A little help please

catman · #1 03-03-2004, 07:55 PM

My uncle is a Vietnam Vet and was asking if there is a Agent Orange Registry. Does anyone know if this exists and if so where I can find it.

Thanks!
Trav

Arrow · #2 03-03-2004, 08:54 PM

Hey little brother,

He needs to go to the VA this website has the info you need.

www.tpromo.com/usvi/ag_org.htm

Andy and some of the others should be able to give you some good advice too.

My brother has been really good at helping guys out but he's got his own battle to fight now.

Hope this helps you...Sis

phuloi · #3 03-03-2004, 10:14 PM

Trav,
What Arrow said.And make sure he gets to any VAMC for an AO screening,and follow up as needed.

MORTARDUDE · #4 03-04-2004, 03:12 AM

Yes, he needs to get the free screening. I had mine in 1982 when it started. He will start getting a newsletter every so often with updates about which illnesses are covered.

Larry

catman · #5 03-04-2004, 05:52 AM

Thanks a million guys!! My uncle is from the old school and scared to death of the VA. I keep telling him they have not killed me yet and he counters with "I've got twenty years on you" guess I can not argue that. Next step will be to get him in for the screening. Is that just blood work and the basic physical or is there more to it than that.

Trav

MORTARDUDE · #6 03-04-2004, 07:24 AM

As I recall, it is a normal physical, with blood and urine samples. I don't recall X-rays, but there could have been. I had a lot of acne on my back and chloracne is one of the symptoms of dioxin exposure, but it usually occurs right afterwards. Since I spent a year in dust that I am sure had plenty of Agent Orange mixed in with it, I was concerned. The VA gave me three bottles of drugs marked "EXPERIMENTAL". Needless to say I threw them all away. The doctors did not tell me they were giving "guinea-pig-drugs" to me. The wait in the pharmacy to get them was over 4 hours...There were 4 doctors involved with my exam, and three could barely speak English..as I recall, one was Oriental, maybe one was Iranian, not sure about the last one. The doctor that appeared to be in charge looked like he was 80+ years old. Prior to that my only VA appt. was a some minor dental work right after I got out. I never forgot that either. The dentist was an old codger and acted like he was working on a cadaver ( maybe that is how he learned !! ). I had to tell him twice he was hurting me. My father had a real bad attitude about the VA also. I am not sure why. He told my mother she might as well shoot him if she took him there. He had a medical discharge from the Army due to a tropical disease he contracted on New Georgia, in the Pacific, in 1943. It had symptoms similar to malaria and arthritis. He got a 30% disability rating, but apparently sometime after WW2 the government reduced a lot of veteran's rating and he lost his and didn't appeal it. It bothered him his whole life, but he didn't miss much work because of it. We were fishing one time at Pickwick Dam on the Tennessee river and it hit him. He was unable to do anything for 3 days...Needless to say, with that background and other things I had heard and read, I was reluctant to go there about PTSD, but finally did in April 2002. Being online with you guys helped a great deal, as did finding my platoon mate in Wyoming.

Larry