Not Sure If This Is The Right Place

[john999]

Bob

You are right in that if you are NSC VA is a lot better than dying. If you are SC it is like a kick in the balls. They treat us like scum and expect us to be grateful. If you really need care and you can afford it go to a private provider. VAMC is just good for cheap pills if you can get them and documenting your treatment records. For instance they don't even call vets to let you know your doctor called in sick. You make an hour journey and they tell too bad. If a doctor in private practice did that to me I would never go back.

John

[Steppenwolf]

Bob

You are right in that if you are NSC VA is a lot better than dying. If you are SC it is like a kick in the balls. They treat us like scum and expect us to be grateful. If you really need care and you can afford it go to a private provider. VAMC is just good for cheap pills if you can get them and documenting your treatment records. For instance they don't even call vets to let you know your doctor called in sick. You make an hour journey and they tell too bad. If a doctor in private practice did that to me I would never go back.

John

IMHO bad is bad. i don't think i get treated any better or worse than the next guy, for the most part it's always an ordeal, a struggle, frustrating, madning, infuriating, and so bogged down by ? by something; the VA itself which has these "rules" that are sometimes called laws that take away the rights that we took an oath to protect. Could it be worse? Probably, but that shouldn't mean it's acceptable.

You have to wonder how and why in the world nothing has even been done to change this system?

One morning i was walking down a crowded hall way at the VA in West Palm Beach Fl. Suddenly i felt like i was tripping...i see a parade of people marching by many with bags of drugs in their hand, some with little brown paper bags with a giant lable stapled across the top and a fair amount of people with shopping bad with a giant lable stapled across the top. One stream of people slowly fell into the line where they picked up the drug. i seemed like a scene from a Filini movie; the absurdity of it all. If there was any other place in this country or heck in any country we would send in the task force to shut them down because it couldn't be more clear that this place was peddling drugs and everyone there knew that when they left the building they would have their "meds".

Everyone there whether they are being served or serving are progamed to follow the rules.

[john999]

Bob

I went along for about a year getting my meds via mail on time, and then I made the awful mistake of complaining about some of the side effects. This launched an ordeal with the pain clinic. Their first reaction was to just cut me off my pain meds. I raised hell about that, and they threw me back to my PCP. My PCP now writes my script every month and I have to make a trip to the VAMC to get the pills. I want back on the opiate program so I can get this stuff mailed to me via certified mail, but because the VA said I was getting too much percoset I can't get back on the opiate program for five months while they continue to adjust my meds. Every time they adjust the meds they kick me back five months to wait to get on the opiate program again. It has been one year since I complained. My VAMC is filled with snowbirds so it is so crowded parking is out of the question. I have to take a shuttle bus to get to the hospital. There were so many vets waiting for the bus I could just squeeze on along with employees. I have called my congressman to complain about this mess and I got a letter back saying that if I wanted help with my claim I needed to fill out a form? Now they tell us thousands more OIF/OEF vets will be flooding into the system. I give up! Who is going to fix this mess?

[Commander Bob]

Bob

crowded parking is out of the question. I have to take a shuttle bus to get to the hospital.

Good Morning john999, I hope you find pain relief soon. Something that works for you. I know that you and I and many of us, live with pain, that would send the civilians screaming in the streets. The pain clinic sounds like a real pain. You also mentioned parking. Parking seems to be a problem at many VAMCs. I feel like I won the lottery when I find a parking spot at the VA. Is this system wide????