i've been in the VA system for a few years now, other than massive crowds at the hospital i really have no complaints. here in OKC we have several smaller clinics where you see your primary care physician, if you have an appointment and arrive early they'll see you early.
my primary care physician saw something in my blood work that alarmed him, he made the referral to the hospital, which initially was a nightmare experience. ends up i had service connected Hep C, i'm deaf as a stump, and 50 years after the fact i'm 50% disabled due to PTSD, 50 years later and still at 50%, heck i must have been a raving lunatic at release from active duty. LOL in hindsight i was a raving lunatic, but PTSD hadn't been invented yet.
anyway treatment for the Hep C laid me low for almost 2 years, they assigned me a PA who had been deployed to afganistan and iraq. she is great, they gave me almost $300,000 in meds and last check up i still had no active virus in my system. cured, but i think it's back again. i gave the PA who treated me a challenge coin which made her an honorary member of the old farts battalion, says that on the coin, 1st MARDIV emblem with the Reaper on the reverse, but i should have a 3rd MARDIV coin as well, cause when we first arrived in country we were 3rd FMF, about a year and a half later they made us 1st FMF, so yes to any new Corps guys, i was in the Fleet. 2 of em LOL
all those years (after PTSD was named) my family and friends told me to talk to them about it, i declined with the rational of "the mid-east troops are hurt much worse than i ever was and i don't want to take services from them to treat me" .... i finally wised up and owned what i am. i use some time from the doctors, and once a month i get a deposit in my account for "paper" dollars to use however i wish. so my advice to any service member who's been putting it off cause they don't believe they deserve anything, get over it and with the program, it's only paper that folks will trade you real assets for.
the final compelling event was when i asked myself, "self, where were these people when you were getting paid (with combat pay as an E5) the princely sum of $310 a month to get shot at?"
what are your experiences with the VA system? mine have been mostly good to some excellent
my primary care physician saw something in my blood work that alarmed him, he made the referral to the hospital, which initially was a nightmare experience. ends up i had service connected Hep C, i'm deaf as a stump, and 50 years after the fact i'm 50% disabled due to PTSD, 50 years later and still at 50%, heck i must have been a raving lunatic at release from active duty. LOL in hindsight i was a raving lunatic, but PTSD hadn't been invented yet.
anyway treatment for the Hep C laid me low for almost 2 years, they assigned me a PA who had been deployed to afganistan and iraq. she is great, they gave me almost $300,000 in meds and last check up i still had no active virus in my system. cured, but i think it's back again. i gave the PA who treated me a challenge coin which made her an honorary member of the old farts battalion, says that on the coin, 1st MARDIV emblem with the Reaper on the reverse, but i should have a 3rd MARDIV coin as well, cause when we first arrived in country we were 3rd FMF, about a year and a half later they made us 1st FMF, so yes to any new Corps guys, i was in the Fleet. 2 of em LOL
all those years (after PTSD was named) my family and friends told me to talk to them about it, i declined with the rational of "the mid-east troops are hurt much worse than i ever was and i don't want to take services from them to treat me" .... i finally wised up and owned what i am. i use some time from the doctors, and once a month i get a deposit in my account for "paper" dollars to use however i wish. so my advice to any service member who's been putting it off cause they don't believe they deserve anything, get over it and with the program, it's only paper that folks will trade you real assets for.
the final compelling event was when i asked myself, "self, where were these people when you were getting paid (with combat pay as an E5) the princely sum of $310 a month to get shot at?"
what are your experiences with the VA system? mine have been mostly good to some excellent