Comments: raymond - 2004-11-12 09:34:16 I knew a weasley guy years ago who worked at the VA hospital in the lung ward. He cleaned the floors. The yuckiness he mopped and the horrors he saw didn't stop him from chain-smoking. He was among other things a motivator for me to quit smoking. I also knew a guy who had no other medical care but the VA. He ended up with throat cancer. He thought his treatment was very good. The VA hospital does share doctors with the UM system. Nevertheless, my friend did not survive his difficulties. I expect that the military no longer provides troops with subsidized smokes like they used to. We even had free smokes in our field rations. Pall Malls. A favored demeaning task to sublimate our egos was to assign us to gather cigarette butts from the ground. The military influenced me to smoke, but I also learned never to throw cigarette butts around. I avoided those stinking filters in favor of Camel straights which could be shredded and scattered, "field stripped" to leave no litter. The US government used tax revenue to reduce the price of cigarettes to help me continue smoking. Now I pay interest on that investment with absent lung, radiation burns, a 13 inch scar, endless chemo complications, and a 20% or less chance of being alive for a few more years. I'll continue to wheeze if only to spite the bastards. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-11-12 09:50:43 I am very sorry indeed to read about the medical difficulties. * * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2004-11-12 15:48:31 I used to work with patients in the VA in Ann Arbor for my research. I worked with people in the extended care ward -- essentially a nursing home. It was god-awful. The doctors were OK but harried and over-worked, and the nursing staff was among the most callous I've ever seen -- one yelling at a man who clearly had advanced alzhiemer's to 'shut up'. If there's a hell waiting for me, it looks a lot like the extended-care ward at the VA. I thought it was shameful at the time, and I very much hope that my experience was atypical, and that it's changed. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-11-12 16:07:07 Phew--pretty nasty. How big is the extended-care ward? What sort of vet winds up there? I would love to hear some of their stories. * * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2004-11-12 18:37:04 The burden on the VA to provide care for veterans is enormous. However, the government promised us that if we served to willingly enter into armed conflict or do whatever we were ordered to do we would be taken care of. The injuries coming out of the present conflict are terrible. Amputations must be somewhat in the numbers of what the Civil War saw for different reasons. Those of us who were not injured in combat are being shut out of the system. Perhaps we can hire warriors from other places in the world, so-called third world countries. They sure as hell can fight cheaper than we can with our gadgets and Halliburton. Donkey carts and homemade bombs don't benefit the CorporationNation, but are scary as hell. No VA for "insurgents" so praise Allah, I guess. I suppose we can learn to give our limbs and lives for a born-again-tin-horn-god. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-11-12 20:42:58 Raymond, the Detroit Free Press has been running a huge series this week about veterans who were subjected to chemical tests and gassed in gas chambers by the U.S. government. They later got no help from the VA. It's an outstanding series and within the Pulitzer-quality realm. Here's part one. Part two. Part three. Reader reaction. * * * * * * * * * * * * add your comment: your name: your email: your url: back to the entry - Diaryland