Comments on: So what’s with the VA?

By: ER

ER — Thu, 15 May 2014 04:31:24 +0000

One of the reasons the modern VA has such a big backlog of cases might be that they have been encouraged lately to follow up on Agent Orange and PTSD complaints, which used to be dismissed outright as nuisances in the past. Another reason is that many vets who have lost health insurance or their jobs have been turning to the VA for medical insurance due to the economy. I myself have been in that latter category, and have seen many examples of the former in my visits to the local clinic.

There is also a big emphasis now on suicide, homelessness, AIDS, mental, drug abuse and other issues that seem to disproportionally plague vets. On my visits to the VA I see mostly Vietnam-era patients there, well over half. The rest are about evenly split between WWII/Korea and the Iraq/Afghan conflicts.

By: bowser

bowser — Wed, 14 May 2014 17:22:46 +0000

What comes to mind is that Bush-Cheney era casualties have overloaded the system. Their wars, which would cost 20 – 60 billion dollars and last 6 months, are still going on, still costing money, and have left us with casualties which will cost a lot of money for a long, long time.

And none of it was paid for at the time. It’s hard to forgive Conservatives for some things, and their lack of interest in paying for their actions is one of them.

By: Jody

Jody — Fri, 09 May 2014 18:53:43 +0000

…it exists pretty much as indicated here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War_syndrome#Signs_and_symptoms

By: ER

ER — Fri, 09 May 2014 18:35:26 +0000

Do others suffering from the same condition exhibit similar symptoms?

By: Jody

Jody — Fri, 09 May 2014 16:45:52 +0000

I will have to put together a laundry list of a myriad of ailments that spanned two decades.

He was 6’4″ , 300 pounds in 1994. He had what we called *failure to thrive* when I was a youngin’ and worked on children’s ward, in the hospital. Wasting away syndrome I think is another term. Had severe osteoporosis from medication they prescribed him so when he died I believe he weighed around 140. He was in diapers and couldn’t walk.

By: ER

ER — Fri, 09 May 2014 00:15:28 +0000

And how did they compare with the symptoms of others with the same complaint? I understand the same condition can often manifest itself very differently in different patients.

By: Jody

Jody — Thu, 08 May 2014 23:49:00 +0000

I have not a clue except what I have seen after the fact. I have seen the medical records of a young man with Gulf War Syndrome…although that is not what they called it. (I don’t remember.)

By: ER

ER — Thu, 08 May 2014 23:30:16 +0000

There was a lot of controversy about the toxic effects of Agent Orange poisoning (the dioxin based herbicide used by our side to remove covering vegetation from enemy controlled forested areas in Vietnam). Nothing came from this until Elmo Zumwalt’s son, an infantry officer in the war, came down with dioxin poisoning. Suddenly, it became a PROBLEM.

Admiral Zumwalt was Chief of Naval Operations when I was in the Navy, and he was the first Captain of my ship, USS Dewey, when she was launched, before I came aboard. Zumwalt first ordered the use of Agent Orange as a defoliant in the Vietnam War. Small world, eh?

By: ER

ER — Thu, 08 May 2014 23:18:08 +0000

Some of the speculation of “Gulf War Syndrome” was built around the health effects of depleted Uranium used in some of our munitions, I recall pictures of our troops posing on top of Iraqi tanks shredded by our cannon fire. Other thoughts centered on vaccinations given to our troops, some of the antidotes against chemical weapons that were administered to US forces, and simple exposure to toxic smoke from the oil well fires set by Saddam, or low-level exposure to chemical agents used by the enemy. I really don’t know enough about it to say if there is anything to any of this, but I know there was a lot of controversy.

I do know the government has strong incentives against admitting to any of this, just like they stalled on Agent Orange, but I really don’t know of any corroborating evidence. For example, did our allies report symptoms of GWS? The enemy? Civilians?Troops in theater but not on the front line? I’m not familiar with any evidence other than anecdotal. And of course, you can prove anything you like with the Internet. There’s a website for every conspiracy.

By: Jody

Jody — Thu, 08 May 2014 22:58:10 +0000

…because I know I can…so I know you can…and think it through… Think Gulf War Syndrome. Disabled….for years…and years….and years.

You had nothing wrong with you.