Military Need Expanded Presumptive Lists
For approving Medical Disability during Service
to the USA
to include any autoimmune issue that springs out
of CFIDS ... even degenerative disks ... take a
look at the links ... those with the worst
treatment are the 'gulf war syndrome' vets and
after that will be today's
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Look Alike? |
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Do
WWI Vets,
WWII Vets, Vietnam Vets,
Korean Vets,
Gulf war vets and
civilians with CFIDS
look alike? Do they
look like the Exxon
Valdez oil spill
'bioremediation'
workers? Do they look
like our soldiers who
fight in wars today?
Keep exposing a person
over and over again with
this kind of chemical,
and the results are
multiple autoimmune
issues that are
disastrous. McVeigh who
bombed the building in
OK was a gulf war vet. |
Or look
like soldiers from the war eras
of this past century? |
Quote:
Is it really worth fighting the VA
for Gulf War Syndrome? It seems to
me they just want to identify you to
ridicule you and deny you benefits.
I served in the Navy from July 76
until Jul 96 when I finally retired
with my full 20 as a Chief Fire
Controlman FCC (SW). I went out
after spending nine of my last 12
months of active duty on limited
duty. In July of 1995 I had a doctor
who had been after me to go on
limited duty for about six months
and after getting a complete a$$hole
for an XO I took him up on his
offer. At the time I was having
problems with weakness in my left
arm, (MRI's showed a herniated
disc in my neck and a couple,
out of many, nerve tests showed some
pinching of a nerve) at the same
time I was seeing a rheumatologist
for joint/muscle aches, headaches
and what they called DIMS (
Diminished ability to Induce and
Maintain Sleep). Mind you I had been
hiding the joint and muscle pain for
years in fear of getting a medical
retirement. During the course of the
exams I was having the doctor was
having a hard time locating reflexes
in my left arm so he sent me to
Bethesda to see a neuro surgeon so
off my wife and I went. During the
exam in Bethesda the doctor told me
he was unable to get any reflexs
anywhere in my body to react at all.
He believed I had Multiple Sclerosis
(MS) and should go back to my doctor
in Mayport. I went back to FL and my
Doctor did a spinal tap ( man talk
about the mother of all head aches)
and ruled out MS, in the mean time I
was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I
was sent to Charleston on 9 month
TAD orders to be close to my family,
went back to Florida for 3 months,
finished out my 20 and retired, no
retirement ceremony or party, no end
of service award, no thank you for
your service, no transition
assistance program, no benefits
briefing , nothing, just one day I
wore a uniform and the next day I
didn't.
After I retired I approached
civilian life just like I did
military I worked hard to be
successful. But things were getting
harder and harder. When I first got
out I applied for benefits for my
neck and I had bad knees as well as
sinus surgery, knee surgery and a
rebuilt ankle. I continued to work
hard ( as a Realtor). Being a
successful Realtor takes long hours,
working 60+ hour weeks and never
having a day off. You have to be
there when your clients are ready,
day night or afternoon, weekday or
weekend. So please all of you
appreciate what your Realtor does
for you. Any way after a while the
body aches became to much and I was
not able to put in the hours I once
was able to. The fatigue was getting
to me and there began to be days
that I just could not function. I
asked fro an increase in my
compensation fro fibromyalgia (which
at the time was only 10%) and I
began to go to Voc Rehab training
because I knew I would not be able
to continue the long hours Real
Estate required to earn a living.
In In Jan 2003 I became ill and was
having severe pain when breathing,
my doctors took some x-rays and
decided I had pneumonia and treated
me with 10 days of antibiotics, a
follow up appointment showed no
improvement, they then started
another course of stronger
antibiotics. Another follow up with
no improvements. The x-ray showed a
large amount of fluid on my left
lung. My doctor took me aside and
explained to me what was going on.
He had consulted with another doctor
and I was going to have to go into
the hospital for some test to rule
out TB and cancer. I went in, they
drained 900ml off my left lung.
Spent 10 days in hospital. Tets
were neg for TB and cancer. Was out
of hospital for 10 days when it all
started to happen again. This time
fluid was too thick to drain and I
ended up with having my chest spread
open and having lung surgery to
remove the mess. I spent 4 days in
ICU and 10 more days in hospital. I
now have only about 50% lung
capacity. Subsequent follow up with
the consulting rheumatologist shows
it was an autoimmune attack due to
unspecified rheumatoid disease. I
had a similar episode in 1985 but
the doctor ( an internist) was never
able to figure out what happened. I
applied for benefits based on that
and of course the VA denied my claim.
