Sick veteran battles bureaucracy back home

[MORTARDUDE]

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/223/...reaucraP.shtml


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welcome to hell.....bureaucratic hell that is...red tape...delays...

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there is quote here I do not understand...


"VA undersecretary for health Robert Roswell said everyone who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom is entitled to two years of VA health care benefits. And the benefits are available to those wounded in combat as well as those injured in accidents or who suffer illnesses." ?????

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Sick veteran battles bureaucracy back home
By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press, 8/11/2003 16:12

WASHINGTON (AP) After Army Sgt. Vannessa Turner survived a still-unknown illness doctors feared would kill her, she thought her toughest battle was over.

But since a military flight brought Turner home she says she's had to fight to get medical treatment and can't even get personal items returned.

The homefront, she's finding, can be as daunting as the front lines in Iraq.

''It's easier to stay a soldier and be in harm's way than to come home and get care,'' said Turner, her quiet voice quaking with emotion.

Arriving at her mother's home in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood last month after hospital stays in Germany and Washington, the six-year Army veteran says she was told that despite severe nerve damage in her right leg she'd have to wait until mid-October to see a doctor at the local Veterans Affairs hospital.

She sought help from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and eventually got an appointment scheduled this week, but the experience was frustrating for Turner and her family. They look at the hero's welcome given to former prisoner of war Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who was in one of Turner's rehabilitation sessions, and see a double standard.

''Some people are getting scholarships, my sister can't get a doctor's appointment,'' said her sister Nicole. ''To me, they threw her away like a piece of trash. She served her country and now nothing is being done for her.''

Veterans' advocates said Turner's frustration is not unusual. More than 110,000 veterans are waiting six months or more for their initial visit with a VA doctor or to see a specialist, the VA acknowledges.

''Is this what our returning heroes from Afghanistan and Iraq can expect from their elected officials as they seek health care for their painful injuries sustained in the line of duty?'' Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander Ray Sisk said.

VA undersecretary for health Robert Roswell said everyone who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom is entitled to two years of VA health care benefits. And the benefits are available to those wounded in combat as well as those injured in accidents or who suffer illnesses.

He blamed Turner's treatment on errors at the VA's West Roxbury facility. Officials there failed to recognize her as a newly released veteran needing immediate care.

''We made an admitted mistake. But it was caught,'' Roswell said, adding that changes are being made to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Turner's ordeal started in Camp Balad, 42 miles north of Baghdad. One of the more than 150,000 American soldiers dodging bullets and toiling in the searing Iraqi heat, Turner was suffering from severe mosquito bites when she collapsed on May 18.

The next thing she knew medics were giving her shots, cutting off her clothes and rushing her to the hospital. As they wheeled the gurney down the hall, the 40-year-old Army cook could hear the doctor's terrifying words: ''She's not going to make it.''

''I tried to move my hand, I wanted to signal them I was trying to say, 'Hey, I'm alive, don't let me die.' But I couldn't move. I couldn't talk,'' Turner said.

Doctors still aren't sure what caused her illness, though they suspect it could have been a reaction to the ointment she used on the mosquito bites.

Turner's recovery presented a new set of problems for her family. Because of her severe condition, the military quickly classified her as medically retired so her 15-year-old daughter Brittany could get increased benefits.

But because she no longer was an active member of the military, the Pentagon couldn't transport her family to her bedside in Landstuhl, Germany, where Turner had been airlifted for treatment.

''They told me she had no heartbeat, that she wasn't breathing,'' said Turner's mother, Beverly. ''They said she had 36 to 72 hours to live.''

Turner's family couldn't afford airline tickets so they turned to Kennedy and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., for help. Through their offices family members got flights to Germany courtesy of the United Service Organizations, and they received lodging and food from the Fisher House Foundation, which provides housing for military families.

Turner's fitness aided her recovery. An avid weightlifter, she began to slowly improve and by the end of May was flown to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where she stayed for about six weeks before going to her mother's home.

For Turner, the work to rehabilitate the damaged nerves in her leg is compounded by confusion over her benefits, her quest for a doctor, and the Pentagon's initial assertions that she go back to Germany herself to get her belongings.

Turner is hesitant about the future. A year from now she'll go before a military board to see if she should be retired permanently or if she's well enough to be reinstated.

''Half my brain says yes, half my brain says no,'' she said. ''But, ma'am, I'm a soldier. I love being a soldier. This is what I do.''

[Jerry D]

thats absurd telling a troop they themselves have to go to Germany to get their belongings..... where is TMO where is the IG for this troop? What happened to all soldiers /sailors/ airmen/ Marines/ Coast Guard members and their belongings being shipped home at Government expense after being honorably discharged from service whether medically are completed time in service? Then their is her VA case to point at! whomever at the VA's West Roxbury facility who enrolled her made some big mistakes and failed to recognize her as a newly released veteran needing immediate care. thats appalling to me I also agree the country went ga-ga when Jesica was brought home but, they forget about all the rest of the POW's and injured troops brought home I hope she recovers and can be reinstated if that is her wish.god bless her and her kid

[Mom]

And I thought I had problems! Can't get anyone to notice death threats aimed at me. Told to take my pills (which I'm not on of course since some of the VA people have IQ's higher then a rock) for my belief someone is out to harm me....personally I figure they have some nutty idea pills deflect bullets....pardon me if I don't test em....