Another Open Letter To The VA

Tomorrow, I go for another medical evaluation at the Veterans Administration here in Columbus. This is the first of a two part eval, the second to take place a week from today. This will be my seventh attempt (second in Columbus) to have my 10% service-connected disability on my foot upgraded to something higher, to have my 0% service-connected disability related to my bladder also upgraded and to have them recognize and document that because I spent four months at Fort McClellan, Alabama rolling around in toxic dirt, eating toxic food, drinking toxic water and breathing toxic air in 1977/78 (60 Minutes called it the most toxic place on the planet because of good ol' Monsanto and the chemical school) that a good portion of my lingering medical issues could very well have been caused from that.

As I said, this will be my 7th appeal. I might as well write a letter of denial to myself and save the VA the time. On the off-chance that this actually might be 'lucky 7,' though, I'm going to go through with it. Only because I am putting new issues before them and I'm curious to see how they handle them. I am sure it will be with the same amount of 'honesty' they have in the past. Deny, deny, deny and if you cannot deny, then outright lie.

If I were to write another letter to the VA, it would probably say something like this:

Dear VA,

Thank you so much for the opportunity to once again go through the motions of pretending you actually want to see an honest outcome of an actual examination and a medical opinion of an examining physician who was literally in the same room when the evaluations were being conducted. However, after 6 denials since 2004, I am pretty much an expert at how this will work.

First of all, I'm sure you have a template in your files just for me. All you have to do is change the dates and the name of the physician...and of course the different evaluating VA. Other than that, all your denial letters are worded exactly the same.

Although I do have to say, I found the one I received last year pretty amusing, since you had me attending appointments at the VA in Tampa, Florida (even though I've never been to that one). I also found your sarcasm to the seriousness of my foot injury because I was wearing a "store-bought" foot brace rather funny - since that brace was issued to me by the White River Jct., VT VA Hospital. And then saying that you needed more information about me as a Gulf War veteran. The only "gulf" war I've ever been involved in was not paying too much at the pumps for Gulf Gas. Of course, if you actually communicated with other VAs and all had the same rules instead of acting like individual franchises, it might make a difference in the information you actually have. You also can't seem to make up your collective minds about whether vets with 10% service-connected disability gets free eyeglasses or not. They do in California and Delaware but not in Vermont, Pennsylvania or Ohio? Shouldn't it be one rule straight across the board? There were a few other issues, too. I'm sure I'll remember them once this is posted.

I often wonder if you go out of your way to ensure the examining/eval docs are the most obnoxious you can find. Or if you specifically schedule doctors who hail from a culture where women are openly disrespected and chattel, to do the female vet evaluations. You know, male docs that won't even look you in the eye, much less actually touch you to do an exam because it's against their religion? Or the good ol' boys who want to get even with you for having the audacity to "ruin" that good old boys club called the military because you wanted to do something other than the "usual" women's work and, even worse, wanted to be treated equally? Yeah...these guys are a barrel of sincerity when it comes to an honest evaluation. I often wonder why these doctors haven't been recruited by the special ops divisions because, clearly, they must have x-ray vision to be able to see the affected areas they are evaluating without having the patient remove any clothes, shoes or socks to see if there is any swelling or anything else they write down there is none of.

I also find statements such as: The injury has not changed in 30 years, not having frequent UTIs anymore has nothing to do with early onset incontinence, back pain is not a residual of foot injuries, Epstein-Barr Virus is a 'catch-all' doctors use when they cannot pinpoint the actual problem...

Common sense - not a medical degree - tells you that all injuries change over 30 years - especially if they involve the feet. Maybe I don't have frequent UTIs anymore because urine doesn't stay in my bladder long enough to leave bacteria. And I don't even know how to respond to bad feet not causing some back pain. I thought that was common knowledge. I guess that's what I get for thinking. As for the EBV? You don't have to take my or a civilian doctor's word for it; there is a blood test for it!

I also suspect that with these new issues that I'm asking about, there will be excuses for that, too. Even though Monsanto settled with the town of Anniston (next to McClellan) because of the sickness and death the plant caused there, Uncle Sam wants the vets who ate, drank, breathed and low-crawled in the exact same toxic environment to believe they (we) weren't affected by it. Thankfully, a group of affected female vets pushed hard to get this issue to Washington and Rep. Paul Tonko introduced the Fort McClellan Health Registry Act. What this means is that you cannot deny that there was toxic contamination at McClellan. I take that back - you can (and probably will) deny it but there is proof that the toxicity did, indeed, exist. There is also a published list of medical issues that can be connected to toxic exposure. I have 19 of those ailments. And I'm one of the lucky ones because, to my knowledge, none have evolved into anything deadly. Most of which you have treated me for at one of your VAs so they are on record. Records I know will be suddenly difficult for you to locate because, like I said, you act like you have no intranet between the facilities.

For example: Purpura, pre-cancerous moles (6 of which have been removed), head cysts, kidney cysts, diverticulitis/diverticulosis, eye sensitivity to bright light and snow, plantar fasciitis, scarlet fever, swollen joints, early onset bursitis/arthritis of back and hips, GERD, migraines, habitually abnormal pap smears, incontinence, supraventricular tachycardia and depression were ALL diagnosed by your facilities, yet you want ME to provide proof that these ailments/conditions exist. If I remember correctly, an arbitrating judge from Washington, D.C., appeared at a hearing in White River Jct and ordered you to make all of my medical files available. I guess, in a way, it's good to know that you take a judge as seriously as you take your veterans.

And while I'm on the subject of your facilities, let's talk about your health workers and their attitudes. This doesn't apply to all of your employees, of course, but it does apply to a pretty good percentage. I wish that the only people you were allowed to hire were veterans because they understand why other veterans are the way they are. Employees who are vets wouldn't dare treat another vet as though he or she is a leech off the government or as though they are a bother. Employees who are veterans understand that when you raised your right hand to protect and defend your country, that a promise was made to give back to you for your service.

It is my opinion that any civilian health worker who has a veteran for a patient should feel privileged and grateful to be treating an individual who would have died for them, to protect their freedoms (and unfortunately, that freedom also includes thinking some people are "beneath" you in social stature). This attitude seems to be extremely popular to the younger employees who never served. It needs to stop.

What also needs to stop is VA employees who take it upon themselves to shove their religion down the throats of veterans who they feel are 'sinful.' The last thing a vet needs when asking for help is to be judged and persecuted by a misguided individual who needs to be put in their place by a supervisor or fired. You want to preach religion? Work at a church, not a VA.

I'm also curious as to why it took a congressional mandate to finally start developing women's clinics at the VA. After all these years, and more female vets than ever, did you still think women enlisting was a phase? Because that's what it seems like.

The VA system is failing its veterans. Instead of pushing to advocate for those who gave, the VA powers that be in D.C. are pushing to eliminate. Soldiers are giving everything, sometimes their lives, and when it comes time for the government to give back, you seem to do everything within your power to minimize and deny requests that ask for compensation to help with what Uncle Sam took from us. Do promises mean nothing to you? It's not that we're not grateful for the services of the VA system but there's no quid pro quo. The VA needs to show a little gratitude, too.

Especially to those who are coming back from a bogus war. They should be treated with the most dignity because they never should have been sent to Iraq in the first place. If I had my way, the Bush Administration would be paying health and psychological care for these vets with the blood money from their own personal accounts.

But that's a rant for another day.

So, VA, when I darken your doors again tomorrow, I'm going to hope for the best but expect the worst, as usual. I hope I will be pleasantly disappointed.

Until you do right by me and other vets (who are a hell of a lot worse off than I am), I will continue to be,

The Bain of Your Existence.