Veteran takes his own life in VA parking lot
Bobo sends us a link to the New York Times that reports on the sad end of Peter A. Kaisen, of Islip a 76-year-old veteran in the parking lot of the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Long Island, New York;
[T]wo people connected to the hospital who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss his death said that he had been frustrated that he was unable to see an emergency-room physician for reasons related to his mental health. “He went to the E.R. and was denied service,” one of the people, who currently works at the hospital, said. “And then he went to his car and shot himself.”
The worker questioned why Mr. Kaisen had not been referred to the hospital’s Building 64, its mental health center. The staff member said that while there was normally no psychologist at the ready in the E.R., one was always on call, and that the mental health building was open “24/7.”
“Someone dropped the ball,” the worker said. “They should not have turned him away.”
Hindsight is 20/20. Personally, I wouldn’t give the VA the break they get when veterans kills themselves. Like I’ve said, generally, I get treated well by the medical staff at the VA, however, the gatekeepers, the bureaucrats, are a huge pain in the ass, especially when you’re in need.
Category: Veterans' Affairs Department
There has to be more to this story.
I’ve been using the Northport VA for years as well as the incredibly good services at the MHC Bldg. 64. Although, I must admit that I have never needed the emergency room for any medical, or other reasons.
I’ll be going over there next week and will listen for any scuttlebutt.
There’s also a building controversy for the anti-depressant meds being handed out by the VA in general. Many are pointing to these meds as a reason for the increase in Veteran suicide.
Yep. That was my immediate reaction. He drove to the VA Hospital with a loaded weapon and used it on himself. Many questions. I can speculate but won’t.
My reply was meant for the first line in your first comment, LiRight.
“Many are pointing to these meds as a reason for the increase in Veteran suicide.”
Because many choose not to look at the statistical data that proves those meds prevent suicide much more often than a paradoxical reaction to them contributes to it.
It is true, also, that some people have an adverse reaction to prescribed medications. That is something that no one seems to want to address. Instead, it’s ‘here, take this, come back and see me in 6 months’.
Part of aging may involved what appears to be depression but is not. It may simply be nothing more than plain old weariness, boredom from having nothing important to do, and lack of social contact with other people.
Why the hell else do you dickwads think I come here? Because you’re such a bunch of hotties? (snerk!)
I occasionally have to deal with my sister’s tears over her choice of housing, an oversized Federalist revival with a crapazoid furnace that she should never have bought in the first place, but just had to have. I have repeatedly urged her to sell it ASAP, but she is as stubborn as a Missouri mule about it, and it’s not because she can’t get more suitable housing or there’s no market. It’s because she’s got stuff in her head. And I get to listen to it. Giiiiicccck!
Elder people tend to isolate themselves without realizing it. That’s part of the problem and if you think it won’t happen to you, you have some serious rocks in your head.
It’s the reason I have cats and live in a small, quiet neighborhood. SOCIAL CONTACT, EVEN IF IT’S ONLY A MEWLING CAT – makes all the difference in the world. That, and having something to do besides watch TV and eat boring meals – you get the drift.
“It is true, also, that some people have an adverse reaction to prescribed medications.”
The paradoxical reaction to antidepressants is rare and something anyone prescribing them needs to look out for. No one should ever say come back if it gets worse or doesn’t get better in that situation. If they do they should lose their license at the very least.
The spike in teen suicides was seen, because parents were reading the BS on the internet that antidepressants were going to cause suicide so they opted out….great idea..thanks internet.
Funny how we have plenty of money for free health care for illegals and muslim “refugees”
And to give Iran billions.
And don’t forget the Social Security COLA for 2017. The most recent articles I have seen suggest a 0.2% increase, which translates to a massive $2 for each $1000 currently received. Also, the Medicare premium increase is thought to be on the order of 20% or more. Remember, these are tentative values and not nailed down. The end results may be different. Let’s hope so. But, yeah, there is NEVER talk of reducing free stuff. I know, soap box, blah, blah, blah. This is my facial expression when I get pissed.
Don’t forget the millions of non-working legal parasites in the system as well. An ever increasing number of people who are able bodied have just “stopped looking” for work. Because they know there is a safety net that will care for them.
I’ve said it a great many times and will probably say it a great many more times. There’s zero political fallout from fucking with a voting block that becomes ever smaller, especially when that voting block is about 1% or less of the population at any given time.
