Back to Kansas does not make me a happy camper.
As usual, it rained all the way there. Why does it always rain when I drive to Kansas? Yet it beat the 40-60 mph winds on the way home accompanied by snow and icy roads the last hour and a half of the trip. We drove down on Monday and home on Tuesday.
All that for a 15 minute appointment. You heard right. . . 15 minutes.
The final NARSUM was reviewed by an MEB lawyer who believes that Dr. M's statements will be disregarded as 1) they don't match with his own interview notes and 2) the notes from Dr. H's neuropsych evaluation will be included. Good news!
Five conditions were deemed to be permanently aggravated by service: postconcussive syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, posttraumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, and vision loss. The PEB will receive the MEB's findings as well as all of Sean's military medical records to make its disability rating for each condition.
He also recommended further testing for Sean's continued shortness of breath, recurrent sinus problems and nasal cysts, the loss of sensation in his hands and feet, and his neck pain.
Which brings me to the trip. At they lawyer's request an appointment was made with a doctor at Ft. Riley who does not work with the MEB, but does independent reviews and makes recommendations. The appointment took literally 15 minutes. The doctor came in, said hello, and handed Sean his report. He had read the lawyer's requests and used Sean's medical notes to refute each one. He did not ask Sean any questions or do any type of examination. Seriously? He could have done that by phone.
He did recommend that Sean follow up with pulmonary tests due to his burn pit exposure and that he have his sinus cysts reviewed again. He also thought Sean should have additional nerve testing for his loss of sensation. But the kicker is: he recommended Sean have it done at the VA with his primary care physician, not through the military. So, he needs follow-up but. . . . . it's not our problem.
The lawyer has now drafted a new request that the army be responsible for the additional testing rather than just writing it off. If his rebuttal is accepted, we may very well be going back to Kansas (I keep humming, "If I only had a brain." Can't help myself). Or, they may allow us to do the tests locally which means I'll be arranging the tests with doctors and Tricare.
If not, the packet goes to the PEB which may or may not request the testing, and again their decision can be rebutted.
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There’s no place like home!
There's no place like home!
There's no place like home!
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