'You get further with a kind word and an attorney, than with just a kind word'
Five years ago, I was seeing a VA therapist for PTSD (From Vietnam). The therapist would constantly make comments about my inability to walk in a straight line. In a subsequent conversation, she mentioned that cognitive testing was in order, to determine if there were to many dead brain cells from my post Vietnam drinking. I did not receive this well. My thought being, that 25 years after my 1970 return from Vietnam, I was a partially sponsored inline speed skater who competed regularly in 10 kilometer races (6.2 miles). My thought being that having killed off my brain cells in the 70's, how did they grow back and then die again. Inline skating at an average speed of over 14 mph requires a modicum of balance. I complained bitterly and subsequently assigned a therapist in private practice.
In the meantime, my wife would try to be 'slick' by secretly(?) following on my daily 3.7 mile walk to the Hannibal Subway restaurant. Her intent was to make sure I did not fall and be unable to get up.
Fast forward four years and in 2021 at a regularly scheduled appointment with my primary doctor, the doctor asked several questions about my difficulty moving around. My primary doctor referred me to a neurologist in Quincy, Il. I had previously (2016) been seeing a neurologist at the VA, and received several different prescriptions for tremors but nothing seemed to help.Finally the VA nuerologist advised me to, "Get a cane"
The neurologist in Quincy, Il. diagnosed me with moderate to severe Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's is one of the diseases associated with exposure to Agent Orange (A defoliant used in Vietnam). I had years earlier received a letter from the VA advising me that I had been exposed to agent orange.
I filed a claim for compensation with the VA and was sent to a doctor for a compensation evaluation. The compensation doctor made some small talk, but when I began to tell him about my symptoms, he did not want to hear about it. 'I have your records, that's all I need to know', he stated. The whole visit lasted less than 15 minutes. Several weeks later I received a letter from the VA more or less telling me that Parkinson's was minimal. Parkinson's is in fact a progressive neurological disorder that only get's worse, never better.
I hired an attorney who was experienced in dealing with the VA. My attorney filed an appeal and subsequently the VA decided to rate me as 100% disabled.
