Just Got The C&p Report!

[jessie0054]

Just got the C&P report of my son's of 2/2/07. This C&P was done with the Charleston Va, Not sure if this was even done by a DR as i don't see [DR] anywhere on the report.

Any way his impression was [1] Appendix Cancer it is less tha 50% likely that it was caused by or a result of exposure to Benxene and other solvents in his Military Service.

[2] Polycythemia Vera is less tha 50% likely that it was caused by exposure to Benzene and other solvents in his Military. It is at least 50% likely that his Polycythemia Vera or a precursor thereof was present to some extent at the time of his discarge from the service.

He went on to say that my son has no current symptons or disabilities. { not true, According to this blood levels on that day he should have been ordered to go get a phlebotomy done then!!!

He also said that it has been a year since his last phlebotomy[ not true as my son took his last phlebotomy done in Nov 06 and handed to the person during the Exam.

Jessie

[Hoppy]

Jessie,

My mother lived in Australia. She did not tell anybody she had this disease. She called saying that she was returning to the US on a routine visit in two weeks. About a week later my aunt called and told us she just talked to our mother and that she had a terminal disease and only had two months to live and that she was returning to the US the next day. The next day my mother called and said she was hospitalized. I talked to the doctor and he said she could not travel. She passed away three days later from acute leukemia. All I know is what was said on the death certificate and research I did on google. The death certificate said acute leukemia preceeded by 15 years of PV as a contributing factor. I intrepreted this to mean that the leukemia was a secondary condition to the PV.

I am service connected at 70% for the angioedema. This rating is atypical. The disease is episodic and triggered by the inhaled fumes of paints, glues. solvent based cleaners etc. Episodes can become fatal within one hour. The symptoms are very obvious. My face swells up so much that I cannot see without forcing my eyes open. Peak symptoms can occuer in 1 hour to 15 hours. Peaks symptoms include fatal shock due to lose of blood pressure and or suffication due to closing of the airway. After peak symptoms take three weeks for me to fully recover. People who have the same disease that is triggered by food do not get a rating. The presumption is that you can avoid food without imparing your ability to work. People who have the disease triggered by inhaled pollens also get rated. I had a very difficult time getting jobs because of the numerous times I was treated in ER's. So I quit telling people I had the disease and continued to work for fifteen years. While working, commuting to work and other activities I was having about two visitis a year to the ER. Two times a year was two times to many according to the ER doctors. The ER doctors used to get in my face and scream and yell at me that I had to get the disease under controll because the next time I come in they might not be successful in controlling the reaction and that it could kill me. Eventually, my employer (City of Beverly Hills) found out I had the disease and I was terminated and removed from voc rehab when my attorney found out I had the disease. The attorney was of the opinion that I needed to work in a protected environment and that employers were not qualified to provide the proper protections.

My life became to complex and the only way to control the disease was to limit my activities. The only time I spend more than ten minutes inside a building is when I go to my doctors appointments. I have not been to a movie theatre in 25 years. Twenty five years ago it became very obvious what was causing them. When I was in the Navy I did not know what was causing them because they discharged me so fast. Then, I got a job working for a sign painting company. Every time I went to work I would have a reaction. Later I focused in on things that I was doing and actually have a real good idea of what to stay away from. The problem is that I do not always smell the chemicals or the smell is hidden. At this time when I have a reaction I have no idea what I ran into.

As far as service connection of diseases of unknown etiology, I am very sure the exact cause is not a requirement of service connection. I have read many BVA cases for a condition where the cause of the disease was not investigated if the symptoms first occurred while service in the armed forces. Psych conditions. lupus, and other systemic conditions are service connected. They do not know much about what causes those condions. I am sure if a cause that is very obvious and results from things after service they would not service connect. They tried that in my case. However, there was no evidence that the disease I had in the military had fully resolved. Th VA did do an investigation of my work activities in the military to determine if I worked with the same types of chemicals in the military and they determined that I did work with them. However, if their little investigation did not show chemical exposure I would have been service connected anyway. Angioedema, is a disease with no cure and there is no verifiable evidence to determine that the disease spontanously resolves or can be cured. The closest explanation of the cause of angioedema in the literature is that it is in part hereditary and part environmental.

Edited February 23, 2007 by Hoppy