“ Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans “
Chapter 1008 will have a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans celebration on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 from 2:00 PM until 7:00 PM. This event will be held at the Park City Community Room. We have invited local veterans organizations to attend and be available to answer questions and have information available. There will be plenty of refreshments. All Vietnam Veterans, their family and friends are invited. We still have a lot of details to arrange and we will keep everyone posted as the details are finalized. We hope to see you there.
May 16th is also the day of Chapter 1008`s monthly meeting. We are hoping that anyone who would like to learn a little more about our chapter please plan on staying for our meeting. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Ken Ford @ 717-560-4049, or Warren Kimmel @ 717-484-1147. If no one answers please leave your name and phone number and we will return your call.
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VVA Urges All Vietnam Veterans
Exposed To Agent Orange Be
Screened For Prostate Cancer
(Washington, D.C.) “Veterans exposed to Agent Orange are at least twice as likely to develop prostate cancer; their recurrence rates are higher; and recurring cancers are more aggressive,” noted Dr. Thomas Berger, Executive Director of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) Veterans Health Council, before today`s Congressional Men`s Health Caucus Prostate Cancer Task Force. Berger urged his fellow Vietnam Veterans to get screened, noting “it`s worth the fight.”
Said Berger “Some three million veterans served in Southeast Asia, and no one knows for sure how many of these veterans were exposed to Agent Orange.” In 1996 the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences concluded there is “limited evidence of a positive association between prostate cancer and exposure to herbicides used in Vietnam, including Agent Orange.” As a result of IOM`s findings, Jesse Brown, then-Secretary of the Veterans Administration (VA), issued the final rule, recognizing prostate cancer as a service-connected, presumptive disease associated with exposure to Agent Orange and other phenoxy herbicides during military service, allowing such exposed veterans to become eligible for VA disability compensation and health care.
In 2008, University of California-Davis Cancer Center physicians released results of research showing Vietnam Veterans exposed to Agent Orange have greatly increased risks of getting the most aggressive form of the disease as compared to those who were not exposed. The research was also the first to use a large population of men in their 60`s and the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. More than 13,000 Vietnam Veterans enrolled in the VA Northern California Health Care System were stratified into two groups, exposed or not exposed to Agent Orange between 1962 and 1971. Based on medical evaluation conducted between 1998 and 2006, the study revealed that:
***twice as many Agent Orange-exposed men were identified with prostate cancer than n0n-exposed;
***Agent Orange=exposed men were diagnosed two-and-a-half years younger than non-exposed; and
***Agent Orange-exposed men were nearly four times more likely to be present with metastic disease than non-exposed.
Further buttressing this link, in 2009, a study of 1,495 veterans in five cities who underwent radical prostatectomy to remove their cancerous prostates showed 206 exposed to Agent Orange had a near 50 percent increased risk of their cancer recurring, despite the cancer seeming non-aggressive at the time of surgery. And the cancer came back with a vengeance. The time it took the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level to double-an indicator of aggressiveness- was eight months versus more than 18 months in non-exposed veterans.
*** Go to the Agent Orange Page to find out about more information regarding the addition of more U.S. Navy and U.S Coast Guard ships added to the list of ships operating in Vietnam.
What Is My HealtheVet?
My HealtheVet is a website designed for Veterans and their families to help them understand and manage their health. It enables Veterans to work and communicate privately with their healthcare team to achieve the best possible health.It is a communication tool to be used for non-urgent health related issues.
Anyone who can access the internet can use the information and Personal Health Journal features of the My HealtheVet web site. Users can search an online library of trusted consumer health information, as well as, create and access their own personal health records. The web site also provides information about VA benefits, services, news and events.
By registering your own secure User ID and Password you can:
*** create and manage your own Personal Health Journal of allergies & immunizations, insurance information, self entered logs of blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, cholesterol levels and other data,
***Veterans can record their military health history,
***VA patients can order their VA prescriptions on line,
***users may print out information from their self entered records to share with VA or non-VA providers,
***view future appointments,
***view lab results,
***secure message your Primary Care Provider and Team. To view the names of VA prescriptions and secure message a Primary Care Provider a VA patient must complete a one time In Person Authentication (IPA). Click on www.myhealth.va.gov to complete your IPA.
If you have any questions , your My HealtheVet point of contact at the Lebanon Medical Center is Jan Falk, My HealtheVet Coordinator, 717-272-6621, extension 5737 or 1-800-409-8771, extension 5737.
Note: We have a new page under “Home” titled “FromOur Library.”
This new page will contain books related to our Armed Forces. We invite anyone who is interested to please suggest additions to this list. This is a form of virtual library and the books listed may be available at your local library or online.
Note: We have added another new page under “Home” titled “The Virtual Wall.” Follow the instructions. This is a very interesting link.
NOTE: There is a new page under News etc… titled Veterans Court. This is a very important and hopefully beneficial idea being undertaken in Lancaster County.