Ch 5
Establishment
Though initially welcomed with warm arms into the VA system it took only a few months before we were in a crisis mode. My full Army medical records were not accessible, treatment was a joke, and finances went grim. You get told initially that claims typically take six months or five years, and that many are still being done from Vietnam era. It was one of few VA statistics that held true unfortunately.
My first primary care doctor with the VA was never on the same page as me about my spine (or much else). I was hospitalized several times when my spine flared up so bad it would be “too painful to breath”. We had to have a family friend or relative stay with us to take care of me the days my back would be locked up (drag me around the house as needed, literally). It took over a dozen appointments and “alternatives” before it seemed I was even taken seriously. I could not even get anyone to acknowledge the diagnosis from Ft Hood on dysfunctional disc as it was “not just my neck that hurt“.
I was tested for anything and everything other than a spinal injury first. Blood, bone, liver and kidneys… quite bothersome as well as time consuming (not to mention recourses, nearly a hundred mile round trip to the VA hospital). Having to explain over and over that it was my spine that had been injured, and it was my spine hurting. In addition I couldn’t get anything else done, no appointment for diagnosis on hips, shoulder, hearing, sight, no baselines for anything that should have been established right off the bat.
The day I lost my first bit of faith in the VA…It was one particular appointment where after several negative test on what could be causing pain in my spine aside from a spinal injury my doctor was interested in test for a kidney stone. Up to this point I had gone along with everything with a nod and smile, but not this. I could pinpoint the day the pain started, and to date no time has passed without some level of pain consistently. All my liver and kidney test were excellent at that point, nor had I had ever previous problems
warranting such test.
I politely protested, and followed thru with the test. After all other options were exhausted finally, I was granted my first MRI for my spine. If I had known better at the time I would have insisted it be enhanced imaging under stress (radioactive tracer and standing up instead of laying down), but I was happy just to have my pain acknowledged as possibly being real. The results would not be immediate and the cost of that delay was humongous.
Appointments grew more frequent and I would cover hundreds of miles a week just to meet up with the demands. Being unemployable, my wife’s pay as a part time waitress was not enough to sustain us. We started a pawning phase. To go to physical therapy I would sell my Ipod, two days later the stereo, and the day after that the television (I was at one point scheduled with 3+ appointments in Dallas a week). Through this period anything and everything became a target for liquidation. When it was over, we had nothing worth selling left, no microwave or vacuum, appliance or electronic of any sort, not even a DVD left.
I continued seeing doctors and specialist about injuries sustained during my service. Not for lack of trying, I was met with failure on looking for employment when I was able to get out and apply. My wife worked to sustain the large whole in our income, and with savings draining fast a breakthrough on my claim was becoming ever more desperate. There were many times when we would go to the food bank for help. Yet when a decision finally did come it was unlike anything we expected.
I was granted 60% pay, and a total disability rating at 70% (The total pay is not based on total disability. You start off with 100%, subtract the largest disability percentage first. Take the remainder and take the next largest disability percentage from it and so on. So pay rate will always come out to less than actual disability total). It was only $1045 a month for a family of three. The majority of my disabilities were rated at 0%, meaning acknowledged as a service connected disability, but not sufficient evidence for compensation. Among the 0%’s on my claim was my spine and hips.
A few days after getting the decision we received paperwork from my doctor as to the MRI results.
“…several budged disc and at least one torn disc… set up an appointment for pain medication…“. I declined. Instead full attention turned to an appeal on the 0% rating for my spine. The reason for rejection for the was a “lack of evidence“. This time though I had it in the VA’s own words that my injury was real and a correction would be a simple process (that was the thought process at least). Finally, a VA document that validated I was not just making it all up.
As for the pain, I had already been on some crazy prescriptions as it was, narcotics and opiates were not something I was ready to give in to. I had a 10% disability rating for the medication given and it’s effects on me already. Hard work and determination seemed more profitable roads to take. Good intake (I had quit drinking completely and totally by this point), and as much physical therapy as I could do when able to. After all, drugs would only mask pain, not solve it. Building a muscle structure that could endure the injuries was much more appealing.
We maintained in Ft Worth until the appeal cleared thru. Believing the VA flukes would soon correct themselves, we were even midway thru the process of buying a house. Of course though the appeal was denied, this time because “I had missed one appointment”. Not having gas, money for gas, or anything left to sell for gas money was not exactly a factor they considered. All I had was the paper from my doctor to even show I had an injury as we were unable to obtain my actual MRI results. I had submitted the page I did have but it never found a way into my file.
So with no increase in pay (or rating) and a sudden slam on my credit from hospital bills we went from about to close on a $120,000 home to closing the door on the dream. My wife was pregnant with our second child. Something had to be done.
We got rid of our car, wife rented a Uhal with her tax return check and packed everything we could. Before leaving we gave away most all our furniture to neighbors as the long trek ahead of us did not permit the load nor the semi-normalcy we had grown to be familiar with. I was a 25 year old War Veteran, who originally moved out after high school and thrived in the self sufficient life style, now moving my family across country to live with my parents.
