Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and a Veteran’s Plea for Medical Attention

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and a Veteran’s Plea for Medical Attention
by John Waltz, Director of Investigative Research and Publications Iraq War Veterans Organization

I hope that after reading this it will give you or someone you know the courage to stand up for what is right and not to give up no matter how impossible the situation may seem. In a world that is filled with bad news and cases of mistreatment of veterans like at Walter Reed it is a breath of fresh air to get positive news. For me the last eight months have been the most difficult ones of my entire life.

Back in July of 2006, I started to get headaches and smelling odd things. For example, walking up my drive everyone smelled fresh mown grass and I smelled caramel apples. I also was having difficulty with shortness of breath, weakness, chronic fatigue and a lack of concentration. I was rushed to a civilian emergency room at the end of July because I had all the signs of a heart attack. After an extensive workup that included a catscan, they could not find anything that stuck out and I was released.

The symptoms seemed to get increasingly worse and I was going to more doctor appointments that never gave me a resolution. At the very beginning of September, I had an unexpected seizure, which caused me to be rushed to the ER again. This time we demanded a MRI, which we got, and it was discovered that I had a meningioma (brain tumor) in my left cavernous sinus and a brain lesion on my left frontal lobe…

Next I was admitted to the University of Cincinnati hospital in the beginning of October for an epilepsy monitoring where they have a EEG hooked up to you at all times and a video camera watching all activities. After a few days, they advised me that the seizures were non-epileptic and were caused by a conversion disorder. This is where your body no longer converts stress correctly so instead of releasing it normally I would have a seizure. I was advised to see a psychologist to get help for my Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in order to calm down the seizures. This really did not help and my seizures were occurring daily which ended up costing me my job and worsened my condition.

My wife ended up going back to work, which ended my transportation. Everywhere I turned, I could not get a ride to my appointments. This left me with no way to get the help I needed for my PTSD and my medical conditions. My wife and I ended up moving fifteen miles from Cincinnati, which we thought it would be easier to get to my appointments but that was false hope.

On February 23, I had a Transient Ischemic Attack (min-stroke) and was rushed to a civilian hospital. The civilian doctor ran a series of tests and a cat scan and was unable to find anything. He wanted to blame my PTSD and stress on what was causing my problems. Stress aggravates my medical conditions but is not the cause of them. To make matters worse he was very condescending and rude about the whole situation. The nurses were talking very loudly and using racial slurs that ended up sending me into flashbacks. We left the hospital with the intention of following up with my primary care doctor.

I tried calling my primary care doctor many times, gave up, and went to the VA ER. I told the attendant at the ER about the mini-stroke and the urgency. After waiting two hours I was really worked up and angry which caused me to have a seizure. They rushed me back to the ER and they got me worked up from there.

The neurologist seemed to have a head on his shoulders and was providing me with some ideas of my health issues. The next morning the neurologist came back in and was giving me the same hope that they might be able to find the answer to the ailments I suffer from. Shortly after that the head of neurology, Dr. Sams, came in with the other neurologist and stated that everything was in my head and it was all PTSD related.

I played along with this and demanded to see a psychiatrist and that was met with an answer of no. From there I asked to speak with a patient advocate and after waiting for hours, I asked for the hospital director. All of my attempts at trying to get help were futile and so upon my discharge I let the neurologist know that all they have managed to do was make my PTSD worse. I added by saying that I have been waiting for over eight months for someone to help me with my medical condition and I was fed up with fighting and when I get home I was afraid that I was going to harm myself or someone. This also met with little fanfare and I was discharged. I was also ordered to partake in physical therapy, which led me to question if it is mental then why am I going to physical therapy for it?

The next day I contacted the Iraq War Veteran Organization’s founder/CEO Russell Terry and he explained my options which were to contact the hospital and speak with a patient advocate and work my way up. I still was not getting any response so Russell got in touch with Senator Craig and his aid Jeff Schrade. Shortly after this, the police came to see if I was ok and if I was suicidal or not. This seemed to be a classic cover your tracks move but after getting in touch with Mr. Schrade again the director of the Cincinnati VAMC contacted me stating that they wanted to come pick me up to talk to me and get me into the psychiatrist to get my PTSD stabilized.

The next morning a VA van came and picked me up to go to the hospital and in order to discuss the situation and possible resolutions to the problem. It seemed as though the red carpet was rolled out and I was treated with the utmost respect that all of us veterans deserve and should demand. In the end, my medical history is being investigated and the conduct of those I had to deal with while in the hospital. I was also able to see they psychiatrist finally and was given medication to control my PTSD and seizures.

It is a shame that a veteran has to jump through hoops like this in order to get any help. The majority of what is plaguing the Veteran Affairs healthcare system is the severe under funding which was $4.3 billion in the red in 2006 alone. How in the world can you run a large health care organization without any funding and expect to provide good service to your patients. This year there is a call for $3.6 billion in funding which if that does not go through; we are looking at $7.6 billion all together in the red.

Veterans with PTSD have been subjected to a stigma where they are considered misfits who have no grasp on reality. PTSD is a disability and should be treated as such, especially when it comes to reasonable disability accommodations. Violations of these rights should be considered a federal crime and should be investigated and prosecuted properly. Currently there is a strong focus on discrimination towards an individual’s race or sex and that same focus should be put on veterans with PTSD. PTSD is a real mental illness and should be treated with a high sense of importance.

There have been some improvements in the Veteran Affairs system but they are simply not enough and more has to be done. For a veteran to get service-connected benefits, they have to wade through an eternal sea of red tape and wait months sometimes years for an answer. Can you imagine not being able to work and left with no means to support yourself? Hence, the huge and growing amount of homeless veterans. The claims process should be much simpler than it is now and we feel that the only way that this is going to be done is putting more money into training those that handle the claims. There is a serious riff between veterans and the VA because of the mistreatment that has been historically portrayed.

There is the idea that politicians are bought and sold at the highest bidder. To me this is not the case; rather the issue is that there has never been a push to make sure veterans with PTSD get the treatment and compensation they deserve. With the advent of technology, veterans are able to access information easier and thus are now becoming more vocal about their rights. Just consider that to date, 98,000 military personnel have come back from Afghanistan and Iraq since the conflicts began and are now diagnosed with PTSD.

This does not account those that are in denial or have not gone to the VA for help. Someone with PTSD, who has not been informed of the symptoms, begins to think they are crazy, and the world would be a better place if they did not exist. Due to this, there have been too many suicides by suffering veterans. If nothing is done, and the politicians sit by idle, then a big catastrophe is inevitable.

Walter Reed is the tip of the iceberg but it is a good example of what is going on with our veterans and also soldiers who come home wounded. To the government we are mere toy soldiers and now that the fighting is done, we are tossed aside. I am certainly not the only veteran receiving this kind of treatment so that begs the question, how many other veterans are suffering in silence. Never give up on fighting for what is rightfully yours and one day you will be able to see fruit from your efforts.

Conclusion:

I wanted to ensure that I thanked those that have been there for me through all of this. Of course, my wife for being strong and staying strong when many times a spouse would have left. Gary Chennett for telling me to never give up and keep fighting because I was really ready to put down the boxing gloves after my visit to the VA this last time. Russell Terry (CEO/Founder Iraq War Veterans Organization) for giving me the encouragement that my efforts were not in vain and for contacting the right people quickly when I needed help the most. That brings me to Jeff Schrade (Communication Director, US Senator Larry Craig) for taking time out of his busy schedule to make sure that a veteran received the help and attention that was direly needed.

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