SLEDGE

Well, Where is the browse button? sledge

Without sending me back to school, I graduated college in 1980, can somebody help me to understand how to post images on the hadit forum? sledge

Travel pay, just one of my VA pet peeves. We used to have the deductible and another deduction of the first 100 miles. My mileage was 130 something miles. Drop the first 100 and add the standard deductible and what do you have left? It was less than 7 bucks. Now they claim that I should be going to another facility and I get nothing over what I would get by going to the other facility. I have a bad habit of not going where I perceive that I am not welcome. So, I'm not going to either place anymore. Put that in the next VA tv commercial. sledge

You will get wired up to a machine. Do your normal nighttime stuff before you lay down. The amount of time that it takes to be diagnosed varies. I was put on the c-pap after 30 minutes of sleep. The examiner thought I was gonna die. The test lasted 6 hours, starting at 11 at night. After 5 hours on the c-pap I knew we had hit a home-run. They are not interested in providing you with a full night's rest. Your sole purpose for being there is to be diagnosed, or not. There isn't anything to worry about concerning the test. sledge

The VA already has enough rules and regulations to process claims with accuracy and speed. They will pick out a couple of easy claims that won't cost them very much money and then use those few claims to beat their own drum. Somebody prove me wrong please. sledge

What is the deal on MO property taxes?? I'm a Nam vet. sledge

"Now the VA has to pay for emergency treatment or at least the part that insurance companies dont cover." Not so, Oh Learned One. “With this new law, VA will be positioned to help veterans who are enrolled in VA care whose insurance does not cover the full cost of emergency treatment.” Please re-examine the wording. ie. "VA will be positioned to help" How does the word 'positioned' force the VA to do something? This is the same, if not worse, than 'The Secretary May'. Plus, "will enable" "the bill allows" "The Congressional Budget Office estimates" "to expand veteran eligibility" This is just another way to pad the payroll. For us it means nothing. Every time the government passes a new, DO NOTHING, piece of DVA legislation it just helps to complicate the rules and regs without giving up anything to veterans. The VA lackies will have to be educated in the new crap and that means there are less lackies available to read our stuff. I am sorely not impressed by this well touted signing. When you see something that says "the VA will" or "the VA is required by this" or "the VA must" I might pay attention. False hope is a lie, period. sledge

I was allowed a small amount of time to air my problems, very lately, and the person who was conducting the interview was writing longhand the whole time. Probably collecting statistical data. She could tell that I was a little put out by the bad attitudes of some of the hired help. I'll probably lose something as the result of the interview. They could send me on another 4 hour drive to a C&P with no travel pay like the last time. This time I have a lawyer. sledge

"When you meet with the provider (Dr., NP, or PA they assign to you), tell them your situation and ask for them to prescribe those meds through the VA system. They will." Not on my planet. "I recently transferred all my meds to the VA because my private ins. changed. I had no problems I just told my PCP and he made the change." The VA bills my private insurance. "I forgot to add that they will also supply NON-service connected meds to you at no cost." Provided that the VA first recognizes that you have a medical condition that needs to be treated. "Ot if you want VA health care, you're covered for ANY medical or mental treatments at any VA facility." No you are not. "Especially when it's all free." Now that's really BS. sledge

"Wow! 600mg, no wonders you were drooling! I always heard the maximum daily dosage shouldn't exceed 450mg. But that was just one vet to another though, so I can't say how true it is. (IMG:http://www.hadit.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) Buprpion seems to work fine for some and others have problems with it. I guess it depends on the individual. What meds are you taking now and are they working for you?" I'm in the process of switching to the private sector right now. Commenting on what is working while in transition would be meaningless. Back in August I had a C&P at the facility that tried to have me locked up in 1994. Since then I have found that the VA facility personnel, where I normally seek medical help, have developed an attitude and are aggressively doing whatever they can to run me off altogether. They have a 'list' of clients who 'will not get' certain drugs or treatment, or travel pay. My VA shrink informed me that I had made the list in November. sledge

Between the memory problems and drooling I began to wonder if taking that stuff was doing me any good. I was taking the prescribed 600 mg per day. After getting off of it I can remember if I'm right or left handed and where our bathroom is. sledge

