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http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,344993.0.htmlI apologize if I missed anyone on the ping list above. In a lot of pain,haven't been sleeping,and am more than a little pissed off. These may not be good excuses,but they ARE the only ones I have.
Ok,I think everyone interested knows by now that all my PET scans for the last 9+ months have shown me to be cancer-free,despite an original diagnosis of incurable Stage 4 Lymphoma. Even my cancer doc seemed a little shocked when she first read the PET scan results to me. Had a BIG smile on her face,too! She is in what is in MY opinion one of the worse career fields possible when it comes to delivering good news. She,and the others on her career path deliver very bad news to someone on a daily basis,and this HAS to be a drag on your life. Especially when it comes to dying children. I do not mind admitting *I* am NOT tough enough to deal with that,and greatly admire the determination and inner-strength of character these MD's have.
Ok,enough of that. I have updates,and they are not good. My updates are more related to the medical situation created by this fake virus crap that has hospital rooms reduced by at least a third,and fewer hospital rooms means the bean counters who run the hospitals are VERY picky about who they will admit as patients.
IF you have a "generous" (from the Hospital Administrators POV) you are "golden". If the VA is your only insurance plan,you are screwed because they refuse to pay for a lot of the care you might need,and pay less than everyone else for the ones they do pay. Even then it takes them months to cough up the money. The end result of this is if you are a 100 percent service-connected disabled vet,you basically need to find a practicing Witch Doctor because no one else will sell you insurance anyone but a multi-millionaire can afford,and the VA Medical System seems to have a VERY focused care plan. For example,if you need a prosthetic leg or arm,you are definitely going to the right place when you go to a VA hospital to get one made. Thanks to the decades of guerilla war in the Muddle East with no actual attempt to win the damn thing,there is nobody on the planet that has more experience and knowledge on how to do this and what needs to be done.
If your problem is you need false teeth,a cast for a broken arm,meds for diseases like diabetes,etc,etc,etc,you are probably ok.
Mention the word "Agent Orange" and everybody shrieks on horror and runs for the hills. Seems like many in the VA system,starting with some of the doctors and definitely running rampant through the management/beancounter level,STILL believe vets are trying to rip off the government for undeserved compensation. Part of this is due to the fact that most of the medical care professionals working for the VA are working there because they are not very good doctors and can't buy the insurance they need to work at a private practice (you can NOT sue the VA for malpractice),or recent med school graduates working to pay off school loans provided by the government.
Ok,enough background,although I will do my best to answer any questions that might be asked.
My current problem started maybe a year ago. Not sure how long ago it began due to both chemo brain and the chills and fevers I have been having for an undetermined amount of time. I am only able to focus well enough right now to write this because of the pain from my left leg,which is due to a botched operation at the local VA hospital to remove an "unspecified growth" in the 1970's. Had a "bump" about the size of a golf ball grown right up on the inside of my knee,right beside the knee,so not having any insurance or any money,I went to the VA to get it removed.
Being a VN vet,anytime and every time they cut something from me they can't or don't want to identify,they call it an "unspecified growth" and tell me if it turns out to be anything serious,they will notify me. So far they have never notified me of any results,good or bad.
In THIS specific case the biggest problem came from the incompetent VA surgeon forgetting to reattach the major blood vein that was supplying "the growth" with blood when they cut it out.
This killed the circulation in my left leg and caused it to swell so big I could only wear shorts,and it got infected and turned black and purple after a few months of them giving me more and more fluid pills to try to bring down the swelling. I finally told them no more damn fluid pills because I was so freaking dehydrated that my lips were sticking together,so they offered to amputate it and give me a prosthetic leg.
That was when I told them to go bleep themselves because I was going to see REAL doctors and get a second,and maybe even a third opinion.
So I went to see a local vascular surgeon,and he told me "No problem. I can restore most of the blood flow to your leg by putting a synthetic vein in your leg above the bad part,and then running it down your leg to attach it to what remains of the good part down low. It won't be a perfect solution,but it will save your leg."
He then told me the "but",which was,"I can't do this right away,though. First we have to kill the infection before I can operate."
Believe it or not,he killed the infection using neoprene pads that were impregnated with the metal silver. Silver kills bacteria like nobody's business! Once a week he would take off the bandages on my leg to remove the neoprene pad,and it would be absolutely coated with a black substance that looked like tar. What it was,was dead bacteria.
Soooo,this pretty much solved the leg problem for a couple of decades. Yes,my left leg remained swollen,but nowhere near as bad as it was,and I had good circulation and feeling in it.
End of Part 1 Part 2 follows