We the people pay an awful lot of lip service to veterans and their concerns but we don’t pay an awful lot of money out to back that up. Mostly because veterans and their votes matter less and less as a voting block because so few are entering the military. Not that you can blame them for staying away, every time you turn around the military finds some way to fuck the troops and when you get out they fuck you over at the VA or fuck you over on your health care costs…in general they just fuck you over for a good long time. I can’t imagine why 99% of the population isn’t interested in that deal.
The VA ER staff constantly turn people away. It is disgusting. I was turned away due to issues of choking because I was not actually choking at the time but seemed to choke or nearly choke almost every meal. I finally ended up in a non VA emergency room due to choking and they discovered a rare condition due to life threatening allergies to several foods.
Even when it was diagnosed through biopsy I reported back to the VA and told them it was urgent that I see a doctor specializing in dealing with the condition and the VA said “you have been complaining about choking for two years so it can’t be that urgent”.
“you have been complaining about choking for two years so it can’t be that urgent”.
That person at the very least should have been reported by name to the director of clinical services.
Lostcause: Sounds as if you possibly had repeated anaphylaxis. You had an allergy to whatever, causing difficulty getting oxygen into the lungs. It is most often associated with nut allergies, insect stings, etc. TV commercials of late advocate carrying an EpiPen which should be quickly administered. I believe they typically come in a double pack. This can easily be a life-threatening emergency. BTW, the manufacturer of one of the EpiPens was recently/is currently in hot water due to tremendous price increases for their product. You should have been worked up by an allergist and possibly an ENT guy. As noted, it is sometimes the clerical staff making the call when veterans present for care. I’m NOT saying that is what happened in this instance. I don’t have a clue. Clerical staff at the VA should rarely, if ever, be making such calls. Yet, we have spent $20M on ‘artwork’ which probably could have been purchased at Goodwill stores around the country for less than $25000 and change. Recently exposed was the purchase of a massive rock for one VA; the Denver (?) facility is a gazillion $ over budget with no end in sight; 30 +/- vehicles are missing from the LA VA facilities; honchos report to work when they feel like it, but they make up for reporting late by leaving early (after an extended lunch period); the new guy, McDonald, has been less of a savior than promised; books are cooked at will but we are told that doing so what not intentional; and the list goes on. I know, preaching to the choir. I am genuinely pissed at what takes place within this system, which I consider to be deeply flawed. The care, once past the ‘Great Wall of Apathy’ and often after an extended wait, I consider to be very good, at least as good, in my case, as that received from civilian health care facilities. A decision needs to be made as to which is more important: job security for those entrenched within the VA system or the well being of veterans. I’m thinking the… Read more »
Lostcause: Good to hear your condition was finally diagnosed and hopefully there will be smooth sailing for you.
I’d be really interested in knowing what foods were causing the reaction. I’m going out on a limb here and take some guesses.
I’m thinking a reaction to 1) seafood 2) bread (wheat/flour) 3) dairy product(s).
Please let me know. Things such as this pique my interest. Let me know if you would.
As I mentioned elsewhere, you are lucky. At a minimum, if your condition was stabilized at the time you presented to the ER, and you were in no distress (I’m assuming this is the case), you should have been consulted ASAP to an allergist and ENT guy. Looks as if you got the ol’ heave ho.
Anyway, what were your allergies?
For my son, it is pecans.
My allergens are wheat, soy, and corn. Which is why I was going though a response every meal since I was eating allergens at every meal and had no idea since I had never been allergic to anything before. . I cary an epipen now because the response includes breathing difficulties.
I also had a small tumor in in my esophagus which was contributing to the choking.
It was bizarre, I have some sort of multiple auto-immune syndrome. Including Hashimotos disease and RA.
It all came on over the last several years
The whole time the VA and the active duty doctors treated me like 2-17 Air Cav is; that it was all in my head since I would seem fine when I would report the symptoms and the symptoms were so vague and all over the place; difficulty swallowing/choking, fatigue, coughing, vomiting, stomach pain, pain in joints of hands, feet, wrists, and shoulders etc.
Anyway, yeah things have become much better now that I am being treated semi-effectively. Doctors really don’t know how to completely treat it all but at least recognize it is real and what they are doing is working fairly well.
