As some of you may know, I am a disabled Veteran. I depended for many years on the Veterans Administration Medical services for my health care.
In recent years I have come to the realization that, at least in Atlanta, that Hospital is RULED by the Employees Labor Union.
The Doctors have their hands tied by "Protocols" set by the Government, and they are told what they can and cannot do in many cases by their "Section Chief" (read shop steward)
10 yrs ago my Audiologist specifically TOLD me she had to do what her section chief told her to do, not what was best for me.
Back then, I was applying to Soc Security for some disability compensation for my hearing.
My lawyer told me "Get your VA Audiologist to write a statement in support, since she KNOWS the condition of my hearing"
She said, "I can't do that"
Lawyer: "Oh yes she can, I pull VA Dr's into court all the time for their statements in support of a case"
Audiologist: "I have to do what my section chief tells me to do, and that means I can't write any statement in support of your claim".
So now, I have nearly full VA disability, for PTSD/MST.
I suffer from Depression, and as a result I have been under the Mental Health system care for years, although I no longer take any Antidepressants, I still have to meet with the "Pill Pusher" every 5 months or so. (That is my psychiatrist. People have the image of going to see your Psychiatrist, lying back on a sofa and talking to someone who is scribbling notes on a pad.
Not so in the VA. I also have a "Clinical Psychologist" who had done a great deal to help me cope with things going on in my mind)
Recently, after 4 yrs suffering from Hip pain post Right Hip Replacement surgery, THAT surgeon finally got tired of my complaining and gave me a Cortisone shot in my hip/thigh.
Hurt like hell, but after that trauma of having a long needle JABBED through my thigh muscles into the bone went away, I finally have begun making progress, I can actually lift my right foot to put on shoes or underwear now without having to hold on to something.
FOUR YEARS I suffered with loss of mobility, and if I worked anyway, I had a lot of pain in my right thigh at night, preventing me from getting adequate rest.
I've been asking the VA to continue with some "Pain Blocker Injections" (which last time I had them 10 yrs ago, I was told it was usually just Sugar Water; the magic happened almost like Acupuncture, rather than any drug)
Now, they are telling me "You have to go through Physical Therapy first, since you had that Hip surgery."
I've done the PT thing post surgery; It made things GREATLY WORSE.
But I agreed, and now I have an appointment on NOVEMBER 28TH!!!!!!!
Last week, I had a video meeting with the Pill Pusher. It went fairly well, until he said:
"I haven't had a drug screen from you in a LONG TIME Mr Smith (this was a Monday) Please stop by the Lab at the Arcadia clinic this Wed when you are there for your Dermatology appointment".
Now, I KNOW what I am taking, I KNOW I have Opiates [none taken in many months] (old prescriptions, but I still have them if I need them) and I have a script for Xanax (Benzodiazepine) Which I take at night, as needed, about twice a week.
I am not afraid of what might show up in a pee sample.
Always in the past, when I was asked to do this at that clinic, I could go ahead of the line since I did not need LABS (blood drawn) they'd give me the bottle, I'd pee in it and be on my way.
This time, I had 20 min before my Derm appointment, there were two people in the waiting area, but I was told I'd have to pull a number and wait.
I left, and stopped in a week later.
This time, since I was doing the "Peepee dance"
She gave me a bottle and let me be on my way.
Curious to see what was in that drug screen, I kept checking my online records for the results.
