ptsd What Are Our Chances

[reform302]

dear folks

i'll try to lay this out without being too wordy so here is the situation:

my husand spent two tours in viet nam, was shot twice and blown up once, (his best friend stepped on the mine) he stayed functional through the years until he was sent underground, he was a coal miner. in 2002 we filed a claim with the va and recieved 80% non-military related. at the age of 50 he started having grand mal seizures. his health has gotten progressively worse. in and out of the hospital with numerous problems including gastric bleeding. last year he got sick and was throwing up blood (civilian hospital) i took him to the er and they scoped him could not find where he was bleeding from, sent him home. apparently he continued to bleed, our doctor demanded he go to the er at a different hospital, where he recieved 8 tranfusions. he has a recurrent skin rash, and now has pain in his toes, heels and its moving up his legs, many days its hard for him to put his feet on the floor. he has jungle rot in his privates and on his feet. he was exposed to agent orange many times although there are no defomities to the children. monday the 12th we will meet with our va rep and register at the va hospital, the rep told me not to mention agent orange to the doctors, just his symptoms. i really didn't question this because he was going out of town on a family emergency and he wants to handle our claim. the va has all his records with 3 doctors stating he has ptsd. he was in a private facility for 28 days and recieved counciling 3 times a day. will they still require a C & P? each of these doctors probably have better creditials than the va doctors in fact i'm sure of it and the facility he was in was only 2nd to betty ford. when we see the rep i just want to be prepared, and why has it taken so long for the va to make a decision? by the way he was a marine sniper.

thanks in advance

[Berta]

"in 2002 we filed a claim with the va and recieved 80% non-military related. "

what is 80% non military related?

"he wants to handle our claim. the va has all his records with 3 doctors stating he has ptsd"

You also mentioned the PHs and the Betty Ford -like place-

Of course he has PTSD and it is from his service- a GSW wound alone is proof of a stressor.

"he has jungle rot in his privates and on his feet"- so did my husband- just the crotch rot- too many weeks in wet utilities and muddy dugouts in the Nam

VA gave him Tinactin- for atheletes foot-to put on his private parts .

It worked for weeks at a time then recurring problems.

In my opinion the vet rep was wrong - a veteran should mention to VA EVERY possible reason or etiology for their problems.

He should state Agent Orange exposure as one potential cause of these problems.

whether it is presumptive or not- the presumptive list has grown over the years-

Has he been given any tests yet for diabetes mellitus?

What is the full medical diagnosis of his physical conditions as to his grand mal seizures- do they appear in his SMRs at all?

Is he employed with all this- if not I certainly suugest he apply for TDIU -the vet rep should have had him do this already if he is unemployed -if not I will attach the form

# 18 state yes and apply fr SSA too-

# 25 refer them to additional page and tell them how his SC meds affect his ability to work and how his PTSD does too.

TDIU_form.pdf

[Testvet]

everyone has to do the C&P exam, even after they admit he has it, whenever they ask for rating the VARO will schedule a C&P even for a higher rating or for a re-evaluation, I don't know anyone that has not had a C&P for PTSD they do not award off civilian records alone......that is my experience

[Pete53]

Welcome to Hadit. You should mention Agent Orange with those symptoms. You really should not have much of a problem getting Service Connection and you should print and file the TDIU to go with it.

Good Luck on your claim.

[sixthscents]

Dear Reform,

I'd like to welcome you and try to help and to clarify a couple of things...

2002 we filed a claim with the va and recieved 80% non-military related

I'm guessing that they then awarded him a pension? Based on his service and the rating, otherwise why the rating? Anyway its just a guess, please correct me if I am wrong.

Agent Orange exposure has several... "presumptive" illnesses. That is, if you develop these illnesses after (some within a specific time frame) service in Vietnam, then it is assumed by the VA that they are caused by Agent Orange exposure...

Some of what your husband has... that you pointed out are:

now has pain in his toes, heels and its moving up his legs, many days its hard for him to put his feet on the floor

thats normally referred to as peripheral neuropathy, and once diagnosed is presumptive - (I cant remember, does it have to evidence itself within one year?) If it does have to evidence itself within a year, then establishing service connection may be a bit involved...

he has a recurrent skin rash

while not presumptive, if its in the service medical record and has required treatment since, I have had good success in similar cases in getting a service connection under AO

Some of the other things you mention very well could be serice connected, but I'd need a bit more information to give an honest opinion...

These include the seizures, gastric bleeding, and since he was wounded I wonder at what else may be there, but there's just not enough information...

His PTSD is on solid footing from what you say... or it at least seems to be.

You ask why it is taking them so long to make a decison... has a claim been filed recently then?

Further, your husband does need added to the Agent Orange registry, if he has not been (I heard a rumor they were going to stop accepting new people, but I dont know if it is true)... and I would mention and ask about the possibilities of some of his illnesses stemming from Agent Orange. Now I am saying that not for compensation purposes though there would be an impact, but for health care. Unless they understand the etiology of his illnesses they cannot properly treat him. If, in fact, some of this stems from Agent Orange they need to know the of the possibility to provide proper health care.

I hope this helps, and if you rovide a bit more information we all can probably provide better advise...

Again welcome and good luck...

[Vike17]

Reform,

When you said;

"now has pain in his toes, heels and its moving up his legs, many days its hard for him to put his feet on the floor"

this could be peripheral neuropathy due to DMII. If your husband was in Vietnam and has been diagnosed with DMII, the VA will grant service-connection for it on a presumptive basis. For this condition there is no presumptive period, your husband just needs to show proof of being in Vietnam, proabably his DD 214. If your husband has DMII then the peripheral neuropathy could be a secondary condition to it and VA will rate this seperately. If your husband does not have DMII, then his SMR's would need to show some sort of treatment for this in order to be considered for service-connection.

As far as the PTSD, your husband needs a current diagnosis by a shrink in which he states that your husbands current PTSD is the result of his combat in Vietnam. You said your husband was "shot twice and blown up once." I assume he has the PH's for this. If so, these will be adaquate for VA to concede his stressor without having your husband needing to prove an actual stresor in service occurred.

With regard to the seizures, Berta is correct, they would have to be listed somehow in his SMR's or at list some plausible symptoms in order to warrant service-connection,unless they can be contributed as secondary to some other service-connected condition.

If you could elaborate a little more on your husbands cndition, maybe we can give better advice on how to proceed.

Vike 17