Re: dreamer...kathe

[Guest guest]

seems I may have hijacked the group today. Sorry.

the VA does recognize certain halth issues in the children of veterans due to

AO, but not all....yet. Sadly, my dh was older when he had kids and I suppsose

by now many of the direct children of Nam vets are now adults, and some of the

health issues are ones that were not um.recognized as a health issue many years

ago. MRIs have been a big help as have PET scans in actually realizing these

kids do have a tangible biological health issue to blame for their strange

symptoms. So, no at the moment, my children are not able to get

compensation.but kids with certain specific heath issues such as spina bifida do

get compensation.

A friend of mine thinks it possible that our VA Hospital might have " thought " my

husband was a " homeless vet " - he has no teeth, does not wear dentures, has very

poor hygeine, looks older than he is...is borderline or non functional,

physically and mentally- and there may have been language barriers at the staff

of our VA...where the ppl staffing the hospital did not speak english? SO they

erroneously assumed my dh was homeless.

Our MCL was working with the VA hosp and Iknow DA works with them, trying to get

better care etc. ANd yes, we have met with ombudsmen etc, as well. I have in

the last 10 years spoken publicly as a lobbyist and advocate, partly for

veterans, partly for disabled people, and partly for mental illness and

neurological illness. LOL- not ever something I would have chosen or thought I

would do.but - necessity due to the cards we were dealt here with my dh and

kids- and as it turned out, after all was said and done it did somehow seem to

go hand in hand with my chosen field of nursing. ALas the extreme demands made

upon me physically, metntally, emotionally and time wise and also energy wise,

my lobbying and advocating has slowed considerably.

ANd my personal support netwrok never got off the ground in my adult life due to

the demands of my dh and kids, and well, dh was an only child of only children,

and his parents are gone, and my family..well....they had some difficulty with

me being with a military man in the first place and it got worse when finances

became such a problem way back in the beginning....and I have been too busy to

even know neighbors or mainttain friendships.

BUT.Life IS good! We get by.....my, dh, and kids are very close knit.

My RA was a BIG hard hit, tho, cuz I was The One who did it ALL here. and my RA

changed EVERYTHING very dramatically. My RA hit very hard and fast, almost

overnite and WHAM and it was quite aggressive and intense early on. When I read

some posts here, I often wonder cuz how mine went sometimes seems vastly

different and then I go back to my doc and ask again if he is SURE I have RA.

But the longer I have it, well, the intensity of mine is not the same as it was

early on....and more and more it does act more stereotypical like everyone

elses, LOL.

Yes, the wait list for his angio is still approx 18 months off.BUT.he is now so

disgusted- now he says he is not gonna submit to ANY more " healthcare " at all.

<sigh> and sadly with mental health issues in the whole package, too, it is

very hard to work with him much of the time when he sets his mind one way. So,

now maybe it is moot how long the wait list is. He steadfastly refused to go to

any of his appts the last 3 months- not his pulmonologist, neurologist,

urologist, psych, cardiologist, none of them. He blames them for his sepsis, he

blames them for not having it in his charts about his allergy to pcn, and it

scared him in hindsight that they sent him home with a stranger to an empty

house in a gown.

I suppose if he dies, it will be one less person draining the funds?? And if

they make patients mad enough, maybe ppl will stop going to VA for care and that

might save some funds, too?

- In , Kathe Sabetzadeh <lv2ryd@...> wrote:

>

> Dreamer -

>

> What a nightmare you all have been going through! 15

> years!!! I find that truly terrible that a military

> vet, with medical problems due to exposure of Agent

> Orange during this military assignment to Viet Nam,

> had had to go through so much he** to get treatment,

> and to get the benefits due to him. My cousin was

> also in Nam and also exposed to AO, and has had many

> medical problems because of this.

>

> To think that your children's problems are possibly

> related to the AO exposure your husband suffered in

> Nam - how horrible is that? I have read, though, that

> there have been other families affected in this way

> and it is heartbreaking. They should be covered by VA

> medical too, if this can be proven. Does the military

> now recognize that Agent Orange is a proven medical

> liability for those vets exposed to it, and that there

> children may suffer from it as well? I know when my

> cousin was first fighting for his treatment, the

> military denied everything. I hope it is better now.

>

> You have been through so much, and I am so sorry for

> the way your husband was treated. Driven home by a

> patient and left on the porch in his hospital gown??

> It's hard even imagine such a thing, let alone know

> that it happened, I really am so sory for you guys.

> That the VA would act this way - wow, what an

> eye-opener - I think that anybody who has served in

> our military should have first class care when they

> need it, it's the least the country can do for them.

>

> How is your husband now? Is the angio still two years

> away? There must be a terrible backlog of patients,

> and more families like yours who are going through

> this. Is there some kind of group that you can get in

> touch with to help people to manage to find their way

> through the VA system? If not, there sure should be!

>

> I will be keeping you in my prayers.

>

> Kathe in CA

>

>

> Kathe

>

> " To ride a horse is to borrow freedom. "

>

>

>

> __________________________________________________

>