The auto-immune “soup of symptoms”. Ouch.
Most of the treatments can be bad for the liver. Keep an eye on it with labs and -good- docs who know the conditin and treatments. I have a relative on the transplant list for a liver, due to complications from Auto-immune treatments. Her liver is super effective in purging stuff, thus needed higer dosages, thus trashed. Ouch.
In your case, look for additional low grade allergens or irritants. Mold or chemicals in the home. (Laundry detergent, for example.) Another low-grade food allergy. Chronic exposure to sick people. Pets.
-if- yours is from a contaminent, you can find it and get rid of it or get away from it. Good luck.
Shot inthe dark – had the Flu right before the auto-immune flared?
Gluten-free foods are available everywhere now. Learn to cook for yourself, that way you can control the ingredients. Gluten allergy is pretty damned serious stuff. There are gluten-free cookbooks everywhere now.
Get meat (poultry, beef, whatever), fresh fruits and vegs that are certified organic, and if possible, NON-GMO.
Read the can and package labels.
Get a dietitian at the VA to work with you. Yes, they do have them.
Almost forgot: The Green Kitchen Handbook by Annie Berthold Bond is a great guide for people with allergies to the modern world. I have a copy.
Still available, too.
https://www.amazon.com/Green-Kitchen-Handbook-References-Transforming/dp/0060951869
Ban AR-15s!
Black Guns Matter
(? Gallows Humor ?)
“Someone dropped the ball,” the worker said. “They should not have turned him away.”
And that my friends is the sum and substance of our VA state of affairs.
“Some One” drops the ball, but “No One” gets fired.
This is a shame while we lived in Nevada
In 2013 they had two vets take theirs lives in the parking lot of a brand new VA Hospital
Things like this go on while B. Husein 0bama & Company hand out all they can as fast as they can to incoming muzzies, illegal aliens and welfare flunkies.
My apologies if this seems too voyeuristic. Yesterday, across the street from the commercial space that I rent, a man was allegedly armed and alone in his apartment threatening suicide. The police rolled out in about 35 Patrol Vehicles, a SWAT van, and a mobile Incident Command Center. Later, the Salvation Army canteen on Wheels showed up to. A pretty major Surface Street was blocked off in both directions for several hours because of this alleged suicide threat. Apparently, after several hours the man left in a body bag. According to his Facebook page and etc., he was a retired USN LCDR and SEAL. Here is his final post on Facebook. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1221743414526241&substory_index=0&id=213129388720987
No idea if his vet status is legit. If so. RIP Sir.
RIP, shipmate.
Don’t expect this to get better any time soon. The facility’s director should be blamed for these things, but it will not happen. Apologies all around, and back to business as usual, depending on where you are.
As others have indicated, it’s not the medical staff. It’s the clerks. I feel fortunate that the VA I can go to has walk-in clinics and good people. I’d like to think this is NOT the exception, but I know better.
There’s a lot we don’t actually know about this. Can’t ask the patient, because of the obvious. If I was the administrator I would want to look at the logs and other paperwork as well as interview the leadership. Also, find out if the present or on-call psych was notified and if that person ditched the patient without seeing him.
This is potentially fukkered up in so many ways its infuriating. You don’t turn away a patient complaining of mental health problems without following certain protocols, same as if someone has chest pain. There are minimums which should have been applied, and it would be interesting to know exactly what happened and what the patient said to the staff before he left.
I thought that if you showed up in the ER, unless the emergency was something small like a cut that needed a few stitches or a finger that got pinched in the door of a finger-eating Dodge, they were supposed to ask you if you want to see the duty shrink.
Unless I’m mistaken, this is standard for civilian hospitals, especially with battery victims who may or may not need counseling. But what do I know?
There’s no obligation to ask every patient about a desire to see a shrink. There is an obligation under EMTALA to see patients appropriately regardless of ability to pay.
Any provider should be able to determine whether a mental health evaluation is appropriate.
I want to. I can’t. I swore off. Won’t someone step up here and point out the obvious to the genius?
Don’t be a jerk. I did not go into details about my mental health at the time but the circumstances of the VA turning someone away is similar.
It demonstrates a pattern at the VA and it contributes to the suicide rate among vets.
