Iraq War Illnesses

Chris in the service

Sgt. Chris Sachs died November 2008 from Acute Myeloid Leukemia, called AML. Chris's family and friends are interested in other cases of leukemia in veterans of Iraq wars. If you know of good resources online and elsewhere add a posting below in the Comments area.

CLL

Submitted by A Friend on Wed, 09/22/2010 - 18:54.

I am at work reading this so I'm not going to put my name in, but here's my story. I was in Iraq from March 2003 to November of 2003 and in 2007 after having difficulty with dizziness that was unexplained and a high white blood cell count, was diagnosed with CLL (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia). This does not explain the dizziness, but just as a background, of course I was exposed to burn pits and the like, but I also sprayed pesticides. I had the Army put that in my file when I was outprocessing, but I have not yet pursued the VA. CLL is slow acting and one can go years without needing any treatment, but there is no cure and it will eventually lead to my demise. I wish you the best and I am considering looking further into compensation or at least some reassurance that my service could explain my problems. My email address is jmiah717@yahoo.com.

Burn pits

Submitted by A Friend on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 15:51.

Hi My name is Tiffany Rivera. i am 24 years old,married to a iraq war veteran, and we have a 1-year old son.
My husband retired from the Army in August of 2008. Since November of 2008 we he has been seeking treatment at the VA hospital in Nashville,Tn. he has a kidney disease,suffers from PTSD, a traumatic brain injury, and now we have a cancer scare in his lungs. The doctors are having to start all over because the Army hospital where he seeked treatment at while active duty has lost his medical records.
We have been discussing a possibility of him having lymphcytic leukemia. He was always around burn pits,he was the one that would toss different materials he pits. Materials such as, clothing,medical wastes,feces,anything to get out of the way.
Now we are fighting our own war here in America. We need to get our government involved and make sure that the VA takes responsibility for these cases.

Sincerely
Tiffany Rivera

my husband

Submitted by A Friend on Thu, 01/01/2009 - 19:43.

HI my name is Crystal Dougherty and my husband is CPL Charles Dougherty and he was diagnosed in 2005 with AML and underwent a stem cell transplant in 2006 he was cancer free for over 2 1/2 years and now its back and the doctors are giving him only a couple of months to live. My husband served in Iraq from March 2003 to Feb. 2004.He is currently active duty army and stationed at FOrt Campbell,KY. I hope this helps your crusade as well as mine.