Some of you may know me, some not. But most know that I am a disabled veteran of this nation. I truly believed in supporting my nation and it's ideals by serving 2 tours in the active duty Army. In this post, I want to go into my current state of affairs with regards to the Department of Veterans Affairs. What bums me out is, I know about the numbers, fake or real about how are veterans are homeless. This is my story.
November 1994, we left Germany for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia during Operation Provide Promise. If you'd ask my take on the mission, our function was basically to monitor the Macedonian/Serbian border against military encroachment by either side. The border changed so often that, the soldiers who actually did the guard and patrol duties, had to carry portable GPS systems to make sure that they wouldn't stray off into Serbian territory and cause an international incident. I don't think any incidents took place but, I do know it was boring either way. I was a cook so, my battalion had me and my fellow cooks back at Camp Able Sentry, feeding the troops of all UN nations. That was probably the most enjoyable part of the mission.
Sometime during this tour, I was sent back to Germany due to a shoulder problem I had been having with my rotator cuff. I was sent back to what is commonly referred as "rear detachment" those soldiers responsible for keeping our base running during the operation down range.
I want to make it clear that I love our veterans, male or female, it makes NO difference. We all raised our hands to defend this great nation and against our will and due to odds, we became disabled in some capacity. Some made the ultimate sacrifice. So, on June 9 1995, I was admitted to Heidelberg Army Hospital and was operated on to remove my appendix. That was a Friday. A couple days later, the 11th, which was a Sunday, I was released and placed on 14 days of convalescent leave to recuperate. on the 10th day of leave, I got up and had some cereal for breakfast. I ended up not being able to keep that down or anything for that matter all day. Later that evening, my german girlfriend's brother came over and he watched as I laid on the floor with a hot water bottle on my abdomen due to the excruciating pain. The Brother then went home quickly and his dad came back and checked on me to take me to the hospital. I was in deep do-do. I ended up returning to Heidelberg hospital with a "suspected" blockage and was not allowed to eat. I met the surgeon who was put in charge of my care and he plainly stated that if the blockage didn't resolve itself, he would open me back up and see what was going and and fix me. June 23rd 1995; I was back on the operating table and the surgeon went on to perform a "Right Hemicolectomy and a small bowel resection". when I woke up, I was in the ICU with staples on my stomach and an NG tube coming out my nose. I was in soo much pain. I don't remember when, but, sometime after I got out of ICU and to a regular room, the surgeon came in and was able to tell me what he did and to my surprise, he was shocked to have found a section of intestine 18 inches long that was dead inside of me. Through the subsequent time after this hospitalization, was was in and out of the hospital with abdominal pain and diarrhea.
after I was medically discharged, I remained in Germany as a civilian and ended up working for the US government as a food service worker. I had multiple hospitalizations in Germany and was covered by VA FMP (Veterans Affairs Foreign Medical Plan). I returned to CONUS March 16th, 2003. the day before the IRAQ war started. I eventually worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as a food service worker then cook and during this decade, I spent more and more time, progressively in the ER there as a result of my disability. I've been suspended without pay because of my obvious numerous times of being out ill due to this medical condition.
What brings me to this point in time is, It is absolutely horrendous that the Veterans Affairs now has a phone system that you can't get a hold of a human being rather , you have to make an appointment for a time alot later just in order for me to speak to an operator about the status of my disability claim. I'm out of work, actually I haven't been back to work due to the severity of my medical condition. i'll update this as time allows. there's just too much to type for the time needed to write everything but this is the start
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