You demonstrate a pattern of stupidity, fuckwad. Don’t take up ER time with your non-emergency issues. You were playing smart, staying away from my comments and me yours. Now, you’ve gone and addressed me directly. I’m rather frustrated presently so maybe it’s time for you to play my punching bag. Oh, and stay away from rusty grenades. You might get tetanus along with your 1001 other imaginary illnesses.
2/17…Please show this man to the door. The RIGHT door that is. You know, the one that says Psychiatric Care. One more year and he will have to change his illness; since we placed a three year limit on any symptom. Might I suggest the Heartbreak of Psoriasis.
Dunno…is there a name for “Seeking Attention By Pissing Off Anyone Who Will listen”? Again, there IS a right door.
It’s his kundiss. It’s been pissed off again.
It was an emergency you shitbag.
Auto-immune stuff can be overwhelming. It is common for sufferers to exhibit depression due to excruciating pain and lack of sleep from it.
This can make one grumpy, and less than clear-headed.
Just for thought….
It’s happened here twice that I know of. No details in the news as to why they were at the VA, but both committed suicide in the parking lot.
What the F**K is wrong with the VA? I’m sure they’ll minimize the details and circumstances to cover their arses, but this stinks like sh*t!
What part of “I need some help” don’t they get? Mental illness is a medical condition and in many cases it’s an emergency!
Having worked with folks that needed help and had difficulty getting admitted, I suggest to them that the push the issue and tell the ER docs they are not “sure what they may do if they are not seen.” I know this may not be the most ethical advice, but when someone is potentially going off the deep end, needs to detox (drugs or alcohol), having issues with prescribed meds, or potentially about to do harm to themselves or others, you have to do something.
I know we have some dedicated folks working at the VA, but as mentioned there are a lot of bureaucrats and overhead that needs to go!
I want to be articulate enough to write something that would convince anyone contemplating self harm to stop and think. I just don’t have the words.
I know this from close personal experience~
The pain might be over for you, but the suffering for you survivors will last the rest of their lives.
another day, another example of the VA at its finest
“I need to see a doctor!”
“Why are you hurt? What is the nature of your emergency?”
“Sometimes, when I eat, I choke.”
“I see.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“I’m sorry (suppresses laughter.) Have you tried chewing your food more thoroughly?”
“Hey, this is serious! And I’m serious!”
“Sir, this is an emergency room. You do not have an emergency. Now, get the hell out.”
Oh, yeah? So you’ve never had an esophageal spasm, huh? Feels like you’re swallowing a bowling ball instead of food.
You ain’t lying. I get them frequently. I’ve never had a heart attack, but I can imagine the pain associated with one. The pain from an esophageal spasm can last, in me, from 30 seconds to a few minutes. Feels as if a brick is making its way down/up my esophagus. The pain can be brought about by one grape. Couple that with the fact I am claustrophobic, and it is extremely painful and scary. I once damaged an MRI unit. Within seconds of being slid in, even before the unit was turned on, I was screaming and beating on the inside trying to escape. I had a brain CT decades earlier and I thought the MRI would be smooth sailing. Not so much. The very thought (such as right now) of being in any way confined can really, really mess me up. And in 1968 I thought of becoming a sub sailor. Wonder if they would have surfaced had I gone batshit crazy at xxxx feet?
Yes, and then you get the hiccups, because you’re an old fart and everything is just plain falling to pieces.
And then you start wondering if pizza is any good when it’s been pulverized in the Cuisinart.
“So you’ve never had an esophageal spasm, huh?”
There are many things that can cause those sign/symptoms. Some are minor. Some are problems referred to the esophagus but not primary esophageal pathology. Some are quite serious.
Medical conditions can remain stable over time and become chronic. Chronic conditions can progress and become acute or even emergent. None of them should be ignored.
Anyone that forgets the basic obligations to a person seeking help doesn’t deserve to work in patient care in any capacity.
Ex-. What I have heard of is knuckleheads who visit the ER for non-emergency issues. Choking is an emergency. Feeling as if one is choking is not. When any ER personnel are dealing with people who are not in need of emergency care, they are unavailable to evaluate and treat those who are in such need. What Commissar did AFTER his ER visit was what he should have done BEFORE he hauled his sorry ass to a VA hospital. One who is truly choking doesn’t have the time left in life to drive to a hospital and visit the ER.
