It's been a while since I posted a message. The last few months have been difficult, and gets worse each month.
My husband is suffering from adenocarcinoma of the distal esophagus, and was a Vietnam vet, in helicopter repair, flying helicopters too. Same years of service 1968-1970.
Today the VA denied our claim that there is a service connection to agent orange and esophgeal cancer. This cancer is not on the VA approved cancer list. I did a lot of research doing internet searches and made copies of everything I found that proves dioxin exposure causes all sorts of cancer. But this particular cancer is not on their list. They thanked me for enlightening them about dioxin, but without a letter from his doctor saying the magical words "it's just as likely as not that the cancer may have or could have been caused by agent orange" the appeal went nowhere. We don't have private insurance for my husband, just the VA medical coverage, so naturally our VA doctor/oncologist WOULD NOT write such a letter. We now have to try to find a private doctor and pay for an evaluation ourselves, without the guarantee that a letter would be written. Some vets have been approved - but only because they got opinion letters from the doctor treating them. Without a letter, a claim gets denied.
They say that people with head and neck tumors are susceptible to EC. My husband had a tumor removed from his spinal cord several years ago, which was thankfully benign. But from there on, private health insurance was totally unaffordable for us due to his history. I really think Agent Orange was responsible for that tumor also, as well as one on the salivary gland later that year.
Sorry to say this, but our Vietnam Vets are in a terrible position when it comes to proving agent orange connection with this disease. My husband is now in Stage IV, and 3 years ago weighed 300 lbs., now down to 185. He can't swallow regular food, lives on Ensure Plus, cream of wheat, soft foods, fruit and soup. His pain never ends. He's on pain patches now, which I change every 3 days, and also pain pills for break-thru pain. Doctor wants him to start palliative radiation treatments, but he doesn't want to suffer needlessly when no cure is in sight. Radiation really does cause lots of discomfort and soreness, and it only slows the tumor down, it can't destroy it.
Sometimes it helps to vent our feelings, even if it sounds negative.