New Problem For Me....has Anybody Had

[halos2]

carlie, sorry to hear of this tragedy in your life, and the passing of your dad.

Stretch you need to heed to the warnings of others here. My husband had one uncle die when his ruptured...gone in minutes! His other uncle was 1 block away from the hosp and his ruptured on route there well he had emergency surgery and survived but needed to go to the nursing home as he also suffered a stroke...nothing to wait around with. Worry/stress/over exertion/lifting not good. The folks here give good advice. BTW his uncles were in their late 50's. This was less than 20 yrs ago.

Stretch,

I do not write this to scare or upset you.

This is just FYI as the only information I have to share.

My Dad was diagnoised with an AAA when he was about 65

it measured 3.5 and he had it checked at least once a year.

He had also undergone 3 hernia surgeries and none were very successful.

He owned a Condo building on Indian Rocks Beach and a 12

unit Mom & Pop motel on the intercoastal.

So Dad was always a real busy man.

He had a touch of COPD but not bad at all.

By the time he reashed 72 the AAA had grown just a bit

to a 4.0 and the VA doctors told him he should go ahead and have the

surgery or he just might fall over dead with no further warning.

Dad said NO - he would still wait awhile.

Dad got to 78 years old - he called me up and said babydoll

I went to my doctor and had some tests today. The doctor

says my Aneuerysm measures 5.0 now and that I'd better have

that surgery.

Now babydoll, I know you can find out just about anything

on that computer so how about looking into it for me.

I said sure Dad - I'll call you tomorrow around 2:00pm

and we said good-night.

Well I called him at noon and got no answer, called him later,

no answer, called him 6:oo pm - no answer.

I got in my car and drove over 50 miles to his house - no answer.

The next day his wife called me and said your Daddy's in the hospital

and he had that surgery.

I said well why did he do that before we talked more about it.

His dip-shit wife said, well I was worried about

him so I told him let's not put it off, lets go on today

and see if that doctor will get you in for the surgery.

Well he stayed in that hospital about three weeks.

I picked him up from the hospital and drove him home while his wife

followed us.

He told me babydoll, this is bad -

I should have waited more, I'm dying.

I told him Dad you just went thru alot and you've got to recover.

Over the next month - I drove to his house,

(mind you, his wife absolutely hated me being there - but

after all the years of hardly no relationship with Dad - it was me

he called to take him to the doctor's and pharmacy).

The last time i saw him alive we had gone to the doctor on a Thursday.

When we left he said he would like to eat a piece of fish

so of all places, because it was on the way back to his house

we stopped at a Steak and Shake.

Dad got a fish sandwich and didn't eat any of the bread and

about half of the fish.

This was the first time I had sat and eaten anything with my Dad

in at least 20 years.

When his wife went to the bathroom he told me again he was dying.

His wifes daughter called me Sunday morning and said Carla,

I'm sorry but you Daddy died yesterday.

I said what happened - why didn't anybody call me.

She told me that Saturday morning he got up to go pee

and blood just came flowing out of his mouth and he fell over dead.

At the funeral his wife would not even allow my younger sister and I to

put our baby picture in the coffin with him - it was the only photo we

had of being with Daddy befor he and Mom divorced.

On his desk underneath clear glass,in his office

he had several photos of us when we were young.

Well I just hooked my arm into my sister's and we went back up

to the casket.

Imagine my surprise when I looked down again at the yellow flowers in

his hands - placed inside of the flowers were photos of his wifes

three grandchildren.

I lifted up one side of Daddy's suit jacket and put our picture

face down over his heart.

I sure wish Dad had not let the doctor scare him so quick.

I sure wish my Dad would not have listened so much to his

Edith Bunker wife.

I sure wish that since he had called me for help he would

have had the backbone to stand up to his stupid wife.

Between he and I - we would have researched that surgery

up one side and down the other, prior to the first cut being made.

