Six months after I got diagnosed my ex-wife split and I was under her healthcare. Thank God for the VA! I have been with the VA ever since and I love them! I got sick 10 years after service and they give you seven so no paycheck for the MS but Monday is my last appointment then they have one year to set my connection rating. I went in with no asthma but came out with asthma. I went in seeing fine but left with low vision. While on active duty! The funny thing was that I drove a rocket launcher on a Bradley chassy. A track vehicle so I went where ever I was told to go. I told my SPLL chief I was having trouble seeing and he said “Specialist keep that shit to yourself!” So I did lol. I lost 30% of my hearing in my right ear. PTSD they say but I think I am fine. I was kind of wild the first ten years out but I have mellowed way out. I forget what else they said but Monday is my last test. My right wrist is fused solid because of a work thing but if I get less then 100% I will get a lawyer because that happened because of the vision loss. I also think 28 lesion didn’t show up year 8,9 and 10 out of the Army. When 1 thru 7 would have gotten my MS connected. So after 20 years I might get some connection. I was in 87 to 94 so the back pay might be nice :) low vision since 89, hmm MSmel is going to be spoiled! The VA is good. Everything is buy the book but you know that. If you were Dx within 7 years of separation you are going to get paid! I met a service rep thru one of the low vision groups I do and he pulled my records and got the ball rolling!

Robb, I have no experience with the VA system but wanted to thank you for your service and I sincerely wish you get excellent care. You deserve it for the sacrifice you made for our country.

Thank you for your service. God Bless Stay Strong

I only have my personal experience with my husband with VA benefits.
Make sure you are near a VA hospital within a driving distance close to your home. Many things can be done at a clinic near you but so many others need to be done at the hospital. Glasses, mris, ultrasounds, surgery, hearing etc
The VA is invaluable but if you want a choice in anything it very restrictive. It’s as if you are still in the military.

Christopher- Sounds like we had similar military experience. I was a USMC Tanker from 86 to 92. We rolled into Desert Storm on our old M60A1's. We got to experience all the toxic exposures the middle east had to offer including DU, chemical agent alarms that they later claimed were "false alarms" and the oil fires that turned day into night.

When I got out in '92 most of us had heard of the VA, but didn't really know anything about it. Over the last few years I learned about the Gulf War presumptives and managed to get a 40% rating for some of them. It would have been much higher If I had started earlier. An example is Chronic fatigue. I have had it since I was in but didn't get officially diagnosed until recently. Even though it is a Gulf War presumptive it was denied because they now connect it to my MS.

My MS diagnosis did not happen until 2017, way outside the 7 year time frame. I suspect I had it for years but it just hadn't progressed to a disturbing level until then. I am kind of surprised MS is not a presumptive. I have seen two studies from VA. One shows no increase in MS in GW combat vets. Another showed a 22% increase in combat vets across the board. Hoping they will add it to the list some day but doubt they will.

Being a GW combat vet at 40% puts me in priority group 2 so that gets me pretty good coverage. I think next year I will be seeing just how good that coverage is!