My lawyer says "do not work" if you are I.U. Knowing how and what the VA can and will do at the drop of a hat, earning a recorded salary will set off alarms in the VA and it could take 20 years to clean up the mess that some VA jerk made of your benefits in order to make his 'bonus' larger or next promotion faster. My last employment earned me fifteen bucks a week. Seven orthopedic operations later and I still don't work at all. However, the VA jerks are still hounding me. In 2009 I had another C&P at a distant VA facility. Travel pay is not supposed to be touched when you show up for the C&P exam. In other words, you get all of the travel pay that the trip generated. Not so my curious friends. How about half or less? Before the trip my favorite lawyer, my brother, told me to keep my abusive mouth shut and smile a lot. Yup, I smiled when they chopped the travel pay and said nothing. Any complaints from me could land me in the VA slammer like they tried to do in 1994. To bring this to a close, if you work at all while receiving I.U., the VA jerks can decide to mess with your benefits and you can't stop them. Get paid in cash only. Greenbacks, no checks or any listings in the books by the employer that 'may' be traced back to you. I could probably get up to around five bucks a week now if I take enough pain killers, which the VA will not prescribe for me. Did you notice that I spelled the numbers? It's kinda hart to forge bigger numbers in this posting, by the VA net watchers. There are to many uncertainties when you are I.U.. COVER YER ASS! sledge

Back to the clonidine issue. I told him AGAIN that certain medications shut down my digestive tract, all of it. Can't eat, can't poop and everything hurts worse than before. He increased the dosage of the offending medication again, 50 percent more. He can say I'm taking that stuff and let the stats show another satisfied customer. But, I'm not. And he just got fired for not listening to the patient, me...... This dude can push pills at the VA until hell freezes over and never see me darkening his door again. Yup, I have found another upwardly mobile VA lackey. I happened to see his notes from last month. NOTHING about my medications issues. Instead, I was described in a 4 hundred word paragraph. Posture, facial expressions, eye contact and I'm sure you folks know the rest. He is collecting data for the stats jerks and pretending to listen to the patient. When National Health Care gets signed into law 'That Dude' is going to fit in perfectly. Beam me up Scotty, sledge

My in-service medical records show a back injury in Oct, 1970. There are no other medical records of any other back or spinal injuries, of any kind, in my case, zero. So, somebodies magic keyboard had to cure the 10-70 back injury, several decades after the fact, so the immediate claim could die from lack of evidence. The medical file documents that illustrate the treatment of the back injury have vanished from my file. (Within the VA files) sledge

After they (The VA) cured my chronic low back pain with the magic keyboard I consulted with a top spinal specialist in the private sector. The VA diagnosis was minor arthritic changes, normal for someone my age. The private doctor knows about how the VA works. Her diagnosis is moderately severe spinal stenosis and complicated by osteo arthritic narrowing of the root nerve spaces. Private doctors like to explain things to me while they go over the MRI results. I'll be darned, she also says I have evidence of a compression fracture in my distant past. 1970 to be accurate. The VA cured that one too, just recently. Well folks, if the head of the neuro department is practicing political medicine, and that has to be the reason he suddenly got stupid, they ain't gonna touch my spine. My next shrink appointment is next week. The head of that department wants me to go somewhere else. I think I will. sledge

Welcome to my world. sledge

Like the vet said, our compensation is in no way connected to other disabled vets future comp, or the lack thereof. The Secretary is supposed to 'ask for more money' if and when more money is needed to complete the mission of the VA's charter. Our impact on future compensation is zero, does not exist. The starting place for bitchin about the 'budget' is the Secretary. Doing whatever it takes to stay within the budget is technically a crime. Studying the education level of claimants is a do nothing job, I hope somebody got paid a lot because it reads like a political speech, not an accurate tabulation of anything important. Like I suggested before, the first stumbling block is the word BUDGET. Technically, there is NO BUDGET. Congress is obligated to increase funding to the VA whenever the Secretary makes a request for more bucks. It's the law. The Secretary simply does not CARE to ask for more money. Anybody who suggests that any veteran can steal from the medical care or comp of a future vet is a politician stumping on the campaign trail or stupid. Well, terribly misinformed or simply ignorant. The Secretary is the only person who CAN effect the so-called budget. George Washington and Lincoln never implied that the government should limit the funding to the VA. SO, when the Secretary tells the congress that enough money is already available, and the current budget is adequate, the Secretary is guilty of lying to the congress. I believe that would be Contempt of Congress. AND, I'm not the only person with a college education that 'is unemployable' because of PTSD. sledge