ALSO - Stretch - You need a vascular surgeon to do this

not a cardiologist. jbasser concurs with me on this.

Stretch - you MUST do your research please.

carlie.

[Stretch]

This just isn't right, i.e., what the VA has done in disclosing to me a medical problem. This could be an ongoing policy of circumventing proventive medicine and corrective surgery. AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm)..(AKA "The Widow Maker").

I had a VA sonigram today for my AAA. Yep, AAA is over 4.cm. I called my nurse for another problem. She called back and talked to me about my AAA. She told me that the VA probably would start monitoring yearly, and that when the AAA got to 5-6 the VA would probably operate.

I have done a little research on AAA, below is an excerpt from Medscape. It completely contradicts what my nurse told me. This AAA has been at around 4.cm for the last 5 years and I did not have a mention of it prior to them telling me about 2 weeks ago. I think the only reason that the VA told me was because another outside doctor requested my MRI's and X rays from the VA, and the VA knew that they would get caught. I have been suffering from every symptom of this AAA for the last 10 years (documented).

I also have COPD, which puts me at higher risk for rupture. AAA's are 3.5 times greater in white males, that any other population group.

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/463354-overview

Indications

http://' target="_blank">Even patients who do not have symptoms from their abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) require surgical intervention because the result of medical management in this population is a mortality rate of 100% over time due to rupture. In addition, these patients have a high likelihood of limb loss from peripheral embolization.

Monitor patients with AAAs smaller than 4 cm in diameter with ultrasound every 6 months, and offer surgical intervention if the aneurysm expands or causes symptoms. In patients with AAAs of 4-5 cm in diameter, elective repair may be of benefit if they are young, have a low operative risk, and have a good life expectancy. Additionally, AAAs in women have been shown to rupture at smaller diameters in comparison with men; therefore, a threshold of 4.5 cm for elective repair has been advocated in this patient population. Patients with AAAs of 5-6 cm in diameter may benefit from repair, especially if they have other contributing factors for rupture, including hypertension, continued smoking, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). For patients at higher risk, the threshold for repair may be a diameter of 6-7 cm, depending on their condition. At this size, the risk of rupture increases with age. These sizes apply to males of average height (170 cm).

[Pete53]

Stretch

I sincerely hope that you have the resources to get this fixed outside the VA system.

Pete

[Berta]

This is a jury award for non VA malpractice on this same condition:

http://nwitimes.com/news/local/article_3a5...d72926ea6b.html 4.4 million

Your situation here is sounding more and more like a cover up Stretch.BVut that award does not mean every case like this is malpractice.

I feel you should get a real doctor to

1.check on this medical condition to see what is best way to deal with it and treat you-

and then 2.get the real doctor to opine if this was malpractice,

and then get a lawyer-and sue them if it was.

You could file the SF 95 yourself for a tort claim.It sounds like you have already done some leg work there.

There are malpractices cases on the net for this type of problem but only a real doctor can determine if in fact malpractrice occured here.And to what extent-

as malpractice depends on a negative physical result directly due to the malpractice.

Would VA docs try to cover something medically wrong up ? YOU BET!

That is why I just got a AO death award for my dead husband based on medical evidence.

Which the VA tried to cover up and almost succeeded.

It is impossible for us to determine if you have basis for action under FTCA here- but the best thing you can do is get a real doctor, with experience in this field, to assess your situation and recommend the best treatment you can get.

Edited December 2, 2009 by Berta

[Stretch]

Well, the Sonogram people have said that my AAA is 3.9. I guess it is shrinking since my doctors report from my MRI. In a couple more weeks it should go back to normal. Guess they can say about anything they want.

I will wait till after 12/12 to get second opinion as I have neuro on 12/11.

Pete, yes I have SSD with A and B, but have never used it. Also thinking about med gap.

Berta, I think you are right...

[Pete53]

Stretch December is the month to sign up for Medicare Advantage Plan and when you are accepted you will be good to go if you can hold out till January.

Good Luck