go over and I still have about that many more to go over myself. This guy say's that he has never lost a case. I will get on here some more later. I will be putting a post up about Hexavalent Chromium and a in-service military record. I also found documented proof of the government stating that it does cause lung cancer.

The MMPI Test was a waste of time. I am not sure if I am going to use it or not. I messed up and told the shrink that I needed to rule out the personality disorder. Well she took that and ran with it. She did write a lot about how my disabilities affect my personality. The test results came back the same as my last test. I answered the test in a way that made me seem that I was an honest person (as per the test answer results). That resulted in : This person answered the test in an unfavorable way to make himself seem honest. The veteran service officer that is helping me with my case said that he has never heard of that happening to anyone. I was the same way on the test that I took 3 years ago.

I found in my records where a shrink came to my bedside after my brain surgery and he put in my records that he did not see a true personality disorder. He wrote that my personality disorder was due to having Acoustic Neuroma Brain Surgery. This was right after they first started saying that I had a personality disorder.

Speaking of my acoustic neuroma brain tumor. I found proof that my tumor started when I was in the military. I will put one reason under it.

An acoustic reflex threshold is a middle ear measurement of stapedius muscle response to higher intensity and adequate duration sounds for individual frequencies. Consider the softest sound that elicits a reflex contraction of the stapedius muscle as the acoustic reflex threshold. When the stapedius muscle contracts in response to a loud sound, that contraction changes the middle ear immittance. This change in immittance can be detected as a deflection in the recording.

Tympanometry records changes in middle ear immittance, while air pressure is varied in the ear canal and acoustic reflexes are recorded at a single air pressure setting (ie, the pressure setting that provided the peak immittance reading for that particular ear on the tympanogram). Ear canal pressure is maintained at that specific setting, while tones of various intensities are presented into the ear canal and immittance is recorded. A significant change in middle ear immittance immediately after the stimulus is considered an acoustic reflex.

A stapedial muscle contraction in response to an intense signal occurs bilaterally in normal ears with either unilateral or bilateral stimulation. This reaction occurs because the stapedial reflex pathway has both ipsilateral and contralateral projections. Acoustic reflex thresholds generally are determined in response to stimuli of 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz. For screening purposes, or for a general check of the pathway's integrity, usually test at 1000 Hz.

My Ear TEST:

Right Ear Pattern

1000 2000 3000 4000

+05 +10 +10 3-28-1989

-05 +05 2-02-1990

+05 +05 +10 +05 1-11-1991

+05 +05 3-30-1992

There is a marked pattern of symptoms for an Acoustic Neuroma.

I also have times that I went to the doctor while in the military for ear problems (otitis media) and givin ear drops. On doctor even said that I needed to be seen by ENT for Estuation Tube Dysfunction. Also 2 episodes of passing out for no known reason.

While I was in the V.A. hospital I was given ear drops 9 months before my tumor was found.

I think that we have enough for the Benefit of the Doubt Rule in favor of the veteran that my tumor was growing while I was in the military.

[Berta]

This is unfortunate that the newer MMPI did ot help you-

If I were you Dean-just focus on all of the physical conditions for service connection at this point-

If your SO is as good as he says- he certainly is going to focus on the strongest parts of the claim-

Although the gov might have made a strong connection between Hexavalent Chromium and lung cancer , the VA will still want specific medical evidence that in your case, you were exposed to this in service and more than likely it caused your cancer.The opinion would have to strongly suggest that there is no other known etiology but for this exposure to cause your cancer disability.

There is much on the net as to the association:

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/hexchrom/

[Dean]

HEARING WENT WELL.

After the hearing was over I told the judge that I just wanted someone to work my case and not just ignore it because of me having 6 volums to go through. During the hearing she asked me to explain exactly how my C&P Exam went. She was not happy with my C&P Exam. I found out that this was a higher court than the last hearing that I had 2 years ago. From what I understood, Washington was not happy with the way that my case has been handled. The service officer did a good job keeping me sane. I spoke, my wife spoke, and then my 16 year old daughter spoke. After we were finished speaking the judge said "that was enough for me to hear, I do not need to hear anymore". The judge did not question anything that I said and my daughter told me that she could see the judge shaking her head when I was talking in agreement with me.

After the hearing was over, the judge told me this, "People will pay." That was after I expressed how I thought that my case had been done during the hearing. The service officer was amazed about the hearing and how the judge reacted. The judge did not even give him a chance to give closing arguments because she had heard enough. The judge told me that she would give me the E.D. as a secondary to my hernia trouble.

I feel a little bit better about things now. I just hope that everything comes out in the end. I think that the person that did my C&P exam will get fired or demoted from doing C&P exams. The judge could not get over the fact that the person said that I did not have female ovarian cancer. Before my hearing started I mentioned that and the judge said "Let's get this on tape, this is going to be good." I also told her that the supervisor did not even know what title 38 laws were when I asked her about the C&P Exam.

I am still fighting this sinus infection. I am going to have my teeth checked to see if it is another tooth infection.

Thanks Berta and everyone for everything. The SO said that he found enough in my records to get the depression. I did not submit the new MMPI test. I also found everything in my records for everything else. Now it is up to them to do the right thing.

[Berta]

Dean-I am proud of you all- and this sounds very positive-

what I meant was- once any physical disability is properly SCed-then the depression can certainly be a valid secondary claim-The depression diagnosis will then make the PD stuff null-hopefully- and obviously your SO saw the potential for the depression as service connectable.

This was not easy to get through but you did it.

And you sound more upbeat today- and maybe you can relax now a little.

[Dean]

My nerves are a lot better. My sinus infection however has gotten a tooth infected I think. My teeth are messed up anyway and I think that the infection just drained to a weak spot. My daughter told me that I should file for the meds that I have taken through the years as the cause for my teeth to decay. I used to have good teeth. I even had too many teeth in my mouth and it caused them to be over crowded. Now I only have 18 teeth in my mouth. This will leave me with no molors on the bottem left side of my mouth. I do not do root canals. With my teeth the way that they are, it is not worth it. I have too many messed up teeth. They have been infected and have been eroding for the past 5 years. I can't get a root canal on my entire mouth. I plan on getting false teeth when I get my big check from this hearing. It is sad to have to get dentures at 38 years old. The hexavalent chromium causes teeth erosion also but I can't prove that is my problem (yet).

[carlie]

Dean,

Im glad the hearing went well and is over.

carlie