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 Possibly injured before in basic along with the hip injury, but defiantly injured the last day of my first week with my unit at Fort Hood. We were running tank evacuation drills for the Friday afternoon. I was running thru my list of task needed to be complete for my position on the crew before dismounting to a safe distance. Being a timed test, and gung-ho as I was, it somehow seemed like a good idea to treat it like the real deal, and why not shave off a few seconds with a hop off a tank instead of a proper climb down.

The enthusiasm was appreciated, but more than my body could handle. Favoring my hips I absorbed the impact on my left knee more than anything. With my first Physical Fitness test was coming up in less than a month, I downplayed it and avoided sick call (non-emergency medical treatment for military). I hadn’t just squeezed thru basic with broken hips to fail my first test in the Army to another injury. A few weeks later, day of the PT test, I pushed it and even when the pain had me upchucking my stomach (Started my wild reputation there by running past our Battalion Leadership watering the grass yet not missing a stride or dropping pace.) towards the sidewalk.

Next morning though was finally able to go to sick call, do the whole crutches bit again, and by time I was deployed to Iraq, I was a physical fitness machine. Course I had to go and get blown up within my first month of combat operations, found myself back to crutches (after a week in a hospital bed). Hips were hurting outrageously compared to my knee, but it’s hard to fully comprehend an injury on a limb when the limb is also injured closer to the torso. I was back to full operations within two months, and kept up a rigorous physical training routine outside the norm to reinforce.

Paid off to, even post deployment, on profile (restricted duty and exercises due to injury/illness. In my case, my spine) and medication that had me spiting up blood afterward, I could still outperform my platoon. Problem is, in the civilian world, with no medical treatment aside from heavy medications from the VA, no gyms (let alone time), no money (I would go days at a time without eating, hard to do physical therapy), no assistance and with my spinal injuries keeping me incapacitated for progressively longer stretches, needles to say that muscle mass holding together old injuries faded and left me feeling the years of physical abuse my body had endured.

Today it is only worse. My knee has daily lockups or blowouts (the lockup part is apparent, but the “blowout” part is when it feels like a rupture of some sort). It had days and weeks it will be swollen, but with no medical treatment for years, no documentation. I have used a cane (well, on fifth one now. The VA provided canes are cheap, buckle under long term use and one has even caused me to fall when one did bend while I was going up stairs. VA didn’t pay for my ER visit that occasion either…) for almost four years now. The added strain from hip and spine problems and using a cane have damaged my left wrist and right knee. The other knee giving out thru the added wear and tear of compensation was foretold to us by VA doctors, but nothing was done in any preventive manner. I was basically just told, it only goes downhill from here. They were right unfortunately, and even when I went past requesting and asking for help as to my knee, several request for a knee brace, a proper cane or crutches, a walker or even wheelchair, medical treatment or physical therapy, to begging for results…

When I sleep, I can’t sleep on my back (laying on back I can only do for stretches, to much pain to sleep like that), nor stomach for the same reason. Laying on my side I can’t have my legs together, my left knee hurt with the pressure on it, nor can I sleep on my right side for the angle it bends my left knee at. Leaves only one position I can sleep in. I lay awake trying to sleep thinking about how I once used to feel so comfortable when bedding down after a long day. Way more complex sports injuries have been rectified, knees practically rebuilt and yet because I chose service to country I am stuck with a medical system that can’t even bring any level of ease or comfort to what should be a much simpler injury.