“Choking is an emergency. Feeling as if one is choking is not…”
yeah, well…No.
Actually it can be indicative of a very significant emergency..and is until it’s ruled out, not summarily dismissed without evidence.
Are we talking about choking or coughing? I believe it was the French philosopher Rene Descartes who first observed, “I thing that I am choking; therefore, I am.”
Iam allergic to wheat, soy, and corn. Food would get stuck in my esophagus and would not go down or up and my that would spasm. Fluid could not even pass and when I would try to wash the food down my esophagus would swell up until a regurgitated the fluids pretty violently while the food stayed stuck.
At the same time I was having breathing difficulties due to the allergy response. And sometimes I would aspirate some of the fluid.
*would not go down or up and my throat would spasm.
Primum non nocere
Okay, flesh that out. What is the real emergency that may be indicated by one’s mistaken belief that he is choking? I am willing to learn and have no med experience.
I didn’t see this earlier. The nerves and surrounding structures that can affect the esophagus are numerous.
As far as shit that can kill you pretty much instantly and cause perceived problems swallowing.. the top of my list involves the big pumpy thing in the chest and the heeyooge blood vessels attached to it. You miss that possibility, you’re patient is dead.
Here’s a link to other notable pathology associated with difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)see Table 1:
http://www.aafp.org/afp/2000/0615/p3639.html
Of course the main issue is still…you can’t legally dismiss a patient from an emergency room that has requested treatment without doing enough of an exam to document he was stable enough to refer him to routine care.
Fukk the grammar godz
How about Lars makes an appointment to see a GP at the local VA HCC and gets a series of tests run to find out what he’s allergic to?
Might be something as simple as MSG, or just the fact that as you age, your physio chemistry changes and things that you could practically inhale start making your nose run, your eyes water and you sneeze like a flat-faced cat.
And some of it is age-related, IDC_SARC.
It creeps up on you on little cat feet and pounces on you when you least expect it. You think you can still have that nice medium rare New York strip along with the baked potato with all the trimmings, but right in the middle of chewing on that luscious lump of meat, you realize that the first lump hasn’t gone down just yet. And then the hiccups set in. It happens with carrots, too.
True Ex-PH2 however, the point in my part of this discussion is you can’t determine what is going on with a patient by turning them away. It’s illegal,it’s shitty medicine and eventually somebody will be hurt or die from it.
You shouldn’t say or do anything in medicine that you wouldn’t want to state in front of the board of medicine/nursing etc or a judge that you did so.
“Sir, this is an emergency room. You do not have an emergency. Now, get the hell out.”
I volunteered as an EMT for a while. The bottom line was that we transported/treated people no matter what the complaint. No one would say the words quoted above unless they wanted to be immediately fired. The legal beagles were too afraid of lawsuits.
And the ERs are filled with people who use them as their primary doctors. Cause they’re allowed to. The ER may tell them that they shouldn’t come to an ER for such treatment, but they won’t turn them away.
Well, they reportedly turned Commissar away. He said so. That certainly makes it true.
Yes, they did. And they do turn veterans away. That is a fact.
Verified and documented by the patient advocate and the VA police in my case. The second time they tried it I refused to leave so they called the VA police.. The VA police took my side on the issue.
I consider you a complete shitbag for constantly calling me out by name while hiding behind anonymity.
But whatever, you are no better than a hateful little internet troll.
And I would choke nearly every tim I ate. Look up eosinophilic esophagitis. And the choking was dangerous because not only did I aspirate fluids when I tried to wash the food down but I was at risk of esophageal rupture due to the extreme pressure my esophagus was under while it spasms due to the food blockage.
If this was happening nearly every meal you would be trying to get IMMEDIATE help as well.
In fact you attitude about this demonstrates you are exactly the kind of person the VA hires sometimes. Complete shitbags.
Take a piece of advice, meant with all sincerity.
A – Get a battery of allergy tests and find out what you’re allergic to.
B – Try pulsed food in a Cuisinart or whatever, maybe even a Vitamix blender.
C – Cut your food into very tiny pieces and eat slowly, chewing thoroughly.
If you have this condition now, it will only get worse if you don’t observe and practice some of these things.
And trust me, bean soup blended into a slurry with the handheld blender is damned good stuff!!