When they finally showed up, they showed clean
Lab Test: Drug Screen for Mult ConstLab Type: Chemistry/Hematology Ordering Provider:
RIEFKOHL, JOSE
Specimen: Urine (substance) Ordering Location:
ATLANTA VAMC
Date/Time Collected: 25 Jul 2023 @ 1415 Collected
AMPHETAMINES NEGATIVE -- (NEGATIVE) Final ATLANTA VAMC
BARBITURATES NEGATIVE -- (NEGATIVE) Final ATLANTA VAMC
BENZODIAZEPINES NEGATIVE -- (NEGATIVE) Final ATLANTA VAMC
OPIATES NEGATIVE -- (NEGATIVE) Final ATLANTA VAMC
MARIJUANA SCREEN ¿POSITIVE High? -- (NEGATIVE) Final ATLANTA
COCAINE (URN) (OF PANEL)NEGATIVE -- (NEGATIVE) Final ATLANTA VAMC`
But THEN, I get this PAPER LETTER from the pill pusher in the mail:
I sent back a very angry reply in secure messaging:
I must confess, I am very upset, as there is something rotten in Denmark.
Yesterday I checked my Bluebutton report of the urinalysis.
I just checked it again after I got your PAPER LETTER claiming I tested positive for Opiates.
This is what I see then and now:
Lab Test: Drug Screen for Mult Const
Lab Type: Chemistry/Hematology Ordering
Provider:
RIEFKOHL, JOSE
Specimen: Urine (substance) Ordering
Location:
ATLANTA VAMC
Date/Time Collected: 25 Jul 2023 @ 1415 Collected
AMPHETAMINES NEGATIVE -- (NEGATIVE) Final ATLANTA VAMC
BARBITURATES NEGATIVE -- (NEGATIVE) Final ATLANTA VAMC
BENZODIAZEPINES NEGATIVE -- (NEGATIVE) Final ATLANTA VAMC
OPIATES NEGATIVE -- (NEGATIVE) Final ATLANTA VAMC
MARIJUANA SCREEN POSITIVE High -- (NEGATIVE) Final ATLANTA
COCAINE (URN) (OF PANEL)
NEGATIVE -- (NEGATIVE) Final ATLANTA VAMC
Now while it IS possible the CBD gummies I had been using may still have been in my system, there is
NO
POSSIBILITY of that positive reading for Opiates to be accurate.
NONE.
I have three Tramadol tabs left from LAST YEAR, I have plenty of Oxy and a few Hydro codone, but unless Hydroxyzine would show as an opiate, this report you mailed to me is blatantly wrong.
Also, why didn't the Xanax show under the BENZODIAZEPINES?
Errors right and left.
And you wonder why I have lost all confidence in the VA?
While there have been some positive (non VA related) things this week, the day I got that letter, I bought a bottle of wine and DRANK THE WHOLE THING in a couple of hours.
I am bad about the "Knee Jerk Reactions" that way.
P.S.
These were my sleep readings from last night, I took the minimum, which was almost nothing
So far today, I took a shower, washed the rugs from my bathroom, cut "zone 3" of my yard and it's just now 10 am
I'm eligible, I think, for some VA care, but I have never applied. Don't trust any of those guys.
The wife is 70% - downgraded from 100% a couple of years ago. She's had pretty good dealings with VA in the STL area. Like you, she has no problems with the Drs, but the bureaucracy is a different story.
How did she get downgraded Jay?
That was one of my biggest fears; that if I stop using the VA, especially the Mental Health ¿Services?, I might lose my disability.
But I've asked several, and since my disability is PTSD secondary to MST, that won't go away.
Or so I've been reassured.
I'm 70% service connected, 100% unemployable (they say that means I'm getting PAID for 100%, but if I were 100% disabled, I could claim dental services as well, which I can't at 70%)
Apparently, she was "temporarily" assigned 100%. She was reassessed a couple of years later to be permanently assigned 70%.
Bureaucrats in the VA. Do they get a commission if they downgrade somebody? Wouldn't surprise me.
When she was downgraded, pay went down. Anything to screw a service member.
It is a fact that whenever a person is worried and starts to worry, he goes into depression and this is a very nasty disease, then a person starts living alone and does not like meeting anyone and the life of a person who Yes, it is going to end. Here in Pakistan, people don't even see a doctor. It's good that people in other countries go to the doctor and get everything done and then slowly come back to life again.