Navymom,
I don't know much, if anything, about the difference between someone being honorably discharged or medically discharged from the military, but I will say that your son should already qualify for at least 10% service related disability. 'Service Related' because he started having seizures while in the Navy. How I know about this is because my seizures started shortly after I joined the Navy myself, but I did not know anything about seizures and epilepsy back then. What I first experienced was what I called "slurred speech". I brought this to the attention of one of the ship's doctors, and he thought I was trying to make up an excuse to get out of the military. With that reply, I wondered if I really should try to get out. But I didn't. My "slurred speech" problems eventually faded away as I was getting used to being in the Navy. The doctor on the submarine that your son is stationed on is probably just a primary doctor, not any type of specialist such as a neurologist.
You and your son might do some searching for information through the Veterans Administration (VA). By using the information in your posting as to where you are located, I started searching by going to va.gov and found information about an Outpatient Clinic, located at 605 Lincoln Street, in Worcester, MA 01605, with their phone number 508-856-0104. Then I checked that outpatient clinic's individual website
http://www1.va.gov/directory/guide/facility.asp?ID=625 , which shows that there are neurology services provided and or arranged through the clinic. Your son shouldn’t have any problems getting his medical needs taken care of through the VA.
By already knowing about the information pertaining to epilepsy and service related disabilities, just a few days ago I wanted to post a reply on another support group. I searched the Internet to see if some information was available online, and sure enough, found what I was looking for. The information is located near the bottom of this website
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2004/julqtr/38cfr4.124a.htm, under the title of “The Epilepsies”.
To give you an idea about how the process works, when a person applies for a service related disability rating for the first time or is applying for a higher disability rating, if the rating is approved, that disability rating and VA compensation does not start when it was approved; that rating goes way back to when the person filled out the application. So for however long it takes to get an approval, the amount of back-pay the person will be receiving is going to be that disability rating percentage, multiplied by the number of months the individual had to wait for the approval. For example, let's say a military veteran was discharged at the E-5 pay grade and it took 18 months for the veteran to be approved for the service-related disability of 40%. The Disabled American Veteran (DAV) will be receiving their first monthly check, for the 40% service-related disability, at the E-5 pay grade…PLUS, an additional check, in the amount for the 40% per month they missed, at the E-5 pay grade… times… the 18 months they had to wait for that rating approval.
I was planning on making a career in the Navy as well, but the main reason why I decided to get out of the military, had to do with military cutbacks. I haven’t driven a vehicle since December 1996 and have been unemployable since around Spring 1997. At first, having to deal with epilepsy can be difficult and frustrating, and hard to believe, but it is not impossible to handle. Learning and understanding the details about seizures and epilepsy can be so helpful because ‘Knowledge is Power’. I’m still lucky enough to have both of my parents helping me, to get me to places, such as grocery shopping and going out to restaurants to eat.
What I want to share with you now is what I consider has been one of the best sources of information about epilepsy. This information is connected to what’s called, The SEE Program (Seizure & Epilepsy Education). The individual who created and does the presentations of the SEE Program, Dr. Mittan, is a neuropsychologist. I have been to both of the two most recent presentations that he has done in the state of Texas, and he is soon to be doing just a single one-day presentation in Lubbock, Texas, this coming August, which I am also planning on attending. In part of his website there is a section called SEE Library, which is at
http://www.theseeprogram.com/html/s_e_e__library.html Back in the year of 2005 he did 2 series of articles, divided up into three separate parts, which were published in the Exceptional Parent magazine. All of those articles are available in PDF format in the SEE Library. And even though the articles are talking about children, a lot of the information can also pertain to adults as well.
I hope that this information can be helpful for you and you son. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
On the subject of Topmax....be aware, be very aware of any mental changes in memory, disorientation, cognitive abilities.