Oh, yeah – and stop whining, Lars. It is unbecoming.
I was not whining. I was verifying that it is an issue that the VA turns people away.
I have been given tests. Though not to all possible allergens and still get responses due unknown allergies (we suspect tomatoes right now).
“Choke yourself!”
Lars, looks confused, reaches for nearby plate of food.
“Goddamn it, not with food allergies numbnuts! Lean over and use my hand and choke yourself”
I mean, seriously-it was just sitting there.
At a recent visit with one of my VA doctors, I was told, by the provider, that the facility was down FOUR providers (not clerical staff) in Mental Health. Also, Primary Care was down either 5 or 6 (they weren’t sure) providers (again, not clerical staff), as were several other departments missing providers.
But on the positive side, there is enough money for artwork, replacement for lost vehicles, etc.
Oh, and don’t let us forget conferences. Those get togethers are of great importance in team morale building. Having great morale is important as it can soothe possible feelings of guilt associated with not providing quality health care in a timely manner to those who have earned it and to whom it is promised.
Random thoughts oozing sarcasm from an old man who is tired of the foolishness that is so commonplace within the government. And which shows no evidence of improvement.
And just think: a single-payer system will turn good health care into government-provided health care, so you can go sit in an emergency room with a bleeding artery and hope they manage to get to you before you drop dead.
Walgreens was offering walk-in clinics for a while, where people could get their kids vaccinated. Not sure about CVS.
The thing is, if you’re coming down with the flu, you feel like you’ve been hit with a brick and yes, you need to see a doctor, but it isn’t a real medical emergency in the sense of spouting blood or broken limbs. It’s just the flu.
Walk-in clinics are what the military call ‘sick call’. Remember that?
There would be much more public pressure for quality care if it was single payer system. The VA handles such a small percentage of the population there is little pressure on the day to day quality of the care except when it completely fails.
Doubtful. People put up with a sh!tload of abuse when they have no real choice or when the alternatives are worse. Single payer would simply be yet another such broken, government-run mandatory system.
Look at what people put up with already from their local DMV. Everyone has the option to not drive. For multiple reasons very few choose that option.
Yep. Medical care to be provided with customer service “give-a-sh!t” factor rivaling that of the local DMV, and with the same hours and flexible interpretations of policy you see from any other large government bureaucracy.
Have probably said this before, but I have NOT had a good night’s sleep since returning from RVN the last time. Just deal with it is the best advice for anyone. The V A can give all the medication they want, it’s all only an experiment to hopefully find the right juice. A person has to shitcan that which causes bad dreams, that which they know makes them ill, angry and difficult. In all honesty, who at one point in their life has not considered checking out early? One thing for 100% certainty, you DO NOT EVER mention or even remotely discuss ending it all. A few I have known have done so and paid the price. You admit it, say yes, and you’ll be in a little rubber room until they think you can be let out of the cage to fly away. You should hear some of the stories from those who admitted having had the thought. Take your meds, play the game, flush the shit you know is shit down the toilet and keep a happy face when discussing it. The best thing for my freedom is to look down the street when I think I have it bad. There are one hell of a LOT of people who have it a LOT worse than I do. Sure, we all made sacrifices and paid the price, but MUST count on ourselves to make it through the next day. The V A can only do so much…There is no “Happy Pill” to send your worries packing. Stay busy, find a hobby you enjoy, work to become the best in your body of interest, and find a REASON to live and be happy. A daily dose of eight hours of television is the WORST therapy known to mankind. The next day you’ve forgotten what you watched, and wondered where the hell yesterday went. In NOTHING else perks you up, find a book on mammaries and learn them from top to bottom and side to side. Fascinating boogers that will never leave you confused. Tits matter.
“Tits matter.”
There’s hope for you yet, brother.
Tits matter?
Damn, would you tell that to mine??
They’re sliding down toward my knees, fer Pete’s sake! I expect to see them go slithering across the room, out the door to find new adventures any day now.
Ex, you know we all love you for more than just your mammaries!
Awww! (kicks rock) Shucks!
It’s true, PH2. It’s your charming, give-a-hoot attitude and, frankly, your ability make the best sammich on TAH. Speaking of which, it IS Friday. WHERE’S MY SAMMICH?!
