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I am a Vietnam Vet (US Army 1970-71) diagnosed with SCLC on 12/12/09. Am about ½ way through chemo/radiation treatment and will have PCI early May.
Would like inputs from others who have gone through this disability process. Would also like inputs on spousal benefits, VA life insurance, representative organizations who provide assistance through this process, and experiences with cancer treatment in VA Medical Centers.
Exercise Cancer Hypertension Surgery TRAPS Confusion Lung cancer Diabetes Stress
Hello T Marie,
So glad you found this link. I will be delighted to help any way I can. Thank your husband for serving and all of the sacrifices he made. Also tell him we are praying for him.
In response to your questions, I highly recommend you contact a state VA representative to help you through the process. These representatives do a super job and I have heard too many horror stories when the Vet tries to work directly with the federal VA. Let me know what city state you live and I will find your representative.
To your questions:
• I believe the DD 214 saying Vietnam service is sufficient
• I am also pretty sure your husband’s disability check will include an amount for you
• I am not sure about the children’s education benefit. It maybe that your husband has to be total and permanently disabled for this to apply. The age 26 years is correct.
• Again I recommend talking to the state VA rep about these questions.
Again, I am delighted to help in any way I can.
Happy Day, Cecil
hi cecil, you must be an angel. i never would have known my husband and family might be entitled to benefits through the va. i have a few questions and not sure who to ask. maybe you might know. my husband will be 67 this year, he served in the navy from 1965 to 1972 and over 4 of those years were spent forgien or sea service . he was retired due to an injury that left him with a 40% disability and a navy pension. we were married about 10 years after his retirement from the navy and have been married for 24 years. he developed type II diabetes around 2001 and suffers from loss of creative organ. in may of 2009 he was diagnosed with nsclc with mets to the brain. has had a craniotmy, wbr and is now having chemo.
my first question is on his dd-214 under remarks it says served in vietnam. is that enough to prove he had boots on ground?
we have 2 sons, 21 and single, 22 and married. it is my understanding that the va will pay for 45 months education up till age 26, with no bar to marriage.
question number 2. do we file for the education benefits the same time we file for compensation benefits?
i have a ton more questions but if you know the answer to these it would help. thanks so much, t marie
Hello Pete26
In summary I was very lucky, fortunate, and blessed that a lot of things came together. I was already in the VA system and had been through the agent orange evaluation. A recent chest VA X-ray had found a suspicious spot in my lung. After I went into the hospital my son (ex USAF) came into town, started the disability paperwork, and got me set up with an appointment with a VA oncologist. So when the paperwork arrived they already had VA paperwork on my condition. So again I was very luck, fortunate and blessed that all of these things were in place.
I am sorry to hear of your long suffering. Who is handling your paperwork submission. I am surprised that with diabetes and larynx that you are classified as 100%.
If there is anything I can do to help please let me know.
Cecil
I don;t know how you got things done in 30 days. It took me 10 months to get approved for the diabetes. I have been waiting over 2 years to be approved for my heart condition which the doctors already told me was service connected. The y did give me a 10% diaability for neuropathy and now I have cancer of the Larynx and just had a total Laryngectomy and can't speak. I was diagonsed in July 2008 and am still waiting to hear.
Hello Robinjean
Glad to her your dad's package is at the VA. You should be able to find the service disabled insurance information in the package you downloaded. If not follow this link:
http://www.insurance.va.gov/inForceGliSite/buying/SDVI.htm
Note there is $10K the VA will pay for and $20K more he can pay for. Premiums seem reasonable to me.
Hope and pray your Dad recovers here on earth and you are able to enjoy many more years with him. Us old Vietnam Vets are pretty tough. I notice I don't have nearly the stamina I used to but I am convinced it will all change when I finish chemo in 6 weeks.
All of our prayers are with you and let me know any assistance I can provide.
Cecil
sclc survivor,
Yes, Dad did receive confirmation from the VA office of the initial application that was faxed from our Virginia rep's office. And, I worked the 21-526 package, to include copies of all his medical records since his sclc diagnosis. I met with the Virginia rep on 11 March and he said the package was one of the best he has seen and promised to put a rush on it and mail it in that same day! He said it should move quickly and we should hear something within 4-6 weeks. I don't think that's quick but for VA, I suppose it is.
After I read your reply about my Dad qualifying for the insurance even though he's over 65, I went back through the VA book "Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents" and can't find it anywhere. But I just went to the VA website and downloaded the "Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance RH Information and Premium Rates"...I'll read through it. Thank you so much for all your help!
Well, I think my Dad's recovery will be in heaven. He's holding his own for now but continue's to grow weak. Hospice comes in once a week and the nurse said he's doing good for now. We are enjoying the preciousness of time with him every day. Thank you again for your help and all your prayers.
Robinjean
Has your Dad heard from VA on his claim yet? Be sure and check out all benefits he and your Mom are eligible for at these links.
http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/dependents/spouse.htm
http://www.vba.va.gov/VBA/benefits/factsheets/general/21-00-1.pdf
Praying for your Dad's recovery and that VA comes through soon.
Hello Penny’s Dad
Thanks for serving for so long. Am sorry to hear of your problems dealing with VA in the past. Not sure about issues getting hypertension service connected but lung cancer is for Vietnam Vets is pretty automatic for service connected.
Would encourage you to submit your claim before the end of the month so you can get a disability date established. Would also advise to use a representative to help with the process. Tell the representative you want to submit a fully developed claim and use the expedited review process.
