I feel guilty when I have to write stories about the VA that put them in a bad light. The Veterans’ Affairs Department has been very, very good to me. The Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) represent me in my dealings with them, and they’ve been stellar, too. They got my disability claim approved in 45 days.
For those of you who may not know, I have Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) a motor neurone disease, which causes the destruction of neurons, which control voluntary muscles. In most cases, there is no known cause of ALS with 90% of 95% cases being a mystery. Doctors at Walter Reed first diagnosed my condition back in 2010, but I didn’t apply to increase my disability claim with the VA until 2013.
Within weeks after my claim was approved, the local clinic in Cumberland, Maryland (a satellite of the Martinsburg WV, VA Medical Center) began making appoints with me for my general health care. They reached out to me. All of my dealings with the clinic have been great. It’s almost as if I’m the only patient assigned to the clinic. You know, the way health care should be.
Now, the Martinsburg hospital is an absolute shithole. It’s like going to a hospital in the 1950s, but the care there is pretty good, though, despite the working conditions. I spent a year there one week last February.
My condition makes it harder for me to get around, so my doctor recommended that I get on their “Home Care Team” program – the nurses and doctors come to my house and gather their bloodwork and check on me every three months or so. They decided that I needed to talk to an ALS team. The nearest teams were in DC (about 2 1/2 hours away), so last week, we set up a telelink by computer so that I got to “see” my team as they paraded across my computer screen. It was the first time they had done anything like that. So, I’m like a pioneer, I guess.
I know my story may not be typical of the treatment many of you have received from the VA, but what happens in my part of the country is what should be happening in every VA facility in the country. I know that its popular to advocate for a privatization of the VA health care system, but my experience here proves that the system can work for veterans and the other facilities should be learning from the systems that are working.
“So, I’m like a pioneer, I guess.” Man, that’s funny. It’s not what you said but how you said it.
Sounds better than guinea pig…
Seriously Jonn, it’s good to hear that you’re receiving good, apparently state of the art care. It’s good to hear the VA is attempting to keep up with contemporary medicine.
Back when I was a government sales manager for a pharmaceutical company, one of my most difficult tasks was getting our sales reps to call on VA hospitals because they were so archaic and depressing. They’ve come a long way since then.
It is good to highlight where the VA does work. It is easy to look at the failures of an individual or an organization and use that as the sole criteria by which they are judged.
It will also lead us to bad judgments.
Thanks, Jonn. And all the best in your fight.
I’m glad you have a good relationship with your VA, we’re going on 3+ years here trying to get my husband’s possible TBI (he has a visible dent in his head) diagnosed.
I can say that I’ve done well in my own VA here and don’t have too many complaints.
Glad to see you’re getting help as best as possible.
I’ve been on VA healthcare for 2 years now after retiring from the Army
Best healthcare I’ve ever had
Far better than anything I ever received in the Army or through TRICARE
So far, no complaints, and the local VA (Lovell) has walk-in clinics in several locations. But I don’t go for much other than a flu shot, anyway.
My late bud that I’ve mentioned here several times (the DSC awardee for same battle that Poet was in) worked for the PVA in the 80’s and thought they were a first class operation.
Thanks for the report on the VA.
Does this mean the VA got the SNAFU about your braces resolved?
I have had a pretty good experience with the VA since 2012 when I was diagnosed with cancer. I was diagnosed on a Wed, and by Friday they were wheeling me into surgery. My after care over the last 5 years has been great. I do however attribute it to the fact that my local VA is a teaching hospital teamed up with a local hospital that is part of a major medical university, so almost every doctor I have dealt with has a lab coat with that school/hospital logo instead of a VA logo. Oh yea, I haven’t paid a dime out of my own pocket. So every time I hear these stories about some of these other VA hospitals, I have to shake my head and wonder what’s going on.
Jonn, I’m so glad your story of care is a good one! It is always nice to hear of a good outcome with the VA. Just know that I will be praying for you and wish you all the best! May God bless you and your family. Keep up the good work!
Front-line caregivers and staff are usually professional and compassionate. The bureaucracy behind them, not so much. Also those that only deal with Vets over the phone and never have to look one in the eye, most of those that I’ve dealt with fully deserve a throat-punch but know full well there’s no way to find them.
