Veterans have asked us how the VA rates you for Hep. Here is an actual decision that shows what they offer for degree of disability. More about this at the end of the decision…

http://www.va.gov/vetapp08/Files2/0812018.txt

Having read this, You now might think you have an idea that Uncle Victor is rather miserly handing out these % ratings. I have another theory that bears looking at. Most men (Women VETS w/ HCV are definitely not included in this) have a very macho idea of how they should present themselves to others, including doctors. This can have an adverse effect on your rating %. I know. I have stepped on my male appendage in the process of getting a PCT rating and it took quite a bit of time and effort to correct the mistake. If you have RUQP(right upper quad. pain) for crying out loud-say so. If you had it last month-say so. If you had it 6 months ago-ditto. You have to get it into your records or they will just look down, read, look up and say Nope! Don’t see it here. Can’t pay you X $. Your medical record is not JUST what VA says it is, it is also a compendium of observations that you report and which are dutifully recorded. Trust me when I say that if you mention you have been roasting a few bowls to remove that RUQP discomfort,THAT will be entered in BOLD TYPE in the ol’ medrecs. You have to have a certain # of items to qualify for a %. If you come in for an exam/checkup, sit there like a bump on a log, and speak when spoken to, you will invariably get nothing in return. I do not, nor will I ever advocate malingering( faking your illness). However, if you have symptoms that are more than clearly enumerated above in the Reasons and Bases For Findings and Conclusion, you must tell the person who is writing it all down. This is what VA is going to look at to make their decision. Men are chuckleheads. Yes. That is correct. We are so worried about how others will perceive our strengths or weaknesses that we will fail to divulge the true medical facts concerning our condition. We don’t want to be weak. But this illness is going to kill us. Why wait like one of my friends to have blood squirting out of your mouth , eyes etc. to finally admit that, yeah, well, except for the blood thing and diziness and oh yeah, the DM2, I’m just fine. VA will dutifully write down that the VET walked in under his own steam and declared himself fit as a fiddle-good to go. Result 10% if you can show 2 weeks of debilitating symptoms. The VET I mention is now struggling with portal hypertension, should be in the cirrhosis rating zone (DC7312) and is not well. Result= 20% for hep C, 0% for DM2 and he is falling apart. If you do not get the info under their nose, VA turns a blind eye to it. My technique is to write it all down several days before a checkup. Add to your list if you forget something, as you have cognitive brain dysfunction whether you are aware of it or not. It’s one of the symptoms of HEP C. When you arrive and are examined, you hand them the list. They are LAZY! They might ask a few questions but I have watched PAs type it in verbatim without questioning me. I probably could have stated I was bleeding uncontrollably and gotten away with it. The thing I’m trying to impress on you, gentlemen, is simple. Get it in print. Be honest, but be accurate. It does no good to remember 30 minutes after you leave that you forgot to mention that you were nauseous and blew chunks for a week and have become very depressed lately. That will now have to wait for your next trip. Never cheat on this stuff. If you get caught lying, you risk your good name and some really interesting entries in your medrecs that will cost you dearly. I personally err to the high side of a symptom because VA med personnel seem to err to the low side of the same symptom when they write it down. It’s that old: “Jez, the guy walked in here and didn’t LOOK sick”. Hep C is a disease inside of you. It doesn’t jump up and bite you on the nose. It is measured in ALTs and ASTs, Jaundice, Ascites(fluid in the abdomen) and lack of other visual symptoms that lead the uninitiated into thinking there’s nothing physically wrong with you except for the beer belly. If you are doing IFN TX, you can and will get rated during this = to your symptoms. Again, write it down and hand it to them when you go in. If they won’t put it in the records, protest. Good luck.