Avenal Chimes • Thursday, January 8, 2015 • Page 3 Veterans Corner New and Material Evidence A veteran may reopen a finally adjudicated claim by submitting new and material evidence. New evidence means existing evidence not previously submitted to the VA. Material evidence means existing evidence that, by itself or when considered with previous evidence, relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim. New and material evidence can be neither cumulative nor redundant of the evidence of record and must raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim. New and material evidence received prior to the expiration of the appeal period, or prior to the appeal decision if a timely appeal has been filed, will be considered as having been filed in connection with the claim which was pending at the beginning of the appeal period. Once a decision is made, if VA receives or associates relevant official service department records that existed and had not been associated with the claim when VA first decided the claim, VA will reconsider the claim. These records may include service records that are related to a claimed in-service event, injury, or disease; additional service records forwarded by the Department of Defense or the service department to VA any time Health Matters after VA's original request for service records; or declassified records that could not have been obtained because the records were classified when VA decided the claim. This does not apply to records that VA could not have obtained when it decided the claim because the records did not exist, or because the veteran failed to provide sufficient information for VA to identify and obtain the records. The Kings County Veterans Service Office issues Veteran I.D. cards to honorably discharged veterans. Contact Joe Wright if you would like to receive periodic veteran's information by email. By Rina Patel toms for pancreatic cancer occur late, such as yellowing of the skin, loss of appetite, nausea, weight loss, pain in the abdomen, etc. Many researchers today are still trying to find a path for a better prognosis, but this may take some time. There are many state and federal benefits and programs available to veterans and their dependents. To find out if you are eligible for any of these benefits, visit or call our office. We can and will assist you in completing all required application forms. You can get information on the Web from the Kings County Veterans Service Office webpage at www.countyofkings.com. Joe Wright, retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer, is the Veterans Service Officer for Kings County. Send your questions to the Veterans Service Office, 1400 W. Lacey Blvd, Hanford, CA 93230; call 852-2669; or e-mail [email protected]. 408 SAN BENITO ST, AVENAL 3 Beds 1 Full Bath 1 Partial Bath, 1,100 sq ft., This is a beautiful home, with many great features, tile floor through out the home, half bathroom, three bedrooms, covered patio and additional patio floor. Must see make appointment today. Pancreatic Cancer In recent news, Beverley hillbillies star Donna Douglas has passed away due to a deadly cancer, pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is a disease in which malignant cells originate in the tissues and structure components of the pancreas. The pancreas is a very important organ vital for life, as it is strategically located behind the stomach; it secretes many enzymes and hormones. The enzymes secreted into the intestine helps in the aid of digestion of food, and the hormones like insulin are secreted into the bloodstream to maintain a normal blood sugar level. Pancreatic cancer is a very aggressive type of cancer, making the prognosis very low because by the time it is diagnosed the cancer has already spread to surrounding structures. Pancreatic cancer is also very much resistant to a lot of the medications when treatment is given, making it that much harder for a complete cure. The American CancerSociety reports that only about 23% of patients with cancer of the exocrine pancreas are still living one year after diagnosis. Only about 4% are still living five years after being diagnosed. Many of the symp- By Joe Wright As many of us remember, Steve Jobs was also a victim of pancreatic cancer. As medicine is improving and growing, we can only expect the outcome of pancreatic cancer will one day change to an optimistic one. $134,000 More Avenal Listings 932 E. Shasta St., 3 beds/2 bath.............$85,000 404 E. San Joaquin St., 2 beds/2 bath....$79,900 “Call us with your listing today!” (559) 934-1110 phone (559)707-1110 moble 195 W. Elm Ave., Suite B Coalinga, CA 93210 Lc# 01387838 www. coalingarealestate.com