[April V]

Re: Gulf War veterans with multiple myeloma

by April V on Sun Aug 06, 2017 2:23 pm

Shwan wrote:

Came down hard with illness in spring 2012 when I got out [of the military] and was diagnosed about 7 months after my discharge. I applied and without a fight they awarded me. I have no clue as to what would have made my claim different to have been given the award so easily.

In response to the above statement: I work in the VA department for a large law firm. My job is to help veterans gain service-connection for their illnesses and disabilities. Shwan's claim was approved so rapidly and with little to no resistance from the VA because the diagnosis was within one year of discharge. That meets their requirements. Had Shwan been diagnosed at twelve months and 1 day past discharge date, they would have denied the claim and fought it every step of the way.

[Stann]

Re: Gulf War veterans with multiple myeloma

by Stann on Tue Aug 08, 2017 12:45 am

I remember an article on troop exposure to large open pit dump fires being a concern for myeloma.

[usmcvet]

Re: Gulf War veterans with multiple myeloma

by usmcvet on Mon Aug 14, 2017 8:27 am

Good evening everyone,

I am a 38 year old OIF vet who deployed in 2003 during the invasion. My military occupational specialty (MOS) was Crash Fire Rescue (7051), and due to my MOS, I was around aircraft and heavy equipment the majority of the time, especially if there were emergencies during the invasion (March '03), I was exposed to the burning oil fields and burning our own waste. We also used aqueous film forming foam concentrate (AFFF) to contain live fires in Iraq.

I'm learning a lot from this thread about others' experiences, and I see medications given to us (anthrax and those pills for malaria) may have had a connection with me being diagnosed with multiple myeloma last month, July 17th, 2017. I was admitted that day for 17 days. It was a blur to me, and I'm doing my best to understand what this is and how did I get it.

I hope I can get a service connection with it, as I don't know what my future brings, and I would like to live my life still.

Are there any recommendations any may have as far as when to put in a claim? I'm 50% service connected and hope to be here for awhile working and living a productive life, but I would want to enjoy it if my actions / lifestyle get limited.

Thank you all and glad I found some fellow vets.

[RReinhard]

Re: Gulf War veterans with multiple myeloma

by RReinhard on Wed Oct 25, 2017 7:33 am

I'm a Gulf War vet. I'm 52 and was just diagnosed with stage 3 multiple myeloma. I was just turned down as far as claiming it as far as a disability.

[Kevin N]

Re: Gulf War veterans with multiple myeloma

by Kevin N on Mon Oct 30, 2017 12:18 pm

I am glad that I found this forum. I have recently been diagnosed with multiple myeloma. I served in the Army from 1986-1991 and I was deployed to Desert Storm from September 1990 - April 1991. I was subjected to all of the vaccinations, pills, and everything else that the Army supplied. We were constantly bombarded with SCUD missiles in Dammam, Saudia Arabia, and the one that got through hit a unit about 5 miles from our position. I would definitely like to find out the connection between our deployment and the multiple myeloma diagnosis. I know that it is not purely coin­cidental.

[DaleJC28117]

Re: Gulf War veterans with multiple myeloma

by DaleJC28117 on Wed Dec 13, 2017 3:38 pm

Update.

Have now filed our form 9 for this. We had not one, but two multiple myeloma specialists do letters for this connection in reference to benzene. The second specialist even cited the VA's own cases where this had been awarded. They basically brushed it aside. I will cite those cases and articles for you when I get more time after the holidays.

I am livid as they basically admitted there were small cases of connection, but then turned around and said it was not enough. What happened to the preponderance of doubt must go to the veteran, especially one that gave them 20 years? As a nurse of many moons the exams are a joke. Some­thing needs to be done with this crazy system!

[bigeeeee66]

Re: Gulf War veterans with multiple myeloma

by bigeeeee66 on Tue Jan 16, 2018 1:24 am

Good evening vets,

I am a 26-year vet and I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2017, 5 years after retiring. I served in Desert Storm / Shield, Iraq (3 tours), and Afghanistan to equal 5 years of combat time, where I was exposed to burning oil, burning my units feces, inhaling the residue from bunkers that my units in my battalion blew up, and last but not least, having nuclear biological chemical dropped on my unit.

