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From: Posted by Krayzihors@aol.com
Category: Question for NOD
Date: 10/20/08
NOD, I was discharged in 1983 from the Navy with 10%. The discharge was a result of a medical board at the end of a lengthy gauntlet of testing done at Portsmouth Naval Hospital ..... the icing being a liver biopsy with the results in writing "Chronic active hepatitis with bridging necrosis, probably early cirrhosis" . I then filed my claim with the VA and was declared 0% service connected. 10 years later (1993) I re-filed my claim with the VA, went through massive testing again (but no biopsy this time), and the end result was a declaration that I had "condition of the digestive system" and was awarded 10%. I was told at the time that my condition was dormant, and there was no demonstrable liver damage. Fast forward to Nov 2007 and I go to a VA clinic in Monticello NY while visiting my parents to see if I can start getting my current prescriptions through the VA. The Dr orders labwork, and one of the results was that my HCV copies were 2.3 million, and my platelets were at 50,000. The Dr advised that when I got back to TX I should get follow up work at the VA down here. After 4 months of testing, it is determined that my HCV count is 2.9 million, I have cirrhosis, I have portal hypertenision, and esophugal varices that go from my esophagus though my stomach and into my intestines, I have type 2 diabetes caused by the cirrhosis, and the list of symptoms is a mile long. At that time (July 2008) I was able to work possibly 3-4 days a week if I was lucky. In Sept 2008 the Dr in San Antonio (Audie Murphy) put me on Interferon/Ribavarin , and added recently Glipzide for the diabetes. Between the symptoms associated with the HCV, Cirrhosis, Portal Hypertension, Diabetes ..... now add to it all the side effects associated with the treatments themselves, and I am effectively reduced to possibly one day a week that I can work ..... and spend at least half that time resting so I can work another hour. I decided not to try to file my claim alone again, so I contacted the DAV and gave them power of attorney, but apparently they are asleep at the wheel. I got paperwork from the VA (VCAA) and called the DAV to find out what the deal was, and the woman on the phone responded, " Oh, you have to fill your own paperwork out and send it in". I asked her why the hell I signed a power of attorney to them if I had to do it myself anyway? So I called the VA 800 number to find out what was up with my claim. The woman at the VA asked if I had gone to the evaluation exam that they set up ..... I told her yes I did, and that the outside contractor that did the exam (QTC) called me the following day when they got the labwork back and told me to stop whatever it was I was doing and go directly to the Emergency Room!!! And tell them what I asked? The kid on the phone then goes into the fact that my lab results were so low that I was in danger of internal bleeding, infection, etc. , because my platelet count was now 29000. A week after the fact, the VA did not have this info, even though QTC told me that they sent it to the VA the day they got it because of the danger involved with the results. I also told the woman at the VA that I was unable to work, and at risk of losing everything, because I have now exhausted my savings trying to make ends meet without being able to work. She asked if I filled out the unemployability form since I was entitled to 100% if I'm unable to work because of my service connected disability ...... I told her this was the first I have heard of it, but it's something the DAV should have informed me of since they are SUPPOSED to be handling my claim. Bottom line here is ..... unlike many of the posters to this site, I don't have to establish service connection ..... it was done in 1983 by liver biopsy and a medical board. What I do need to know is ...... who can represent me on this claim without falling asleep at the wheel ? John E. Bisig
From: igobothways
Category: General Info
Date: 08/21/09
I Go Both Ways Tube 8 - http://igobothways.com/maintour.php/21663/173/A