The VA--what a freakin joke

[Mistress Trista]

My dh was injured in the navy several years ago and now gets a partial disabilty. His ankle was crushed and had to be reconstructed which left him with a slight limp that is only noticeable when he's not in shoes. His ankle has been bothering him, so in February he went to the VA. Of course the VA works like a HMO. You must see the regular MD first before they send you to a specialist. It took about three months to get him into a dr's office. We argued with them that he was over 30% disabled and they had to by law get him in within 30 days. They said they knew that, but they were so over crowded and so underfunded, it couldn't be helped.

So he goes to the Dr. three months later and he sends a recommendation for the specialist, which takes another two months. He goes to the specialists and it's basically trama arthritis, so nothing can be done.

A few weeks later, we hear from the first Dr. His labs came back abnormal. He has high Alkiline Phosphates. (this is over 3 months after the initial visit) They redo the test, Alkilines are still up. They do further tests, but we dont' hear anything back, so we call. They look and say 'well, we don't see anything more abnormal, we'll send him for a bone scan and a CT'. This was in September. As of today, no word.

We call, finally get through to someone after numerous tries. Turns out both tests were fine, what more do you want?

Excuse me? my husband asks. "I want to know why I have high Alkilines. That has still not been determined."

"Well, your doctor no longer works here as of last Monday, so we'll need to get you into someone else and that will take some time."

"What? How much time?"

Basically, he has to start all over again.

Can you believe this shit??? No wonder so many vets are having such a hard time!!

[Imachickadee75]

Yup! That's the VA for you! Crazy! My plan is to go to work for them as a social worker when I'm done with my masters. I hope I can help veterans circumvent as much of the BS as possible.

So far our worse story is that DH was told he could have Voc Rehab for anything but aviation. It would cover all tuition and some living expenses. Guess how many of his classmates and students were on Voc Rehab? A lot! The woman apparently just decided SHE wouldn't approve aviation. NICE $60,000 in student loans later....

Bi*tc!

Jackie

[czechmate]

Originally Posted by Mistress Trista

My dh was injured in the navy several years ago and now gets a partial disabilty. His ankle was crushed and had to be reconstructed which left him with a slight limp that is only noticeable when he's not in shoes. His ankle has been bothering him, so in February he went to the VA. Of course the VA works like a HMO. You must see the regular MD first before they send you to a specialist. It took about three months to get him into a dr's office. We argued with them that he was over 30% disabled and they had to by law get him in within 30 days. They said they knew that, but they were so over crowded and so underfunded, it couldn't be helped.

So he goes to the Dr. three months later and he sends a recommendation for the specialist, which takes another two months. He goes to the specialists and it's basically trama arthritis, so nothing can be done.

A few weeks later, we hear from the first Dr. His labs came back abnormal. He has high Alkiline Phosphates. (this is over 3 months after the initial visit) They redo the test, Alkilines are still up. They do further tests, but we dont' hear anything back, so we call. They look and say 'well, we don't see anything more abnormal, we'll send him for a bone scan and a CT'. This was in September. As of today, no word.

We call, finally get through to someone after numerous tries. Turns out both tests were fine, what more do you want?

Excuse me? my husband asks. "I want to know why I have high Alkilines. That has still not been determined."

"Well, your doctor no longer works here as of last Monday, so we'll need to get you into someone else and that will take some time."

"What? How much time?"

Basically, he has to start all over again.

Can you believe this shit??? No wonder so many vets are having such a hard time!!

I find stories like to totally disgusting and wrong.
If someone decides to serve our country, then we (our government) should be taking care of each and everyone of them.

Our "system" needs to be changed and fast.

I hope that everything turns out to be ok.

Jen

[Kristie]

part of our taxes are supposed to be going for that....ticks me off when i hear pork getting funded and VA stuff not.