MS and the military

How many of you served your country only to be medically discharged due to MS or find out later on down the road after you had separated from Active Duty that you were given a definate dx?

Did you know that the government considers MS to be a service related disability?

You see the government sets a time-frame from the time you leave active duty until you are given a dx of MS before your claim will be void as they only allow 7 years. BUT with great documentation and a fight for your rights...7 years is poo-poo. I was finally given a dx 11 years after I left active duty...why 7 years and not 70? Not every person who has MS is dx'd right away, it can take up to 20 years...it just depends.

Personally, I know first hand. And I proved beyond a resonable doubt (took 4 years but I did it) that I had an MS episode while active duty but the culprit was not discovered at the time as my symptom left as quickly as it appeared...however it was documented in my military medical records and continued into my civilian records.

You probably ask why would the government claim responsibility for MS for it's previous active duty employees? Let's see...recall all those injections we get during basic? Well a person may have an inactive gene that could cause MS but the drug(s) that they inject could turn that gene on. However if we had never been exposed to that agent...that gene would probably never have been activated.

Such a shame, there is no one else in my family who has MS symptoms or been dx'd as such...I'm the first documented case...I don't mind being first, just not this time.