Every veteran’s story is unique, but each one is important.
While every human experience is unique, one is neither more important nor less
defining than the other. Our story began with a deployment and is still being
told.
After my husband’s retirement from the Army, we moved to
Alabama. We were assigned to the Pensacola Joint Ambulatory Care Center (JACC)
in Pensacola, FL. Prior to separation, my husband was having weekly mental
health appointments, had a prescription setup that seemed to be acceptable, and
had monthly visits with his care team. After separation, he went weeks without
word prior to his first appointment with any sort of care provider at the VA.
Once he did receive his appointment, it was downhill from there. The
appointments with the Primary Care physician were once every 4-6 months, with
appointments being late, without fail.
Once in the appointment, the physician would focus more on the computer
screen than the veteran. The physician never
seemed to remember my veteran’s concerns, keeping his back to us during the
appointment and reading the computer files.
The medications that my husband had at the time were changed and
modified, even though concerns were expressed about the changes. While some of
the changes make sense, my husband was taken off Xanax cold turkey which very
nearly destroyed him. Then there was the issue with getting referrals done. We
had to ask over the course of three visits for a sleep study, and finally,
after about a year, one was scheduled for four months out.
He went from weekly mental health visits while still active
duty, to once every 3-4 months at the JACC. The professional he was seeing
declared that since he didn’t lose any limbs in a bombing, he wasn’t as in dire
need of her help or as important as her other soldiers she was seeing (yes, she
said those very words). She decided he could get by with visits spaced out that
far apart, then gave us information on the Pensacola Vet Center where he could
get free mental health services.
This is the professional that ruined the JACC for my
veteran, and created tense situations within my household for VA visits. At
that particular visit, she looked over my husband, asked him about loss of
limbs and his injuries. She decided that since my husband had not been blown up
in a roadside bomb and lost any limbs that he only needed to be lectured about
depression and coping with depression. In that very first 25 minute session,
she told him he was the reason he was depressed and that he could deal with it.
She was kind enough, however, to get him an appointment with the Pensacola Vet
Center for mental health counseling.
First of all, where did she get the right to tell my husband he wasn’t
important and then turn around to get him mental health appointments at the Vet
Center?
That session, combined with a doctor that didn’t even make
eye contact, created fights on appointment days. Every time there was an
appointment scheduled it was the same thing – veteran refusing to go, wife/caregiver
begging, fighting, arguing and yelling, with bribing and dealing, until either
the veteran is in the car angrily complying or the caregiver is making
appointment reschedule phone calls. It
was a repeat performance, every time without fail. Appointment days were
greeted with apprehension and tension. It was going to be the same argument as
last time – if they can’t make eye contact, remember what my issues are,
consider me important, be on time for their appointments, why should I go?
We recently moved to another area, with a different VA, and
the differences are like night and day. My husband now goes to the Alexandria
VA Medical Center. Within six months of going to this hospital, he has seen his
Primary Care physician twice and has mental health appointments every other
week. He has also begun speech therapy as well as physical therapy and has
bimonthly appointments with these professionals. The Alexandria VAMC has impacted my family in
a far better way than the JACC ever had, and I’m glad we moved to this
facility. The staff at the VAMC greets my husband and me by name, this includes
the physician when we see him in the waiting area! I am welcomed into all
appointments, and they also know to call my phone for anything. The
appointments are on time, and his new mental health professional makes him feel
like his experiences are important and deserve to be worked through. We have
not had an experience at the VAMC that put us off yet, and appointment day
routines have changed. We do not have the fighting or sulking that we used to
experience.
To learn more about the State of Heroes and Families
project, please visit our main site or visit any of the following direct
project links -
Why This Started:
www.familyofavet.com/state_of_veterans_families-why.html
The Statistics:
www.familyofavet.com/state_of_veterans_families-statistics.html
Our Stories:
www.familyofavet.com/state_of_veterans_families-stories.html
What We Hope For: www.familyofavet.com/state_of_veterans_families-hopes.html
FAQ About the Project:
www.familyofavet.com/state_of_veterans_families-faq.html
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