Dennis Needs Help~ A Vietnam Vets Voice Unheard

"Vietnam Vet" 36x48x2 oil on canvas (a painting of Dennis)

NOTE: As of today I would love to say that this situation has improved but it has not. I for one wonder why we keep fighting wars and leaving our so called heroes on the side of the road, metaphorically speaking.

Denny... not a great meet with the doctor I think. It is involved but basically this doctor does not believe in the validity of a biopsy proving the severity of it. This biopsy as well as the lab that it is sent to, is recommended by the Neuropathy Association, so it is a valid test. They use this biopsy at Walter Reed.. so it's all bullshit. It is disheartening because what this doctor in essence is saying is that he does not believe Dennis suffers pain to the degree that the biopsy states. It is a nightmare but one the VA plays over and over.

And the wheel keeps spinning for Dennis as well as many other Vietnam Vets.

It is like telling someone that your ankle hurts as your foot has been cut off and someone saying back to you, "Prove it, it does not look that bad to me."

Part of what makes it difficult for a patient who is suffering from chronic pain is to not feel validated. When Denny got the book written by Dr. Latov through the Neuropathy Association he was validated by it. Words sprang off of Dr. Latov's pages and healed a thousand and one pieces of sadness.

You cannot help someone if you don't believe them.

I wear thin being an advocate. I think I am too emotional to be able to continue at times and yet who else is there for Denny? No one. I am in the position of being an advocate for a lost cause though. The US Government will never recognize their responsibility in poisoning their own people and creating atrocity over atrocity for the people of Vietnam even today. Remember Bush saying we had to attack Iraq because Saddam Hussein gassed his own people? How is the US any different? I love my country and for this reason I speak out with truth because it is the only way to resolve the fact that sometimes as a country we make disastrous choices.

So the VA doctor said see you in 6 MONTHS... after protest the answer back was that there are a lot of sick Vets out there, you are not the only one.

There is nothing romantic about being a soldier, nothing to glorify. We put yellow ribbon stickers on our cars to honor our hired killers and then turn a blind eye when they return wounded. We "do", don't think for even one single second that we don't. Sometimes it takes awhile, after the parades are over, but eventually we forget them. Our hired killers are expendable and that is the true color of war.

Remember the children in Vietnam:





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Peripheral Neuropathy HELP and SUPPORT:

http://www.neuropathy.org

The Neuropathy Association is the leading national non-profit organization serving the peripheral neuropathy community. We provide support and education, advocate for patients’ interests, and promote research into the causes of and cures for neuropathy.

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