AZ: You got that right. The providers I’ve had have been concerned and compassionate and I believe good doctors. The nurses have also been very good. The support staff? The clerks, the phone people, etc., IMO just suck. I went off on my provider’s clerk six months ago. I checked in via kiosk, which is a ‘thing’ here now, and was ignored. I finally got the attention of a nurse more than 30 minutes past my appointment. She was pissed. She took me immediately back to the provider. We found the clerk lounging in a back room, trying to talk a young female clerk our of her skivvies. First me, then the nurse and then the doctor went off on him. He’s a slug. The doc told me in private they want him gone, but the union protects him. He’s retired military. I don’t think he got the memo about giving a shit about others.
More than anything Jonn, I am glad you are getting the quality of care you need. All other VA issues aside, they are doing right by you and that’s a big plus in their column my me. It is my hope the day will come when all VA patients receive the same quality of care, whatever needs they may present with. Good luck and Godspeed Jonn. I am one of, well, everyone here, who is pulling for you with good thoughts, well wishes and my prayers. You have my email, so don’t hesitate to reach out if there is the slightest thing I could do to help you in any way.
Me, I don’t care. I think Jonn knows that, cold bastard that I am. It’s just that when he folks his tent, we are all out of camp. And I’m not ready for that to happen yet.
Yeah. We just lost Hognose. That just sucked.
Someone find the Grail and give Jonn a swig, eh?
What Sparks said, Jonn. Wishing you the best.
Hey! Lighten up, Francis!
Stephen Hawking is older than Jonn is!
Age? Hawking? No, neither is a factor. I’m thinking Jonn may wake up one morning and say, “Aw screw it. I’m done” and then roll over and go back to sleep.
I started using the VA a year ago. Since then I’ve had both hips replaced (I am titanium man!) – last August and last month. Initially had troubles with my primary doctor about giving me a referral to the Ortho guys. but he left and my new primary did not dink around in getting a referral. The Ortho doctor at the VA Denver was excellent. As a corpsman, Nuc Med Tech and lots of doctors in my family, I know a good doctor when I see one. Dr. Duke was outstanding. Granted the Denver VA is old, creaky and the chow sucks, I was in and out pretty dang fast; two days in both cases. With the exception of the pill popping guy in the room with me, I have no real complaints. I’m walking without a cane just 4 weeks out of surgery. I highly recommend the anterior approach if you are getting a hip replaced. I also signed on (I know, never volunteer) for a study comparing two types of post-surgery PT. They are working me over pretty good, which I believe is good for me. When I got attached to the Marines, I hated their “pain is good” mantra. Over the years I have come to believe in it.
All in all, I’m pretty happy with the care I’ve been getting this last year ever since my first primary doctor went bye-bye. The constant PTSD questions and VA questionnaires are a little annoying however.
aGrimm: Ahhh, a fellow 8416.
I was an 8404. Upon returning from Nam, I went right into college. Got a B.S. degree in Nuclear Medicine Technology. A few years later, I parlayed my knowledge into a Health Physics career. My biology advisor in college suggested I get into his NMT program when I asked him, “What the hell am I going to do with a biology degree?” He said I could stand behind the psychology degree graduates in the unemployment line, or have a job immediately upon graduation. I said, “Sign me up! By the way, what is Nuclear Medicine Technology?” It was one of those instantaneous decisions that turned out right.
I’m 100% Service Connected — C5-C6 Spinal Cord Injury/Quadriplegic.
I’ve never had a problem with the actual healthcare that I receive. In fact the best neuro doc that I ever had worked at the Washington DC VA Hospital. And all of my Nurses, Doctors, Aides, PTs/OTs have been fantastic. Literally no complaints on them or the quality of treatment/care that I’ve received.
My problems have always been with the admin-weenies and the actual hospital buildings.
For goodness sake, the DC Hospital should be the fanciest/best VA Hospital in the nation, and it’s not. When I lived there you were lucky if the elevators worked on any given day.
Also, when I need a new wheelchair (some of you may remember that I posted a bit about the process a couple of years ago) it shouldn’t take several months to get it approved, by a panel of people reviewing my case. Especially when not one single person on that panel ever saw or spoke with me. In the meantime I had to use a loaner wheelchair that wasn’t set up for me, and didn’t fit me properly.
VA Healthcare – Fantastic
VA Admin – not so much
Yeah, I remember that well, Gravel. You were keeping a record of the shenanigans and were toying with the notion of turning it into an expose. (Add the slanted thing over the 2nd e. Thanks.) But the VA blew up all by itself about that time, so I guess your project was canned. I’m glad you got what you were supposed to get. Hell, it should be time for an updated model by now.
