I have been trying - more like begging - for the Veteran's Administration to address a very real physical problem for several months, a problem for which I actually had documented evidence to support. I had a CT scan from a local hospital which clearly indicated gall stones almost an inch in diameter. The very reason that I went to the Emergency Room in the first place is because I had been sick and vomiting for weeks. The VA Primary Care provider that I went to referred me to a surgeon almost 250 miles away indicating that he suspect that the gall bladder was indeed causing me pain, nausea and discomfort.
The VA Surgeon in St. Louis, Jane Tenquist, decided upon reading all of the scurrilous and slanderous claims repeated over and over in my St. Louis VA records which indicate that in their professional opinion I am a danger to myself and that I have "major recurring depressive disorder" and "personality disorder" - among many other insulting invectives, that there was nothing wrong with me and that she felt I would be better served to have the VA stick a camera up my ass. EVEN AFTER VIEWING THE CT SCAN SHOWING THE GALL STONES!
I really have trouble understanding the VA compulsion to stick stuff up your ass! That seems to be their treatment de jure for anything that they don't want to face head on. But I digress....
I was so sick that I HAD to find SOMEONE - ANYONE - who might treat me for the problem. Which I did. This (non-VA affiliated) surgeon recognized immediately the seriousness of the matter and set up surgery for as soon as he could get me in. When he got inside of me and saw just how serious the matter had become he made the decision to document the procedure with photographs. The nurse told me that my gall bladder was "nasty" and that one of the largest stones had begun to traverse into the common bile duct. If you are uninformed on this complication, this can and likely will be life threatening!
When I returned from hospital I sent in a request for my VA medical records for the past six months. Those pages, when simple lab reports are removed, numbered somewhere around 30 and were riddled with fallacious statements made by "social workers" alleged conversations with me in person and via the telephone which painted me as a crazy person. And in those pages my alleged psychiatric condition is discussed more than anything else! Along with the allegations cited above they claim that I am a chronic substance abuser... without a shred of evidence to support those claims other than their word.
The simple fact of the matter is that, once again, the St'. Louis VA did all in their power to deny me much needed health care and treatment. I say "once again" because from '05 to '06 I complained of feeling as if "an elephant is setting on my chest". I had to ask help from US Congresswoman JoAnn Emerson's office to get them to recognize the fact that I needed emergency heart surgery.
Please stay tuned as I fully plan to post my medical records and pictures of this most recent surgery here. You don't have to believe me, you can decide for yourself.
But if you are a Veteran, heed this warning: The Veteran's Administration is the LAST place you need to go for help of any kind.
