This friend of mine lost her husband, John Fausch this year & send me the following request. She particularly needs assists from people who are in the medical field or those who will pass it on to those in medicine. With her permission, I am posting it on Facebook. When I talk to someone, s/he usually asks if I need anything or if s/he can do anything to help. Well, YES! I do need some serious help. I have found several studies that link hypertensive cardiovascular disease to PTSD. John’s PTSD was determined to be service-connected because of his service in Vietnam; it can cause high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, cardiovascular disease, and many other conditions. I have called a few doctors who do not want to talk to me unless I make an appointment, which requires money that I don’t have. (Also, I have gotten no response from Johns VA doctors.) I am operating on 25% of the income that John and I had, but I still have 90% of the bills. The VA denied service-connection for the cause of John’s death, and now I have to fight them to get DIC. A big help to me would be: 1. Letters (on their stationery) from cardiologists, psychiatrists, internists, any medical doctors in which the doctor can link PTSD to hypertensive cardiovascular disease. The doctor’s expert medical opinion must be backed up with medical studies or her/his own medical experience. This is a big deal: I was told by a veterans’ service officer in Nashville that any studies I use as evidence in my claim must have “.gov” in the website address. The VA doesn’t put much credence in any study that a private medical organization (like the Mayo Clinic or the American Heart Association) might undertake and publish. 2. Letters from any doctors you know that can link “hypertensive cardiovascular disease” to “ischemic heart disease.” Here is the information I found at publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/conditions/ischemicheartdisease.asp Ischemic heart disease is also known as coronary artery disease or “hardening of the arteries.” Cholesterol plaque can build up in the arteries of the heart and cause “ischemia,” which means the heart is not getting enough blood flow and oxygen. Compare the statement above with what I found on the following website (healthline/health/heart-disease/types#3) that does not have “.gov” in the address. I believe this has merit and may lead a doctor to give an “expert medical opinion” that equates “ischemic heart disease” to “hypertensive cardiovascular disease.” Please note that the citation above equates “ischemic heart disease” to “coronary artery disease” and the following citation relates “hypertensive heart disease” to “coronary artery disease.” If I remember my math, if A=C and B=C, then A=B – where A is ischemic, B is hypertensive, and C is coronary artery disease. Hypertensive Heart Disease Several heart problems may occur as a result of high blood pressure or “hypertension.” These problems are referred to collectively as “hypertensive heart disease.” Related problems may include coronary artery disease, heart failure, angina, heart attack, arrhythmias. The word “ischaemic” means a “reduced blood supply.” Ischaemic heart disease is any heart disease that results in a reduced blood supply to the heart. If you have or know of a cardiologist, psychiatrist, psychologist, or other doctor who would be willing to give an “expert medical opinion” regarding the causal relationship between PTSD and hypertensive cardiovascular disease AND/OR who can equate hypertensive cardiovascular disease to ischemic heart disease, please let me know. If you are comfortable asking for the letter, PLEASE do so and have the doctor(s) mail the letter(s) to me at 533 Johns Road, Decatur, TN 37322. I need this by the middle of July – just because the VA could take two years to decide my claim and I’d like to get the clock started as soon as possible. Please help if you can and forward this to anyone you know who has a doctor. It is my belief that the federal government will spring into action to save an endangered species of snail before it will take any time to help our nation’s military, veterans, and survivors. Please don’t let them get away with this. Thank you! Deb Fausch
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 00:32:46 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015