Wishing you the best
Willie
Am really glad Tom is doing good with the PCI. I agree with you hair loss is sorta trivial if everything else is good. Also glad that you heard from the VA. This means you have a disability date established.
I am doing really great. I fatigue pretty easy but that is probably because I am getting lazy. Brain, whole body and lung scans all came back clean. 2 more rounds of chemo and PCI and I have it licked.
Let me know when you heaqr more fro the VA
Cecil
Thanks for your response. I will invite you to be a friend. He lives in Montana and I am in Idaho. I have been working with American Legion recently. Hopefully with all the medical notes, tests, diagnosis, letter to the VA from his oncologist, his DD214, and VA form we are covered. Your advice and the support from this website are priceless. Hope everything is going well for you.
I am a retired U.S. Navy Chief Hospital Corpsman (24 yrs Active, 30 yrs total service) and Vietnam Vet (1968-69 in-country). I was treated for Squamous Cell CA of the tonsils, with mets to the right lymph nodes of the neck in 2008. I had surgery, radiation and chemo. I now have Stage IV NSCLC in both lungs and am undergoing chemo.
I filed a VA claim for Hypertension from Agent Orange exposure a couple of years ago and was denied. The whole process left a bitter taste in my mouth and I have not filed for either cancer. At this point, I just don't have the energy to fight the bureaucracy. It seems like it is very difficult to get a VA claim approved if you've served 20 or more years and are receiving a pension. Proving service connection is difficult.
He finished treatment #8 on Friday. So far just feels tired and his appetite has diminished a little, but thankful for no nausea. He also hasn't lost any hair yet, which can be a side effect also. I am not worried about the hair, just want him to feel good. The doctor said he is getting the lowest dose possible and he believes he will do just fine. He only has four to do this week and he will be done.
Are you still feeling okay? Are your treatments still not bothering you? I hope not.
We did hear from the VA that they had received his application, and there has been a big number of applications and they will be reviewing it. I sure hope Obama and his decisions do not put a kink in all of this.
Thanks for checking on Tom.
Willie
How is Tom's PCI going? I will be startting this in early May and like hear of other experiences
Your dad qualifies for the insurance even though he is 69 years old. Since he is over 65 he will have to pay the premiums. I just completed this process and the premiums seem very reasonable.
Sorry for any confusion, let me know if I can help
I am so sorry for your loss and even more pained by the troubles you and your husband had with the VA. I would not give up yet. Check this website about a case similar to your husbands.
http://www.vva.org/veteran/1006/benefit_update.html
"Following the submission of formal briefs and oral arguments by the parties, the Court rendered a decision favorable to Vietnam veterans who served in the waters offshore of Vietnam. In its ruling, the Court concluded, because the statute does not specifically limit the application of the presumption of service connection for herbicide exposure to those who set foot on Vietnamese soil, the VA’s regulatory interpretation, while a permissible exercise of its rule-making authority, does not clearly preclude the application of the presumption to service members who served aboard ships and boats in close proximity to Vietnam. These service members usually were awarded the VSM, which the VA provisions recognized as awarded for service in Vietnam."
Based on this I think you are entitled to benefits and need to visit a VA representative for your state.
As for the SCLC, you should be able to get medical records from his doctor that clearly shows he had lung cancer and that this was the cause of death.
I will be delighted to help in any way I can.
Glad to know that at least the VA will help some of you. My husband was Vietnam Vet. He had applied for disability because of leg and back problems. Had plenty of evidence but they turned him down. We appealed and the case was still open when he passed. Our doctor sent a letter to the VA about his SCLC. I received there initial paperwork the day after my husband passed away. They then sent another letter saying there was no evidence that he had lung cancer - and if he did - he could not file on Agent Orange since he was on a ship. - 4 years of living on ships full of asbestos. Oh well - enough of that - He got nothing - I get nothing - Hope you have better luck.
I am NED. Completed brain MRI, Nuclear med bone scan and chest CT in the past 10 days and al show NED (no evidence of disease. Still have 2 more rounds of chemo and PCI to complete.
Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. I feel they really made a difference.
Cecil
Sorry to hear of your father's position but glad to hear he has someone in his corner to help with the process. Not sure what state you are at for VA filing but encourage you to move fast and get complete package together so you can ask for expedited processing of a fully developed claim.
I will be glad to help at any time. If you would like to have private discussions invite me to be your friend.
Thanks for being there for your dad and thank him for serving
Cecil
I am new to this site. And I am amazed, encouraged, and more determined than ever to continue the fight to help my father get through this difficult fight and help him with the VA process. You're discussions have answered several questions and are very inspiring to those of us that are still trying to adjust to the news of the diagnosis. It is moving to see that there are others out there going through similar situations. I have made it my mission to assist my father with the VA process to minimize the stress that it brings to him. I hope that sharing information that I have learned in the process or will learn in the future with other vets and their families will lessen the stress, worry, and time spent trying to get information. Thank you for all of you who have served this country. My heart and prayers are with you and your family.
I completed thoracic radiation (33 sessions) last week. Will complete my 4th round of chemo tomorrow. 2 more rounds after that. If no delays due to low blood count should be done by April 17th. PCI will start mid May.
So far I am incredibly blessed and lucky - minimal side effects, no weight loss, good appetite and taste. No METS. Minor headaches are the only significant issue.
Wishing you and Tom the best
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