MONK (REALLY UNCLE ‘GORDIE’) VENTURES OUT FOR NEEDED MEDICAL CARE
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A ‘FEAR CRAZED’ VIETNAM VET
by Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER and FEAR CRAZED VET
Yesterday was spent driving out of state for VA medical care. I had called the VA clinic near my home but was told that my primary care physician had quit and they couldn’t see me for a minimum of 25 days. Were this a simple checkup this would be acceptable. That I was seriously ill, made this quite bizarre.
It all started 2 weeks ago. I was in Egypt on one of those ‘fact finding’ tours that are part of my "humanitarian’ duties working with a UN agency. The American owned hotel we were at, I suspect, was serving $20 buck a bottle water taken from a pond out back. (in Egypt, $20 buys a limo and driver for the day) "Amenhotep’s Revenge," the Egyptian version of Montezuma’s Revenge, can actually kill.
I was told by the nurse answering the phone at my nearby clinic that I would have to drive into Michigan for medical care. The cost would be $100 for gas. Sometimes free medical care, paid for by billions in tax money, meant as an honor to our heroes (note: I am a 100% combat disabled veteran, although hardly a hero) can look like a kick in the teeth.
With all the new clinics and the billions we spend to staff and maintain them, that we are totally unable to see a sick vet phoning in for an appointment for a serious illness in less than a month is disgusting to me. I have the money for gas and a vehicle. I also have a wife who can drive me. However, many do not and some live much further from a major VA hospital than I do. Not everyone has someone to drive them to the next state if they get sick nor does everyone have the money if they do have a vehicle that could make the drive.
A visit to a VA hospital is an ‘eye opener.’ Many of the buildings are magnificent, this one with a Starbucks by the door selling $5 coffee. With a building filled with diabetic veterans and simply hungry people, many of whom were brought in on busses and vans from distances you wouldn’t believe, closing the cafeteria at 2pm seemed idiotic. A vet next to me bought a candy bar to fend off a diabetic coma.
I talked with as many vets as possible while there. The biggest worry for many, some working into their 70s, was keeping a job. Dozens, perhaps much more, were waiting outside clinics. Most were wearing service regalia that has become a tradition for VA hosptial visits. Clear to me is the fact that there is no ‘average vet.’ Ages ranged from late 20s, very few, to mid 80s, few also. Most were in their 60s and 70s, "Cold War" era vets. Many seemed to be dependent and institutionalized, as I call it. It is as though illness, age and life circumstances had drained them. This group has been the fodder for political extremists playing on fears.
They are also clearly marginalized by society, very much at risk. It was easy to see why the VA has had to battle for years to keep employees from treating vets like children or openly abusing them. Though efforts are being made, I can assure any at the VA reading this that not nearly enough is being done, even still.
As is most often the case, I found the doctors and nurses ok, most of the nurses anyway, competent and perhaps well beyond that. I met one ‘poor communcator’ and arrogant shit but most I dealt with were really exceptional, and, frankly, better than anything available in the civilian hospital system.
With the massive and sparkling facilities, the state of the art equipment and training, all is worthless if you can’t get in the door. I admit I hate medical care. I have a major stress reaction walking into any VA facility. Hell, they have to nearly sedate me to get me on a plane. Great medical care is worthless when you have to confront people to get treated. The system that pushes vets away from treatment probably costs as much as the system that provides the treatment. It certainly works much better.
If you don’t know what I am talking about, I suggest you read about the Walter Reed scandal. This was not the VA but the VA has a long history of things as bad or worse. Even today, many functions of the Department of Veterans Affairs, administratively in particular, are Kafkaesque.
It is all politics. Little is ‘republican or democrat.’ Bush has been bad, worst so far, but others have not been much better. The closer you get to Washington DC, the more corrupt things become. The heart of the VA lives there, a billion miles from the doctors and nurses caring from patents around the country. Fixing the VA may require cutting off the head to save the body.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Gordon Duff is a Senior Staff Writer for VeteransToday.com. He is a U.S. Marine Vietnam Combat Veteran and regular contributor on social and political issues. He holds a United Nations diplomatic post.
Gordon Duff posted articles on VT from 2008 to 2022. He is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. A disabled veteran, he worked on veterans and POW issues for decades.
Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world’s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues.
Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world, and is a regular guest on TV and radio in more than “several” countries. He is also a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist, and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. Business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology.
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