Just need advice on what to do?

[Dan1865]

Hi All, 

I filed a claim for benefits on Feb 4, 2020 and am still waiting for a decision! Here is what I claimed and will explain.

1. VA 1151- I was diagnosed with appendicitis at the VA hospital. Then said it was an emergency and surgery needed to happen ASAP. Thirty-four hours later they performed the surgery. The student surgeon was allowed to perform the surgery by himself with no attending surgeon present. The student messed up and almost killed me. He ended up leaving almost 5cm of a 6cm organ in my body. Over a 3 month period I kept on getting sick. Out of the blue, I became very ill with high fever, vomiting, and horrible abdominal pains. Went back to ER and they discovered I had appendicitis again. This is when they found out the organ was leaking and in tack. The surgeons tried to say it was a mistake on the CT exam. 

I went into the OR for a second surgery. They had to abort the surgery due to the lack of instruments. 10 days later I had a 3rd surgery. In the end, I now deal with major problems with my colon and stomach due to the constant infections. I have a rare form of chronic colitis. I have submitted everything imaginable to the VA. I have a nexus letters from 2 doctors who are specialists in surgery and GI. I have a Medical Opinion from a highly regarded Surgeon/Radiologist. The IMO clearly defines the many 1151 violations. The attending surgeon was also investigated by the OIG. He was terminated for allowing students to perform surgery without him present. OIG discovered that during surgeries he would not even be in the hospital, but would sign off on the surgery a day or 2 later like he was there.

2. Non Combat PTSD. 

    Everything is clearly documented. I have multiple buddy statements and records from this time period. They have a boatload of information; including, records from a civilian hospital suicide attempt. 

3. Unemployability: I am on SSDI for the GI Issues, Mental Health, Ischemic Heart Disease. and Paraneoplastic Syndrome associated with tumors in my lungs.

I had all exams before May 20, 2020. I figured they would have given me a decision by December. My doctor told me to write my senator; which I did. They told the senators office they were waiting on employment records. I get a call in Jan telling my claim was about finished and he needed a different address for a previous employer. I explained the employer went bankrupt and there is no address. He said my decision would be completed in 30 days. The very next day I get a call from my VSO stating they scheduled me for more exams. Believe it or not, they scheduled me the same PTSD exam I had in May of 2020. It ended up being with the same doctor as the first. He said in 22 years he has never had to do the same exam on someone during the initial Claim. So, for 3 hours we went over the first exam report. He made changes and submitted it the VA. Then in middle of March I get a call from the same guy at the VA. He told me my claim was done and I should have a decision within a week. My wife and I was super excited. The lady at the senators office received a statement stating a decision was forthcoming very soon. The very next day, my VSO calls me and said they scheduled you for PTSD "rework" exam. The same doctor yet again; 3rd time now I have seen this guy. We were able to do this exam over the computer and it was only 8 mins. Then on March 23,2021 they scheduled a new exam. This exam is a record review only. I received a VES overnight stating my record review was completed on 4/8 and it gave me the Physician Assistants name. So, again I sit here and wait. 

Sorry for the long post and thanks for reading. What else can I possibly due to receive a decision? My health is declining and want to make sure a decision is reached to find out what I need to do next. My ultimate goal is to hold this VA system accountable for what they did to my body. They really jacked up my stomach and colon by doing what they did on a routine surgery. My goal is to make sure that the kids are taken care of in the event something happens to me. 

 

 

 

[Dan1865]

Hi Buck, 

From my understanding, the form is just basically a permission slip to allow them to do the surgery. Just like any surgeon, they can be held accountable under medical malpractice laws. It is just harder to sue under Tort Law because of the many restrictions. The biggest hurdle is making sure to claim any wrong doing before the 2 year mark. So, if you do have the VA do the surgery and they mess up, do not delay and immediately file an SF95. Make sure when filing the SF 95 you tell the complete story and when it asks for dollar amounts of damages you put astronomical amounts of money. When I filed the SF95 I screwed up because of the very small amount of money in damages I requested. Then when they take it to court you will have a very hard time requesting more unless you have a good lawyer that can explain why. I did not make it to court because of the two year time bar. 

As far as allowing the VA to do your surgery. That is a tough question. How is the VA overall? If it is the Detroit VA I would say "RUN". Personally, I would try to see if they would approve the community care and pay for outside physicians to do the surgery. If the VA is good on a normal day and they treat people with respect, then you may be in good hands. I have to Detroit VA and the Ann Arbor VA. I will not step foot in Detroit and the Ann Arbor VA is in yuppy-ville. The 2 specialists I have seen there were very pompous and treated my wife and I as sub-human! They have a very bad problem of thinking that because of the white coat and stethoscope, we are just peons and will never match them in life. 

