The seven-year rule limits the amount of time after honorable discharge from service to the time a doctor substantiates your illness and substantiates that illness is related to the Gulf War.
As I understand it, MS takes about 10 years to show up on MRI scans of the brain from the point of viral infection or from the point of exposure (service in the Gulf). The seven-year-rule can certainly ruin your chance for benfits. If you have lab results, I recommend you find yourself a personal injury/toxic tort lawyer right away. There are tons of lawyers who served in the military, who will know what you're talking about, and who will take your case on contingency (They get paid when you win).
I, too, thought I had MS because my right hand released its grip on things. I depend on my hands and my grip for a living. I learned through a non-veteran friend with advanced MS that muscle failure doesn't always begin in your legs. It can affect one leg and both arms in the early stages.
Also, my friend discovered that the lesions started in his lower spine, but were not discovered until they had reached his brain. There are medications that can stop progression if you can find a doctor willing to do a thorough MRI with dye scans of your entire spine at an early enough stage to stop progression.
If you want to find the numbers on any given illness related to the Gulf War, I recommend you perform Internet searches on Gulf War Illness or Gulf War Syndrome, then specifically search for autoimmune system diseases. They include MS, Lupus, Lou Gehrig's Disease, Parkinson's Syndrome, Altzheimers, on and on it goes. I've met a lot of veterans or veterans' families with autoimmune system diseases, but I've never met one with MS. That could be because it was too early, or it could be that they were too debilitated to show up to the political functions I was attending. It also could be that I got too sick when they became debilitated enough to participate in the funcions I was too sick to attend. Ships passing in the dark!
Suffice it to say, I am a senior paralegal with grassroots in the military JAG society. I no longer work in law firms or in organizations that harbor veterans as attorneys, but I've received advice from attorneys all along the path of my career.
Best of luck to you. God Bless, 'cause you've got a rugged, rugged road ahead.
[This message has been edited by moderator2 (edited 07-19-2002).]
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