Thor Forums

[Cason61]

Originally Posted by Soldier Girl

Yes, I agree, there are great people even in the bad hospitals who work heroically & there are some a few great VAs (I jus never seem to end up in one, lol!) One special case in point is the Las Vegas VA. It's small but very patient proactive. They actually sent my father to the La Jolla Ca Univ Hosp for a triple bypass - and even paid the airfare! This was back in '96. My sister goes to a VA near her home in Northern Ca that she loves. Unfortunately for most of my family, we seem to have been in more poor ones than good ones. My eldest brother & I could never get into the Phoenix VA over a number of years. In his case, he had very serious lung & sinus damage from service in Nam, he remained untreated in Phx for years until on a trip to Tn in '11, he died from an asthma attack (even though VA there tried hard to save him), he never regained conciousness & was declared brain dead. In my father's case, who had experienced such great VA care in Las Vegas, he went to see family in Mn. He got the flu last Jan. & he went to St Cloud VA..According to family who went with them, they left him w/104° fever in the hallway w/out a simple saline drip, even w/our family beggin them for help. He died 3 hrs later still in the damn hallway - tellingly, his autopsy listed dehydration as cause of death - not the flu... Me, I keep ending up in the wrong VA's but so far survive them al. In '07, VA in B-more was shamed by a Fox News reporter to send me to civies to save my leg. The head of Ortho Surgery was furious when I refused an amputation above the knee. I argued w/him that the leg was savable - his angry outburst in front of family & the Fox reporter Mr Mark Hyman (former JAG officer), was, "OF COURSE it's SAVABLE - but it's NOT Cost Effective!!!"

Yeah, my father was in one for awhile. I guess (?) he got treated ok, I don't know. I needed a 2nd opinion for spine surgery and I got "I can't find the problem. You're going to have to live with the pain" (Guess he didn't know I could read the MRI and diagnosis too and I had surgery somewhere else 6 weeks later). Over the years I got better and better at reading the new documentation, the CFR and being denied every time even after the spine surgeries, that I realized I didn't have to go there if I needed anything. George just Lucky I guess.