Nothing like standing in line and listening to insults

Well , once again, last Wednesday, i found myself at my home away from home. The Miami VA. I had an appointment at 2 for Rheumatology. Well, i sat there and waited and waited and waited. Finally, another gentleman got up and went to the counter and simply asked what might be taking so long? Well, all of a sudden, there was a hustle and bustle of activity. See, the nurses hadn't even checked our blood pressure yet or gone through our pain questionaires.
So, i got called back and one of the nurses was talking about the guy who had asked the question. "It's called patience," she yelled out. I was thinking to myself what alot of nerve after they have been sitting back there on their asses for 2 hours doing who knows what. This is what the VA employees do though. They will talk about a veteran like a dog behind their back.
They were pissed because i guess they were hoping we would be cancelled because heaven help them if they had to stay past 4 to wait on a veteran to see the doctor.

So i see the doctor and lo and behold, i am having a lupus flare. My liver is enflamed. Well, i have only been trying to tell them that for over 6 months. My pain keeps me up at night. I hadn't slept in two nights. I had joint stiffness, malaise, fatigue, and a lovely malar butterfly rash on my face.
They diagnosed me in 1997 then changed it to RA in 2000 then in 2005 they said it was psychosomatic. All i know is on Mar 14, 1991 i received 25 vaccines and after i received 2.5 cc of gamma globulin in each but cheek, i was in severe pain from that day forward. So to make a long story short, i had to go to the pharmacy to get prednisone.
So i am waiting in line forever to get up to the window. The closer i get the more abuse i hear coming from the pharmacist. One Hispanic lady went up and asked for her Sin--throid. The pharmacist said "There is no Synthroid for you."
The lady said, "The doctor put it in yesterday."
The pharmacist said: He didn't put it in yesterday, last week, last month, last year.
I was thinking to myself, Yea i get the point. Another asshole with an attitude. Excuse my language.
So the next man goes to the window , an older Hispanic man, who appears to have had surgery on his arm. He says "I have been waiting for 45 minutes and i need to take a taxi to Port St Lucie and i need to get my meds."
Well the pharmacist said"Did you see your name on the tv screen?" The vet responded "No, but i need to take a taxi." So by this time, i am getting mad because the dude behind the counter had an attitude problem. So i said out loud" I am sick and tired of these people having an attitude with veterans."
So it came to be my turn and wheni got to the window I just said: Parker xxxx, i amhere for prednisone. I looked that dude in the eye and he must have known not to say anything to me.

Shame that our veterans are treated this way. American public doesnt have a clue.
More onthis same topic in the next blog. Please excuse the typos, i amhaving lupus flare.

Having to "beg" for medicines and then stand near pee to pick them up.

About 10 days or so ago, I was nauseated. I can handle surgeries, severe pain every day, you name it but i can't handle nausea. That's my weak link. You see, I had run out of Protonix, an acid reducer normally given to cancer patients for nausea. I ran out because my provider had retired and didn't give enough refills. So i had been patiently waiting for an appointment with a new provider for four months. Meanwhile, my "problem list" was as long as a notebook page.
However, last Friday, i called the RN line at 8, 830, 9. They all told me to call the Red team pharmacist and ask for the medicine. I called at 9,930, 10,1030,11,1130, 12....the phone just rang and rang. Meanwhile, every day was another day of the dreadful nausea.
So Wednesday April 8, i started off to the VA and checked my phone messages. The first message was from the VA telling me my appointment had been changed to the middle of June!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What, oh no way.
I called the Red Team and they couldn't give me a reason why the appointment was cancelled.
I told them someone was going to see me. I was so upset-angry and tearful.
I called the patient advocate's office and they had an answering machine on at 2pm. I called the director's office and they said they would check into it.
I decided to call Senator Nelson's office and tell them what was going on. So they called the director's office and the doctor had to see me. They had booked 3 veterans who each needed an hour with the doctor so myself and another veteran were cancelled. So needless to say, we did not get to every item on my pagelong list of needs but at least we got to 2 or 3 of the most pressing issues. I have to wait until June to get an hour with the new doctor. Ridiculous. That is partially due to the fiasco of the Miami VA not sterilizing the colonoscopy machine for 5 years.
Just another day of frustration at the VA.
I almost forgot. I went to the pharmacy and stood in line for 45 minutes to find a puddle of pee in front of the pickup window-the tech said he was too busy to call housekeeping! ARGHHH and then i only got one of the medicines i needed right away.
More frustration.
The line is so long , sometimes they have to call the VA Police to maintain order in the pickup line. I kid you not!

VA doesn't sterilize colonscopy machine for 5 years.

This week a big story surfaced in Miami regarding the Miami VA hospital. Evidently, they did not properly sterilize tubing and machines used during endoscopic procedures and colonoscopies for the PAST 5 YEARS. How does that go unnoticed? Well, i will tell you why. Just like any other VA hospital, most of the employees are more concerned with chitchatting, walking the halls, and mistreating veterans. Do you really think that the people responsible for sterilizing the equipment got any punishment or were fired as they should be? We will probably never know. More than likely, they were just shifted to another clinic knowing the VA. No one has to take responsibility for their actions at the VA. It takes an act of Congress to get someone reprimanded or fired from the VA , just like at any other government agency. These people are allowed to mistreat veterans and do their jobs half-assed as they so please. Media is always kept out and off the grounds. The media trucks this week were parked across the street from the VA. It's really hard to report on something when you can't even go on the grounds with a camera. Evidently, this debaucle also occurred at the VA in Murpheesboro, Tennessee and at one other location. Have you seen this on any national media outlet? Of course not. Why is Congressman Meek the only politician giving a news conference about it. Shameful, just shameful. I personally went to all the media trucks and thanked them for covering the story. It is important to get the word out to the more than 3256 veterans who had these procedures so they can come in and get tested for the 3 strains of hepatitis and HIV. Can you imagine a veteran like myself, who has more than 13 chronic illnesses from Desert Storm going to the VA for a colonscopy and being told 5 years later:"Oh , btw, you may have contracted HIV or Hepatitis A,B,C during all the endoscopic procedures you had for the past 5 years because we didn't sterilize the equipment between procedures. We just rinsed the tube out with water and kept on going." Now, I ask you if that was any other citizen going to a regular hospital, they would have gotten a lawyer by now.
The CMO of the hospital won't answer the question from Local 10's Michael Putney (How did this go unnoticed for 5 years?). Why can't the top people at the VA just answer the question.
I called Orlando VA and they said it didn't happen there but how can one really know for sure giving the VA secrecy when it comes to media?
So far between 10-20 vets have tested positive for strains of hepatitis out of the 3 VA hospitals that supposedly were the only ones who didn't sterilize machines properly. To mention another source of stress for veterans is the fact that the blood test results won't be back for 2 weeks!!!!
This again is shameful. Not only does one have to worry about all the procedures they had for the past 5 years but they have to fret and stress for 2 more weeks to find out if they have one of the hepatitis strains and HIV. Think of the consequences when you consider the phrase floating around for HIV. If you have sex with someone with HIV unknowingly and they sleep with someone else and that person gets HIV and then they have other lovers and spread HIV to other people and on and on. Think of the consequences and the possible numbers of people affected indirectly by the actions of these workers at the VA. Who knows how many are affected and what actions they have taken in their private lives unknowingly and possibly spreading these chronic illnesses???? It is just mindboggling and overwhelming to contemplate for most veterans. It should have never happened and unless more veterans have the guts to speak up about things that happen to them at the VA, these things will just continue on and on. Shameful.