" I have tried all kinds of unusual wildlife, from bear to moose, however I have never tried wild hog, Do wild hogs taste gamey? Keep your powder dry." I can't really answer that question. My in-laws eat the wild variety often and have served it to us. However, I have heard rumors that the female hog tastes better than a male. That is supposed to be a hormone thing. Wild hogs travel in fairly big groups. If you can pick your shot, go for a sow. sledge

Let's call it a bad joke. My intention is simply to blow off steam by hunting wild pigs. You have to go hunting with a dependable weapon because a wounded hog might charge. A dirty gun is not a good hunting partner. The second shot had better fire because nobody goes boar hunting with a funny looking club. I don't hurt people or threaten anyone with a firearm unless somebody points one at me or my family. One of my kids has a husband that knows how to bait an area with cheap corn and the hogs are considered a nuisance, not game animals. No season or limit on wild hogs. Ham is ham and bacon is still bacon, I like pork chops. Except for the dental clinic I'm done with the VA jerks. The gal behind the glass at the travel pay window gave me attitude about the fact that 'I have a choice' and would not be getting travel pay because 'I have a choice'. Well, when I began my quest to get better I had 'no other choice' than the place that is kicking me out. AND, this is not the first time a non-doctor at a VA medical facility has made medical decisions that affect my mental and/or physical state, this time it's both. I'm gone. sledge

Last week, The management has decided that I should be on their list of drug seekers and restrict my medications, which is happening. My doctor does not agree with management in this case and has agreed to write prescriptions that I can get filled outside of the VA. Management has also decided that I should not be seen where I think I can trust somebody. I'm not talking about a hangnail or bad ankles. I'm disabled by PTSD. I'm supposed to start all over again at another facility with a bunch of strangers. This move is calculated to benefit the new facility, not me, and they have told me that 3 times. You have lost the travel pay, go away. The new place does not even have a travel pay office. I'm going to go back to 'screw the VA' because I am not welcome there anymore, as if I ever was welcome there. When the meds run out I'll be sleep deprived and psychotic again. I think I need to clean my guns. sledge

Yesterday I saw one of my VA doctors for a medication check. I told him that clonidine makes me sick. Nausea, complete lack of appetite and ten days without pinching a loaf. Restless legs and lots of uncontrolled pain equals lousy sleep. He said that he prescribed the medication to help me to stop smoking. Since I'm still smoking he increased the dosage. sledge

This reminds me of the Topeka group that was disrupting the funerals of members who died in the current war. That group made a living for many years suing people and settling out of court. The Father of a deceased Irag casualty took them to court and they lost everything. The judge gave all of their assets, property, cash and holdings to the winner of the suit. If there is any justice in this world, Cooper will suffer a similar fate. sledge

Now I'm trying clonidine hlc. Have any of you folks built up any experience with this one? sledge

Back up and take a deep breath. This is just another bout of smoke and mirrors. Prestidigitation. Concentrate on the basic issues like always, not on these pie-in-the-sky rumors. The last time the VA made me an appointment at a large facility, three and a half hours away, I received the travel pay for the distance to the nearest CLINIC. The clinic is about 48 miles away, the hospital was over 250. The facility that I normally go to is 68 miles away. The travel office there has just informed me that I will receive travel pay to the clinic that is closer and therefore less gas money. 48 miles worth instead of the actual 68. Do you folks really believe in this quality of life stuff? They are systematically reducing the quality of life right now by screwing us out of travel pay. Travel pay that was recently increased and still behind everybody else. There are many other examples but, I think I made my point. sledge

Comrades, They keep telling me to take atenolol for my high blood pressure. They keep telling because the side effects ruin my quality of live, or what's left of it and that encourages me to stop taking it. Dizziness, nausea, eyesight blurring/fluctuations, G.I. tract bloating with constipation and a lack of appetite. I think I might be having a contraindication going on here. I'm taking several other drugs for PTSD, depression, arthritis, too much blood fat, pain, fibromyalgia and also consuming a full size aspirin. Any suggestions other than doctor death? sledge