Ex-PH2….Damn! It makes me hot hearing a woman talk like that! Put ’em on an ironing board and get rid of any creases. For a minute I was hoping you’d Skype a bunch of us and give us a free shot. Don’t misunderstand my interest however. Mrs Jarhead, having come in at 48 D D is plenty for this old Gyrene. Years ago she used to climb the brass poles. Nowadays we have to settle for me sitting on a stump patting myself and watch her get about three feet off the ground in a pine tree, wearing her old stretched spandex and acting like she’s still on the brass. Seems like I remember trying to talk Dave Hardin into letting his better half join in with mine and do some brass poles for the geriatric crowd at the local nursing home. The old geezers can’t see for shit, but still put dollar bills in her stretchable G string; some times they put fives or tens in there. If I recall correctly Hardin said his was too sophisticated to get involved with such nonsense.
Where was I? Somewhere lost between tits and tips. Anyway, make sure you have a Teflon iron if your gonna do anything drastic.
jarhead, that little rant could very well put a lot of psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies out of business. Sometimes you just have look deep inside yourself and say “this shit is not gonna win, I’m gonna live life on MY terms”. It’s not always possible without medical help but it’s gotta start with that look. Well said.
I think we need to have a whole column discussing this. E.g., I could sit on my backside feeling sorry for myself because I’m retired and my retirement account went down the tubes because I listened to bad advice, but that is SUCH a waste of time and energy. There is so much to do in retirement and unless you’re a complete putz, you still have some kind of income. (I am a putz, but WHOGAS?)
It is difficult to imagine just sitting and doing nothing all day long, but that is what leads to this downward cascade.
I read to little rugrat Pre-K kids. Trust me, I benefit more than the kids. If there was room for me to do so, I would read every day. I love them little kids. I’m looking for another venue to read as the one I have is full.
Jarhead. What you wrote harkens back to the days of old when men (not merely adult males) dealt with their demons in ways now frowned upon. The sissification of American males is to be distinguished from real psych issues that trace to actual trauma. The former can’t be corrected. I give you Commissar as an example. The latter can be. I give you any number of real men who comment here.
“Let’s all sit around in a group and lie to one another. It’s good therapy. Plus, many of you will learn new lies to adopt as your own. And let’s not forget that there is water and, as always, FREE CHEESE, set up on the table. Help yourselves! Now, who wants to start?”
Swap out booze for water and bar-mix snacks for cheese, and it sounds like any decent bar or club.
OK, sounds look. Will there be free Wifi? Also, access to a free computer would also be nice. And my free phone will need charging. Speaking of which, how do I get the grubberment to pay my electric? I WANT FREE SHIT! Others get free shit for life. Where’s mine? I also can’t afford a car. I want unlimited taxi vouchers. Can you take care of this stuff, please?
The instances of inner-city ERs being used as a GP’s office are legend. Is it magically different if the “patient” is a Veteran and the ER is in a VA hospital? It appears so. Call a spade a spade.
That’s why the VA needs to offer walk-in clinics at all VA health care facilities.
There IS one other issue not mentioned here. The case of symptom being, “I know it all and want to tell everybody how smart I am, but these shitbags (as I call them when they won’t cave in) just have to push my buttons. ESPECIALLY when I suddenly decide I want to hide behind anonymity and they refuse to let me join in on the reindeer games.” Simple enough to treat……just stay the hell off this site. When your ramblings are similar to piss in the pool, nobody likes you or what you have to say.
Up next, your reconvened answers to the world’s problems, plus your name calling in an effort to piss everyone off who does not agree with you In 1…..2…..3..and away we go.
That, and the need to be ‘special’ by having ‘special’ this or that, and ignoring what is basically good advice. It’s easier to complain than to do something to solve the problem.
Old maids like to complain a lot. The rest of us just solve the problem.
Moonlighted throughout much of my career, when able to do so, including Washington Hospital Center in DC. I’d wander to ER when not busy. The stuff at 0300 or so would boggle the mind. Listen, w/o throwing anyone under the bus, the place will filled with folks at 2000-0600 with parent(s) with half a dozen kids. Some were there for school physicals and immunizations. Really. School physicals at 0300. Colds, sore throat, allergies x a month or more/forever. Dandruff. ISYN. Dandruff. The true emergencies were usually not seen … they were in the rear undergoing triage or treatment. Docs had a word … GOMER
Get
Out
(Of)
My
Emergency
Room
ER is perhaps the worst place to get routine, non-emergent health care. The acute care doc in the box is good though I would argue your PCP, who knows you, is the best choice.
