12 FREAKING years ago…

This is ***STILL*** our life! 12 freaking years! Countless reams of paper, phone call after phone call, time spent on hold, appointments for repetitive testing and questions, visits with representatives, congressmen, advocates… again and again to always be told BE PATIENT.

The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. The medical waste as well as the paper waste is atrocious. The lack of care our veterans are getting is pathetic. Hubs has had the same test performed 7 or maybe 8 times now with no relief for the condition – the same condition his claim was filed for and dismissed by a rotating visiting doctor who didn’t give a crap and put him/us into this perpetual appeal process.

Since then at least 4 doctors have ***ALL*** said this should have been originally approved in 2007 because there was a clear cut degeneration of the condition while he was forced to remain on STOP LOSS and not get the treatment he was scheduled to receive prior to the deployment, but yet it remains in the perpetual revolving door of appeals and unfortunately the appeal remains based on this ASS of a doctor who NEVER performed the appropriate tests, exams or even touched hubby and even now that other VA doctors have, he is having to seek out relief from private doctors and his claim is YET to be settled.

The important message for me is that while ALL politicians (democrats and republicans alike) are debating, having hearings, writing bills and “deciding” about the VA and ALL its issues, this cartoon depicts what is truly going on, the veterans are losing each and every day in the quality of care they are receiving assuming they receive an appointment to begin with, not to mention the actual compensation for their losses.

In our own experience all over the country, not just in one place, the “flow chart” approach to care coupled with the apathetic attitudes of many employees and doctors with egos who order repeat tests because they want to or do not know how to access the last one done, let alone the first one done ALL culminates into major waste of time and resources for both the VA and the veteran.

It’s time for ALL politicians to get down to the real issues and make it right instead of drawing it out ANY longer. EVERY drawn out hearing, bill, investigation and stalling tactic just makes it worse.