They say there is no service
connection and it is probably
related to the fibromyalgia for
which I already receive
compensation. I asked my doctor to
review my active duty service record
which he did and he pointed out
several things that were over looked
and why my current illness was
undiagnosed while on active duty,
that there were signs of it going
all the way back to 1979 and that it
was completely separate from my
fibromyalgia. I filled an appeal and
have another C&P exam with the VA in
a week. I am currently rated at 70%
( they dropped me from 80 to 70
because they said that even though I
now have 2 more herniated discs in
my neck and one more in my back my
degenerative disc disease is getting
better). I am hoping to finally get
a 100% rating because due to my
illness and the side effect of the
meds I take I have been unable to
work since May of 03. I now suffer
from near constant muscle/joint
pain, fatigue, depression, headaches
( that can last as long as a month
at a time), have trouble sleeping,
morning stiffness, and fogginess. I
tried for Social Security ( on my
own) with out knowing the system and
was turned down. hey told me to go
back to Real Estate. So much for the
government you protected supporting
you. I was too embarrassed to appeal.
I guess I should try again.
How does all this tie into the
Gulf War? I was over there
aboard ship but I never figured I
was effected by GWS. I was over
there long after the peak of
hostilities were over ( first half
of 93). Of course we got an array of
shots and pills prior to deployment
but I don't know where my shot
record is and there is nothing in my
medical record. As a Fire Controlman
I worked on the Navy's Close In
Weapons System (CIWS) which fired
20mm DU rounds. We fired the rounds
all the time and of course had to
clean the gun and police up the deck
for the sabots and debris as well as
daily exposure to the magazine. This
of course meant exposure to solvents
when cleaning the gun and its
systems. Shipboard life naturally
meant some exposure to pesticides
because the corpsman would have to
routinely spray for pests. How much
if any of this can or has attributed
to where I am today I don't know
but is it worth going to the VA and
having them poke and probe me even
more then they have? Is it worth
them trying to discredit what I have
already fought so hard for? It seems
to me the people who would have the
most exposure were the ground troops
involved in the actual ground war.
Believe I could be wrong as I am as
far from being a knowledge source as
one can be. It just seems that the
VA should be there to support the
Veterans not to make their lives a
nightmare. The worst part is is that
it seems like no one cares. We are
yesterdays garbage set out to the
curb for collection and disposal.
brokendown&old Jan, 2005
Source
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Quote:
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As a Fire Controlman I worked on
the Navy's Close In Weapons System
(CIWS) which fired 20mm DU rounds.
We fired the rounds all the time and
of course had to clean the gun and
police up the deck for the sabots
and debris as well as daily exposure
to the magazine. This of course
meant exposure to solvents when
cleaning the gun and its systems.
Shipboard life naturally meant some
exposure to pesticides because the
corpsman would have to routinely
spray for pests. |
My dad was also FCC in the Navy in WWII.
He, I believe, had this chemical exposure
I'm concerned about. I think it is in bomb
fumes that get in your eyes; also it is what
guns are cleaned with, most likely. Based on
his death at about age 62 (too young too
die) and the changes in his
personality/health ... and some minor birth
defects me and my brother have ... I do
believe that the syndrome X and diabetes
that I showed up for me in recent years
...is a late to show up birth defect. Some
thoughts on this here:
Why the epidemic of DIABETES in WWII
nations?
For the muscle weakness you shared on ...
Could it be CIDP?
In the advance or acute stage it is what
Pres FDR had (goes by another name). He
didn't have polio, but the acute (instead of
chronic) version of CIDP
Why I think Pres FDR was exposed to bomb
fumes of WWI
when he was Assist Sect of the Navy & got as
close to the front lines as they would let
him. About that time the male tanks were
brought into the war ... then in 1918 the
'Spanish flu" that killed millions.
General Dynamics wants to test these old
things in a new package
& shoot them off beyond our town in Jan/Feb
of 07. Scares me a lot
The autoimmune issue you relate is VERY
significant!
I think the Presumptive list should be for
all military from WWI to the present
(excluding the real 'Agent-Orange-only' 'for
sures')
Hawk asked about Chad Pagel of Indiana.
Last I heard he was going in for tumor
removal in his nasal passages 8-6-05. I have
not heard from him. Since
he shared a few months prior that his liver
& bone marrow was failing
and they had him on mega drugs ... Heard
from him 11-24-06 & he is doing well. Had a
good summer, too. All that is good news!
I have the theory - You have the PROOF
There are several links here ... click
around until you find them
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