I was denied and told that there was not enough data to prove that my multiple myeloma was service connected. So I am looking for information and data that would assist in connecting multiple myeloma to our combat tours.

Thanks in advanced for your support.

[kullybunnny1]

Re: Gulf War veterans with multiple myeloma

by kullybunnny1 on Tue Jan 16, 2018 11:01 am

Hello Bigeeeee66,

I'm a fellow 26-year Vet who served in an aircrew role on multiple campaigns. I've also been denied; however, I do have a VA advocate who is assisting me. I was diagnosed 3 years after retirement. As we learned from our military experiences: Hurry up and wait is appropriate in this case. Our Vietnam veterans waited decades for a decision in connection with Agent Orange as, I fear, will we.

If you don't have someone assisting you (AMVETS, American Legion, VFW), reach out to the VA.
I know I'll be gone before a decision is made but hope to help others through my efforts.

Thanks for your service.

Kully

[Cliacone]

Re: Gulf War veterans with multiple myeloma

by Cliacone on Tue Jul 17, 2018 4:29 pm

I don’t know if this will be of any help, but it’s an old military study suggesting a possible link between repeated vaccination and MGUS (the precursor to multiple myeloma). I’ve looked for follow up studies and haven’t found much.

Committee on the Effects of Multiple Immunizations, National Research Council, "Effects of long-term immunization with multiple antigens," January 1980 (PDF of report)

Excerpt:

"The possibility of delayed or unanticipated long-term risk associated with multiple immunization procedures is an acknowledged concern and requires continued scrutiny. The greatest potential risk may be in persons who receive multiple doses of vaccines that contain different antigens over long periods. Amyloidosis, hypergammaglobulinemia, and multiple myeloma can be produced in experimental animals by repeated inoculation with large doses of antigens. White et al have cited monoclonal gammopathy in two laboratory workers who were inoculated repeatedly with cholera vaccine."

[ConwaySP]

Re: Gulf War veterans with multiple myeloma

by ConwaySP on Thu Sep 27, 2018 3:33 am

For several years after leaving the service in Dec. 1991 I was having strange readings from my urinalysis in that I was having higher than normal concentrations of creatinine and they couldn't figure out why.

Fast forward to 2012 and I was seeing a dentist who did a panel x-ray of my lower jaw to see if there were any complications from a broken jaw I had 3 years earlier. They found a spot in the very same position of the break in my mandible and couldn't tell if it was an infection because of a complication from the break or something else. I was sent to an oral surgeon to see if they could figure out what the problem was and, being unable to see without looking inside, they scheduled me for minor surgery to open up my jaw and see what it was. Once inside they found that it was not an infection, took out the lesion, and sent it off for a biopsy. Once the pathology came back it was found to be positive as a plasmacytoma.

I went to an oncologist who put me in for radiation treatment for 30 days. Since then I have been seeing an oncologist regularly who has me doing blood work every 3-4 months. They have since found another lesion in my skull and said I have MGUS. My blood work shows IgA kappa light-chain myeloma and the numbers of the free light-chains and the creatinine have been slowly climbing since treatment.

I was in the Army from December 1988 to December 1991 and during the first Gulf War I was stationed in Germany sending supplies over to King Khalid Military City (KKMC). I was never deployed to the Middle East. I did, however, receive many inoculations during my companies processing for overseas movement (POM), as I was to be ready for deployment at any time.

I have tried several times to get a copy of my medical records from the records center in St. Louis, MO. I finally received a letter saying they don't have my medical records, but that they were sent to my area Regional VA Office (San Francisco). I have since tried several times to get a copy of my medical records from the office in San Francisco, but they are saying that I have to get them from the records center in St. Louis. Round and round it goes.

When I discharged I requested that a copy of my records be sent to the VA to see if they would give me any percentage of disability. After they reviewed my records (so I know they at least had them then) and gave me 10% for what they said was a "bone condition," but when I asked about this designation, they said it was for a muscle rupture that I had in 1989 during a run. I am still trying to figure out where they got "bone condition" from a muscle rupture.