ER for dandruff? Not so much. ISYN.
If the VA health care system were more like a vet’s office, where emergencies are handled quickly but you can always make an appointment and count on being seen, that would be fine. Maybe what the VA should do is start sending GPs around to see veterans, like those family doctors in them there Olden Times, where a call to the doctor’s office for non-emergency but necessary care actually resulted in a doctor’s visit.
And since the idea of vaccinating your kids for things like whooping cough, diphtheria, mumps and measles is now anathema to some idiot parents, the possibility of picking up those childhood diseases at the grocery store has increased.
I sent an e-mail off to the CDC about smallpox vaccinations, because I had two of them. How long does immunity last? It was supposed to be lifetime immunity, remember? Hah! No such thing! The first one lasts 5 to 7 years, then fades. The second one lasts a little longer but eventually fades. So if there’s a smallpox outbreak, we’re all screwed.
And what about polio? That hasn’t been wiped out.
PN will tell us all that we should get our childhood vaxes renewed as a precaution. I echo that, but they aren’t cheap.
Ex, if I can still see the little round smallpox scar on my left arm, (after all these years) that means I’m still good to go, right?
I remember that. Being lined up like a little herd of sheep, then getting stuck in the arm with that little multi-pointed thingy.
But that scar it produced was a badge of honor, something to be compared and talked about on the schoolyard playground.
Thanks for the memory.
Good to go? I should find the CDC answer to my inquiry and post it some place.
Oh, remember the Schick test for TB? That stopped by the time I was in junior high school, but we got another round of the Salk vaccine in sugar cubes.
Not really, Claw. It’s believed that the immunity fades with time. At some point after vaccination, your immunity due to smallpox vaccination becomes low enough that you can catch the disease – although a vaccination many years prior might reduce the severity of the resulting infection.
That’s why the re-vaccination period for smallpox was traditionally 10 years. It’s also why a pre-deployment smallpox vaccination was required for military personnel deployed to recent operations in-theater, even if you’d previously received one as a child or while serving in the military.
Even more than Ebola, smallpox is the one disease that scares the living sh!t out of me should it ever be reintroduced into the world. Ebola is not known to spread easily via the aerosol route. That is precisely how smallpox usually spread – via aerosol droplet, just like influenza or the common cold.
Even with proper care, historically around 1 out of 3 who were infected with smallpox . . . died.
Oh, Yeah, got small poxed quite a few times while serving. Was just funning about still being good to go.
And Yellow Fever too. That one always made your arm hurt real good.
Damn pill rollers with their square needles.
Sorry. A fair number of folks seem to think smallpox immunizations are lifetime protection. While surviving smallpox itself appears to provide lifetime protection, the modern vaccine does not.
Just checked my shot record (Yes, I still have my originals) and it says I was last smallpoxed on 29 Nov 77 shortly after reporting in for my first stint at Fort Carson.
So it’s been a while.
You had needles? We poor girls were lined up like tires and shot with an airgun. It was painful.
In regard to vaxes from childhood, Pinto Nag has said that you should get all of THEM renewed, too.
Claw: A bit of trivia, which is pretty much all I have in my head these days.
I worked Physical Exams for a time and those little circular scars on the arm have a name. Under the ‘scars’ part of the SF ‘whatever … I forget’ I would note VSULA.
Vaccination Scar Upper Left Arm
I wonder if they are still given in that manner?
Supposedly, nobody gets the smallpox vax any more except military types.
The wait times in the VA ED is ridiculous. I see people leaving after waiting for hours. Some of them get private care, some of them just give up.
I’m trying to get my local DAV Chapter to set up a table where we can greet these vets as they come in.
Good idea.
Everything seems to have gotten off kilter once Lars decided he wanted this story to be about his troubles. So much for him. My sympathies are with the living relatives of this gentleman. Not gonna do any good to seek some poor soul to blame. If someone is inclined to take the easy (for themselves) road out, they will use any excuse possible. Life’s tough to deal with sometimes. On the positive side, at least this was not another superficial story about someone “trying” to take their life.
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