Gravel: I worked for VA for 11 years. One of the biggest gripes of those using VA-supplied wheelchairs was getting them fixed. Batteries in the motorized versions were notorious for failing. The VA didn’t fix them directly; the company which supplied them had a contract with VA for repairs. Problem was, the company had no local people for repair. Their repairmen went from assignment to assignment, often over a very large geographical area. Patients often waited months, and I mean months for repairs. Notify their Congressman? The VA could care less. I saw very few instances in which an intervention by a Congressman/Senator actually made a difference in the delivery of health care. People were actually unable to leave their house b/c their wheelchair didn’t function. Piss poor health care. The VA should have contracted with a local company for repair and given the user of the wheelchair the authority to contact the vendor directly for repairs. Or, they should have held the company’s hand to the fire and withheld payment for non compliance.
I went to the VA in 1991, a month after Navy retirement. Got to 50% within a few months. Then 90% a few years later as my conditions deteriorated, then 100% when they got really bad. Two weeks after 100%, I got a letter from VA dental making me an appointment. I use TRICARE and VA back and forth, kinda bouncing their findings off one another. I’ve had over a dozen VA doctors, probably 15, as they come and go. I’ve been assigned to some and they departed before I could even see them. My most recent VA doc just left. She was very good. But I’ve also had at least 6 TRICARE primary care doctors since 1991. I hate that. About the time I get comfortable with someone, they are gone. I would actually PAY a stipend if I could be guaranteed the same VA doctor for a period of at least five years. Same for TRICARE. Some civilian doctors are going the paid retainer route, becoming concierge providers. That would be good if one could afford it, but those docs could cost thousands of dollars up front annually, then the cost for each visit. At least you get the same provider, usually for a long time. Continuity is a good thing in medicine.
Rant over …
Overall, is it worth the occasional pain-in-the-ass clerk/whomever I encounter? Yes.
It is essential that we note and commend the successes of the VA.
Morally? If we criticize the errors and sloth, we must also recognize zeal and dedication.
Practically? It proves that there is -no- excuse for the shit-baggery. The good guys and gals prove it can be done, and done right. They just make the spotlight shine all the more clearly on the scoundrels who deserve dismissal and disgrace.
The North Little Rock hearing clinic is the tops, best of the 4 others I’ve been to. The Little Rock eye clinic is good but overcrowded and almost required an act of Congress to get in there. Problem now is they want me back every year and I decline every year because there are those who really need to be seen. That they still don’t get part of it. If the VA can ever cut through the foundation of bureaucracy they can become an effective service organization.
The VA is in a position where there is “zero failure” expected, as it should be.
I’ve had very good care under them for the most part. The prescription program is awesome. I get 90 days worth of meds mailed to me at a time. It takes less then 5 minutes to refill all of them by phone, and I get them within 2 days.
On the dark side I went through 2 years of hell waiting for my disability to be approved,
Damn. Lou Gehrig’s condition as well. I’m just glad that you have this to keep you well occupied and busy. Thank you for kicking ass and keeping this going. I’m pleased that you, Jonn, are one of the very few humans I do not fear and hate on this God damned planet, whether living, dead, or yet to be born. At least you keep on driving on and kicking ass. You have my admiration.
I have no problems with the VA. I don’t use them or any other health care facility…yet. I never filed for any benefit of any kind.
My experience has been that those who have legit medical need for care complain the least about it. I am sure there are cases that are exceptions.
The vast majority of those that piss and moan about the VA do so because they think they deserve a bigger check every month for some condition I have probably just got up and gone to work with for 30 years.
Too many people are milking the system for benefits. I don’t like those who think that 4 years of service entitles them to a life time of benefits.
Ya, ya, I know everyone that took a hard shit while in the service and now has hemorrhoids thinks they are 100 percent service connected.
Bad knees, bad backs, hearing problems, diabetes, and the like 30 years after service are common…but they usually have nothing to do with being in the military.
Purge 50% of the people out of the VA system and cut off their check for medical marijuana and Bud Lite.
Oh, and knock off all this “I caught the PTSD and need a check bullshit”. I bet anything that if we do that…Jonn will always feel like he is the only patient.
I hope the Jonns in this world that actually need medical care don’t have to share rooms with every sniper, EOD, SEAL, PJ, RECON, Secret Squirrel out there while they are doing it.
I caught the PTSD from watching that “2 girls 1 cup” video. I dont get a check every month…I just avoid chocolate Ice Cream.