[Dan1865]

Hi Berta, 

So today, I had the appt with the PA about my scars. She was also selected to do a medical record review. Anyway, she was asking a ton of questions about the surgeries and the problems. All of a sudden she paused for about 8 or 9 mins. Then she asked who is doctor bash. She read his medical opinion and that's when her attitude changed. All of a sudden it was no longer alleged surgical problems. It was surgical errors. She hurried up and measured my scars with a tape measure and said have a great day. 

It was like she read the IMO from doctor Bash and she became scared to write any counter opinion to his. I would be too. If I was her, there would be no way that I would take a chance against a doctor's opinion; especially, a doctor at the caliber of Dr Bash! So, it felt like today was a big win for the home team!!

It was funny. She literally measured the scars on my abdomen with a tape measure. She measured each scar 3 times. 

 

[Buck52]

Roger that Dan1865

Thanks

[pacmanx1]

27 minutes ago, Dan1865 said:

She read his medical opinion and that's when her attitude changed. All of a sudden it was no longer alleged surgical problems. It was surgical errors.

Although I have never used Dr. Bash or paid for any type of IMO/IME, I have used the VAMC to get them and once I used a Community Care Physician to do a DBQ and as soon as I explained to my C & P examiner that I already had a medical opinion everything changed. One doctor even told me that she would not go against another doctor’s medical opinion, so taking a medical opinion to a C & P exam does really help. Hope things go well. 

[Dan1865]

Thanks Pacman. 

That is very good to hear! The entire process is very frustrating and it makes one very nervous. You meet a doctor or PA once. They read a brief synopsis of the countless records they have available and form an opinion. Today's appt was just bizarre. It was literally a total appt time of 33 mins. That was from checking in to checking out. 

As far as the IMO and using Dr Bash. When doing research on the blue water navy laws for my dad who was in firefight rescue in the Navy during Vietnam. My dad passed away at 59 years old in 2006. He had chronic health problems, that turned into a massive stroke then massive heart attack which completely paralyzed him at 49 years old. The civilian specialists he had for Neurosurgery and cardiology stated he had the heart and stroke issues from complications due to agent orange. The neurosurgeon he had did massive research on the effects of agent orange and the brain. The neurologist I guess wrote research articles and papers on agent orange and had them published in all types of medical journals. The last 9 years of my dad's life was spent basically with the mentality of a 4 year old kid. He never learned to walk again, tie his shoes, or even have a candid conversation. He was able to talk about the 1960s and vietnam like it was still going on. Unfortunately, you would be talking to him and he would look at you and forget who you were. Then, he would have a lucid moment and start crying for about 10 mins. After that, he would start mumbling and forget how to speak. That's how it was for 9 years before he finally passed away.  My dad spent 3 continuous years in Vietnam and areas around there. He spent part of 67, 1968,1969 and 1970. He then spent 2 months of 1971 in the vicinity and that's when he came home and got out. Long story short, they didn't recognize my dad's service as being compensable for agent orange until the blue water navy laws were changed in 2019. That's when I stumbled on to Jim Strickland and asked him questions about my dad and myself. Jim was awesome and referred me to Dr Bash for the IMO on the 1151. 

As far as doing the claim on behalf of my father, it turned out to be way shorter than the one going on now. My mom, who is very organized, was able to pull all of my dad's military records out of a safe in like 10 mins. She had it all. She had yearbooks, my dad kept journals and wrote coordinates of where they were and who they rescued. It didn't matter who was in need of help; my dads assignment was to rescue anyone and they did. Pretty crazy right. Mom and I sat down and filled out the forms. Made copies of everything the VA needed. Loaded it in envelopes and mailed it off. After about 10 months my mom lost hope and thought the VA just denied it like none of it happened. A few weeks later we were drinking coffee and she logged into her acct to check balances to pay bills. That's when she noticed multiple deposits from the VA. Some were small and some very large. Now she gets nice monthly deposits from the VA based on what happened to my father. It was a couple months of deposits before she even received a packet in the mail explaining everything to my mom. 

Without sites like this and Jim Strickland giving advice, I do not think I would have ever gone thru the process of this claim. Going thru the process of the blue water navy stuff with my mom was very difficult. It was not difficult to fill out the papers. It was difficult going thru all of my dad's stuff and seeing pictures of my dad when he was young and healthy. Then reading in great detail of what he seen, who they rescued, the condition of their body. He wrote all of this stuff down in great detail. He was involved in some pretty crazy missions. I watched him go thru being a very strong man and my best friend; to dropping in front of me when I was 15 years old from a stroke. The stroke put him in a coma for 3 months and it was never the same after. 

 

Edited May 8, 2021 by Dan1865

[Dan1865]

Hi Berta, 

The VA has requested another exam. This time it's for residuals associated with the 1151 claim. Since you have been thru this before; what in the world does that mean? 

Thanks, 

Dan