Frustration with the VA; what to do?

2015-01-13T11:45:58-05:00

Ok my brothers and sisters I have a issue that I would like some feedback on concerning the VA and the treatment/quality of care they give. I have at this very moment a UIT that I have had now for going on 4 weeks. I have major pain in my Kidneys, blood in my urine and have been to my PCC 4 times now to have tests done. I keep getting told that they need me to keep coming in and redo the urin in a cup thing because they keep messing things up. I just read an email this morning telling me I have to yet come in again and resubmit another urine specimen ( #5). I have already fired one PCC and filed a Congressional on the SLC because they are yanking me around on spine and hip surgeries. I was told I had a consult for spine surgery only to attend the appointment and was told that they wouldnt do the surgery until I had my hips replaced, so a consult for hip surgery was made and I was told that they wouldnt do surgery on the hips until the spine surgery was done. In the mean time my blood sugar has gone up, I have now been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and the VA says they will not do any operations on me until I do the exercise/ diet to get my blood sugar back down...I am stumped as what my options are at this point. any suggestions??? I am 70 % with 100% disability rating if that helps any,my letter says I am not employable at all. Let me add to this I have yet to receive ANY type of meds to clear this up, and the very 1st thing they did was to rule out a STD even though I told them I am not sleeping with anyone atm. The tests came back negative for any type of STD but then something happened to the urine...ALL 4 TIMES !!!!!

Response by CPO John Sheuring made Jan 13 at 2015 12:39 PM

2015-01-13T12:39:56-05:00

I would contact your area DAV post and ask them to help you. I know that the commander of my post helped me with my original case. He has also helped others in similar situations.

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 13 at 2015 1:09 PM

2015-01-13T13:09:17-05:00

SGT Michael Glenn You may not like what I'm gonna tell ya - but it's called patience and courtesy. YOU are in a bit of a quandry - you've irritated the very people who exist to assist you at the clinic/hospital - the patient advocate.

Turst me - I get it - you're frustrated. You're in pain. You have issues and they're not getting taken care of. You go to one doctor and they tell you they won't do anything until another issue is taken care of - it's a vicious circle. Of course, you still need help.

I don't have your file in front of me but here's what I'm seeing from your missive above; the diabetes issue will kill you before anything. While you may think it's a minor issue, it's NOT. Get your blood suger under control! NO ONE will work with you until that blood sugar is under control - period. Get your diet where it needs to be. I don't care if it's a boring diet and the exercise is painful - get the diabetes under control. Other than diet and exercise, here are a few things that affect your blood sugar - (1) drugs (prescribed and otherwise), (2) over-the-counter drugs/material (aspirin, GNC crap) (3) alcohol - in any quantity (4) lack of exercise (5) food outside the mandated diet. This means you need to sit down and tell the doctor/dietician everything you put in your body - EVERYTHING - legal, illegal, quasi-legal, outer-space. If you're one of these types that decide they're not gonna be brutally honest then you're wasting their time AND your time.

Finally, courtesy. I have two veterans I work with regulary. The first is a massive asshole to everyone - including me. He's in pain all the time - which explains his anger. No one likes to work with him. He explodes at every question (you know, the ones they ask at EVERY intake when you see the doctor). His comments are derogatory and argumentive. The other is a quiet, courteous gentleman - always a kind word to any VA employee he meets. Wanna guess which one gets the best service? Yeah, yeah, I know - every VA employee is supposed to do their job 100% at all times - but they are human. You treat the guy/gal at the intake (nurse) like shit... and voila! a phone call to the lab - a buddy they know, who the nurse has a quiet conversation and dang! your lab sample gets lost! So now, you have to do another sample - only they don't tell you for several weeks or wait until you come back in..... or it could be human error.

Now - maybe you're the quiet, courteous veteran - but I have to say that I doubt it. Your comment regarding the patient advocate snarling at your mere presence tells me a lot about how you conduct yourself while you're at the VA clinic/hospital. I deal with patient advocates all across the state of Florida - never met one that didn't really want to help veterans. Maybe you got the one jackass patient advocate in the system - ... maybe.

Now...let's assume you've read this message and haven't gone off the chain by now. Here's how you deal with the issue of the two doctors saying they won't do anything til the other does something - and I'm assuming you're actually gonna get your blood sugar under control. You're going to have to discuss in length the why each doctor refuses to do anything until the other goes first. It's gonna require tact and diplomacy on your part and lots of patience. You might want to consider bringing someone you trust and will listen to so they can ask questions for you when you start seeing red and go into hyperrage and stop thinking. Having that second person there helps in the "he-said, I said" routine and often that second person might ask a question you didn't think of.

As I said, you're in a rough spot but it's something you CAN work through.

Response by COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM made Jan 13 at 2015 1:44 PM

2015-01-13T13:44:40-05:00

Recommendations:
- Keep your own documentation of everything. Let people make copies of this documentation but never give this documentation up or let it out of your sight.
- Keep a log/journal of who you talk to, when you talk to them, what they say, where it was said, etc. Think of this as a wartime TOC log. Get people to sign and date when you log it if you can and they will.
- Conduct escalation of force when, if necessary.
- Go outside the VA chain if you must to include but not limited to elected officials and the media.
- Be prepared to get an independent medical assessment but might have to be at your own cost.
- Learn to leverage the VA bureacracy. Get copies of the regs, rules, and SOPs and then use these two your advantage. Be able to cite chapter and verse on if/where the VA is violating their own rules. Out bureacrat the bureacrat.
- Never accept "no" from someone who is not authorized to say "yes".
- Get to a commander/decision maker and not a staffer.
- Hope this helps.

Response by SGT Michael Glenn made Jan 16 at 2015 10:51 AM

2015-01-16T10:51:51-05:00

Update on this status: I just received a secured message form my PCC via Myhealtevet and was told that the urine sample I submitted just days ago has been misplaced , this is the 4th time they have done this! all the while I am not being treated for the infection. I have informed them that I will not do ANYTHING via phone anymore and for all correspondence to be via E-mail or secure messaging...paper trail is only recourse I can thin k of at this time. I have also requested a transfer to the blue clinic in the SLC Va Hospital.