We trot them out to get an applause and then we ignore them.
VA Hospitals suck compared to regular ones.
And while they kill themselves continuously, we don't make them a priority.
so... personal story here- and recent.
I was laid off in may2019 after doing a job for 20years under DoD contract... an aside, we did CBRNE and response to such events, and the Bio aspect pressed us into the pandemic response realm where we wrote and prepared for pandemics... yeah, check the date again of the contract (mid stride of a five year contract signed in 2017) being tanked... coincidence i'm sure, but a bad one.
my insurance covered the entire family and though not as good as before the AHCA, it was good relatively speaking. with it going byebye my wife picked up insurance for her and the kids- they didn't offer a package for me still of working age... no problem says I, i am a combat disabled vet and they offer enough to get out of the fine for lacking.
my gallbladder decided to start attacking me just before the layoff... i learned to deal with it by changing what i ate. it got worse and worse and then really bad... by Sept of 21 all i could eat with relative certainty it wouldn't have another go at me was crackers and freakin cheese... in november 21 that failed too... after a series of attacks i and in the middle of one i thought the thing had ruptured i went to the hospital- a local one... they shot me full of morphine, gave me an anti-nausea shot, three tests (ultra-sound, catscan- MRI) and once complete walked back in the room i was occupying and told me (quote) "pack your shit and leave on your own else security will remove you"- high enough to hunt ducks with a golf club and still retching i did just that. stood in the parking lot and waited for a ride for a long damn time. they literally treated me like i was seeking drugs and that alone.
i still haven't decided what to do, if anything, about that. all things aside, i'm still a redneck and still a former marine from what's now called MARSOC, so- i'm fighting back the urge every time i think about it to seeking out that bearded nurse with a 'tude who sent me packing in my almost inebriated state and with a gut still threatening to blow up...
i went home and slept it off- and in those moments between awakening and becoming clear of your surroundings i made a plan... the plan worked.
i drove 6 hours to johnson city tennessee and the VA Mountain Home hospital... I stopped at Pal's and ordered a Big Pal double bacon cheeseburger, fries, onion rings, a massive vanilla milk shake, and chowed the eff down in effort to trigger an attack with a certainty.. and woke up the next morning with just that... i walked my ass in the VA ER and told them what was up..
they did an ultrasound and while they were preparing i told the doctor and his two interns what had led to this (refusing drugs of any sort as i didn't want to be identified as a 'seeker' again) and they decided to call the hospital i'd been ran out of to get the test results JUST to expedite the situation... THE OTHER FREAKIN HOSPITAL HADN'T EVEN READ THE RESULTS...
the doc comes in after testing me for covid and getting the results- "okay, you're negative, and you need surgery NOW"... he says "we shouldn't touch you while it's inflamed, and partner it IS inflamed, so we'll wait until morning".... it's a DEAL!!! they put me in a room and treated me like freakin' royalty.... the next morning they ganked that little misbehaving thing out of me... they said "you can leave now but it would be better if you let us observe you for another night"... well, the dang place was so nice and the thought of either a hotel or driving home not as nice a thought, i agreed... i left the next morning at before 0600 and after the surgeon stopped by to visit...
he said "that thing was thicker than any other i've ever removed indicating issues for a long time- the organs around it are also impacted by this and it's evident they've been damaged... you've had sepsis it's apparent, and several times from the (sp?) collitis caused by the gallbladder infection... how you've survived that is pretty damn interesting especially without treatment"... he asked why i waited so long... i told him because of my experiences with private hospitals... he just shook his head and THAT is when he told me about the results not even being read from the local hospital.
i drove home the day after, stopping at every food joint serving food i'd been avoiding for three years... and enjoyed the hell out of it.
when i got home there was a bill form the local hospital for $30k waiting for me. I called them and told them to kiss my ass and talk to the VA... they did, apparently, but not before the surgical consult team from them did- they said "we just read your results and you need to come in for surgery immediately!"... i told her i knew she was aware that i'd already had surgery and they were just covering their asses, in so many words, which she acknowledged after a few minutes..." ... in a day or two i received another 'bill' from the hospital saying all costs except for the $500 surgical consult had been removed. another call, another veiled threat, and they 'waived' that too..
VA healthcare isn't bad. it has been the best experience i have ever had with healthcare. now full disclosure: i drove to tennessee purposely to avoid the VA hospitals in Durham, Fayetteville, and willmington as they have BAD reputations... really bad... while VA Mountain Home is considered by many as the best VA hospital in the nation... and idon't 'know about that, but i DO know they're damn good...
there isn't a thing wrong with VA healthcare... notta... from my perspective and experience...
what there IS a problem with is documentation- the military doesn't document injury or medical issues as they should which makes treatment especially later (after service) difficult. also, the culture of the military trains people to shun treatment- especially in certain groups... which isn't a habit left in uniform pockets when the veteran leaves... so... many of these guys and gals don't seek treatment until that issue is life threatening and sometimes then it's too late. blowing off the doc is not only encouraged, it's rewarded... long after service ends those issues come back in force and getting treatment as a service related circumstance is damn near impossible... it's with great fortune my injuries/issues couldn't be ignored at the time, and they were well documented as a result- and because of them i am rated within the system, and cascading along it meant i am 100% covered for any medical circumstance that arises... and so far? i'm good to go.. the system worked for me.
yeah... that's a lot of typing^ but it's something i feel strongly about and i despise seeing people without a dog in the fight in any way attempt to use it for their own purposes.
