ericdale
Registered: 06/05/11
Posts: 2 |
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06/12/11 |
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#1 |
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Never done this before but here goes. I was Army 72-75, Ft Knox basic, Korea, finished in Ft Riley. We were given shots by syringe in basic, and the jet gun at Travis AFB before shipping out. Sanitation was not high on the priority list in either place, soldiers faint, they move and bleed and faint and you were responsible to help them to chairs or make them comfortable. Who would have thought it would come to this!I had a physical in 2002 and the Dr knew there was something not right but wouldn’t commit to a diagnoses. In 2005 my wife and I moved to Phoenix area. In 2006 I went to a Dr here for another physical he diagnosed me with HCV. I tried the homeopathic methods which didn’t help. In Jan 2008 I went to Mayo Clinic, they have a clinic just for for Hepatitis. Stage 4 cirrhosis with carcinomas on the liver. Did interferon + rib, non-responder. In 2009 Mayo did an ablation for the cancer and got most of it. Moved up on transplant list and received transplant 7/13/2010.I haven’t been to work in a year (tried but unable). Still have the HCV and its attacking the new liver with a vengeance. Will try the new drugs soon I hope ,there is no protocol for transplant patients, could kill or cure me don’t know. Currently suffer from the normal things, terrible brain fog, depression,
extreme fatigue and dizziness.I am collecting all the records I can get pertaining to this, 1 or 2 nexus will not be a problem for me to obtain. Hope to have everything by mid July.
About 2 months ago the doctor tried to get my bilirubin down with no success, which left her to tell me if it doesn’t come down she gives me about 60 days left to live. Without any treatment it began to drop to a manageable #. (prayers do work) I hope the new drugs fix the HCV before it completely destroys the new liver. The Dr’s explained that there are no overs for me no more livers for me because my body is destroying this one, so this has got to work. If it does eliminate HCV do I still have a claim? What should I be filing for?
Thank you and god bless you for the help you have given to so many.
Eric Dale
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eric_dalman@msn.com |
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AZeeJensMom
Moderator
Registered: 01/05/09
Posts: 94 |
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06/14/11 |
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#2 |
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| Eric …
First of all, my thoughts are with you for the ordeal you are enduring. Thank you to you for your service as well.
You should be filing for “what caused” the cancer = Hepatitis C, if that is what caused it. Be certain to read exactly what the web-site lists as plausible causes, jet-guns are not the way to winner-winner chicken dinner verdicts. They can be but are tough to prove. Take a look-see to the left about the Nexus and get your records in order, make sure you have all of them. Service personnel as well as medical records and be certain the doctor who writes your Nexus indicates they have “reviewed all of the records, including your service medical records”.
Did you receive any tattoos while in service ? Any transfusions ? I’m certainly not suggesting that jet-guns are not the culprit but you would have to prove at least a 50/50 chance that one of those who received their shots ahead of you had HepC and you can provide a Nexus to that effect. Tough to do. Just something to keep in mind. Sounds like you have a good, strong team behind you and I’ll be sending a few extra prayers your way each day. This is a horrible virus. My husband went through 3 rounds of Interferon/Ribavarin treatment and well, he has progressed to cirrhosis but had he not gone through the 122 weeks of IFN, he wouldn’t be sitting upstairs waiting for his dinner.
I really wish you well, please keep us posted, feel free to ask as many questions as you want to….there are many, many fine folks here that are more than willing to help a Veteran out. Wives also.
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RDMURPHY
Registered: 07/31/10
Posts: 49 |
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06/15/11 |
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#3 |
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| Eric I am a fellow vet who also had a transplant due to hepc. In your workup to transplant you had extensive blood draws. Did they type your hepc? This might be one way to attack if it is something other than type 1. Also did you have a biosopy on your old liver? not entirely sure but i think they can get a somewhat timeline on how long you may have had the dragon. not positive on that.Moderator is spot on about cause of your cancer also. My advice is to gather ALL your medrecs, both civilian and military and get a solid nexus letter from a civilian dr and put your claim together like a lawsuit. try to firure out what VA will try to use to deny you and look for means to refute or at least get a balance between pos and neg. After you have gathered all this, file a fully developed claim if you and your advisors feel you have a strong case. The fully developed claim is supposed to be a fast track. Also with cancer you have a legitimate right to file for hardship,which will expedite your claim. I filed in 2008, before the fully devoleped claim came into being and I was granted S/C in 6 months. I was however hospitilazed with hep on active duty. This is an excellent site for support and research into proving your claim. Be happy to try to help anyway i can, these folks have more insight than I do. GOOD LUCK to you sir |
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ericdale
Registered: 06/05/11
Posts: 2 |
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06/16/11 |
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#4 |
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I have type 1, my bad luck. No tats or transfusions ever, no DUI’s or drug charges, my life has been pretty average. To go back almost 40 years to and remember names of other GI’s is out of the question. What gets me is I new there was something wrong 10 years ago but the Dr just missed it. I’ll have those records next week. I’m putting together everything I can find in the way of doctors records.
After I have all my records should I seek a VSO (advisor) in the Phoenix area to help me put this together.__________________
eric_dalman@msn.com |
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squid_with_dragon
 Registered: 08/15/10
Posts: 131 |
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06/16/11 |
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#5 |
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| Since you were in Korea…NOD has gone over zillions of appeals for the jetguns and he thinks the predominant genotype is 1a for that. In Korea, the predominant genotype is 1b followed by 2a,2b. The same goes for Japan. I have the Japanese bug, 2b.It had been so long ago that when I was diagnosed, I just didn’t remember my hospital stay in Japan. Then it eventually came to me where and when I was poked. |
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RDMURPHY
Registered: 07/31/10
Posts: 49 |
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06/16/11 |
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#6 |
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| Eric, did they do a biospy pretransplant? Or sometimes they will ask you ib you want to donate the old liver for research. They did to me in 2007. you may be able to get some kind of statement from your transplant doctor on age of hepc. You may consider reading as much of the posts and threads on this site. I belive I saw something on this site about stages of hepc cirriosis and the time required to get there. lots of good info on this site,experienced people two. as far as a VSO that is your call. My advice is to gather all your records and start looking. you will need a nexus, probobly from a civilian Doc. If you are still in contact with your transplant doctor and or the nurse who handled your paperwork you might talk to them and exlain what you are looking for. They may be able to help you or not, however it can’t hurt to ask. My transplant team was world class and were willing to help me get my medrec’s 6 months after transplant. wish you best of luck sir |
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NOD
 Manager
Registered: 11/22/08
Posts: 652 |
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06/17/11 |
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#7 |
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| One minor correction on genotypes. 1B was most predominant in the seventies in Europe. Most of the vets who served there (but not all) have that strain. 1A seems to be dominant in America and always has been. Hence the plethora of infections ostensibly via jetguns. 2A and 2B were seen almost exclusively in the Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Okinawa theatre. 3a was the predominant strain on the Indochinese peninsula (RVN, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand). This was true in the 60s-70s but many strains have migrated and hitchhiked to different places now. 1A and 1B are now roughly equal in America., but 1B is still predominant in mainland Europe. 2B is blooming in Africa of all places now, but is still the main strain in Japan. Disease vectors tend to prove modern transportation spreads the strains out. Duh. Nothing gets by those wascally scientists and researchers. |
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RDMURPHY
Registered: 07/31/10
Posts: 49 |
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06/24/11 |
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#8 |
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| Mr Eric, have you filed for SSD.? It will not put in with fortune 500, however it will help pay bills while you are dealing with VA |
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