I’m with you Dave. I drank the runoff water in areas sprayed with Agent Orange; probably due to that I have non-diabetic peripheral neuropathy that is slowly but surely robbing me of all feeling in my feet;I broke an ankle under hostile fire in a heliborne assault on an enemy held hilltop, an injury that never properly healed; my hearing was totally crapped out the first time I ever fired a light machine gun; my knees are shot, probably from a parachuting very hard landing; and I have two torn rotator cuffs likely attributable to a vehicle wreck at Fort Campbell in 1962 that the Army docs completely misdiagnosed.
All those service-connected problems and I don’t feel like my government owes me jack shit for my six years of service, even the year in combat. Like you, I live with the problems, the pain and the lack of mobility. I believe our VA system should be reserved to provide care for those seriously ill, like Jonn and others here, especially those warriors with serious combat injuries.
I’m an old man trying to still live by the Airborne Code: “All the way, up the hill, all the way, Airborne!”
Just suck it up and keep going.
“Bad knees, bad backs, hearing problems, diabetes, and the like 30 years after service are common…but they usually have nothing to do with being in the military.”
Well, I’m not sure how far you mean ‘usually’ in this, but it depends greatly on your job. If you have bad knees and a bad back but were sitting at a desk 9-5 monday through friday, sure. But, a good portion of combat arms and others who hump have bad knees and bad backs because of all the crap being carried, worn, etc.
I think the more recent claims process was really highlighted and the VA has gone the “give the benefit of the doubt” route with claims to a point. Someone who’s in for 4 years, has one combat tour, and claims the bad knees, bad back bit but is still 25 I’d be curious about. (unless they got blown up and its from that experience) Versus the retired E-7/E-8 who humped for 20 years and has multiple tours which caused the bad back/ bad knees.
I have tinnitus and they give a straight 10% for that, regardless. I’d rather not hear ringing in my ears constantly than have that 136 bucks a month for it they give.
I’m glad that they are taking good care of you Jonn. I worry about you as a nurse with lots of experience with ALS victims.
That is a horrible disease but some people seem to be able to keep going for years with it yet others, including a couple of friends have passed from it.
I have no idea what the difference is but Stephen Hawking has gone for decades and continued to stump the neurologists in England and the USA.
The VA has taken very good care of me through two life threatening illnesses including one where I was given last rites and placed on a heart transplant list and given 6 months to live.
I tell people that the VA has saved my life three times and my soul once.
It was a very caring Cardiac Nurse Practitioner and chief Cardiologist at the Milwaukee VA that nursed me back to some semblance of health and I am still alive with no surgery whatsoever.
She was the one that took an entire hour of her days with me for months on end to listen to me and walk me through the steps it took to get well enough to stay alive and continue to do all the things I do these days.
I asked her to marry me, I am still single though so I did get my heart broken… Dammit…
Mary is a beautiful lady, inside and out…
I have truly been blessed by the VA and who the hell could ever have figured out that the three years I spent in the US Army back in the 70’s would pay such dividends.
I am very glad to hear that you are still being well taken care of Jonn. I continue to mention you in my prayers. If for nothing else it gives me something to talk about with my version of God Almighty.
Keep up the fire…
I’ve never met Jonn, but through my interaction with him here at TAH, I can say with 100% certainty that if there’s any human alive who will kick the ass of this terrible disease, it’s him.
I keep you in my prayers regularly, Jonn.
As a retiree I have Tricare but switched to the VA a couple years ago and have been very happy. The VA system here in Missouri is really good IMO. They have built brand new outpatient clinics around the state including one 25 miles from my farm and they take excellent care of me (I even get a free pair of glasses once every couple of years).
I have even gotten good care at Truman hosp for cancer tx.
I am on Tricare Prime and hope to keep my provider when I turn 65 this year.
One of the areas were I volunteer is the SCIC at my local VA Hospital. PVA seems to do a good job with the patients. I am a retired soldier and a disabled veteran representing my DAV Chapter at the VA.
Become a VA Volunteer. It will change you forever.
I tell people I got fired due to the trashed knees back in ’86, recently got re-evaluated and the process was painless. 90 days after I filed I got called in for multiple exams in one week, three weeks later my evaluation was done and mailed to me. Can’t complain. The new clinic near us is ‘way more convenient than the big campus downtown. Only drawback is that since I am still working and have medical insurance, VA bills my insurance who bills me as out-of-network – a physical at VA a while back cost me almost $350 out of pocket. Clinic staff are wonderful… some of the folks at the big hospital in Houston not so much. Can’t complain.