November 20, 2013
To: CNN iReport
Attn: Drew Griffin
Ref: iReport November 19, 2013 Anderson 360 V.A. Hospital delays are killing American Veterans.
Mr. Griffin,
My name is Artrie Watson, who is an veteran that served my country for close to eight years. I have been a patient at the John Dingell V.A. Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan close to 15 yrs. Last night i watched a segment from your report regarding delays of care at V.A. Medical Centers. As a patient i totally agree with the report and if i may i would like to share experiences from my brother and myself.
I would like to start with the experiences of my brother because his conditions calls for an more urgent care and reply than mine as my condition has been stabilized. My brother name is Percy E. Watson age 48 which resides in San Antonio, Texas Being his older brother at 50, Percy has followed in many of my footsteps. I enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 17 and so did Percy. He served from 1983 to 1992. As a Calvary Scout he was part of the force that liberated Kuwait in the early 1990's. During his time of serviced he endured several injuries as we all have by basically performing our duties. A couple of his injuries is now affecting his quality of life. The 1st injury was as a driver of a M-113 tract vehicle. The lid of the driver compartment fell on his head with so much force that his bottom teeth came through his lips. The second injury is due from possible P.T.S.D., from combat conditions of the Gulf War 1. Unfortunately 20 yrs. later these injuries are affecting his life. Since he has been released from military service i have been constantly advising him to take advantage of his benefits from the V.A. Finally 2 yrs. ago he took me up on my advice, mainly because of his illness had disabled him from working and he needed immediate health care.
Percy first checked into the Audie Murphy V.A. Center in San Antonio, Texas sometime in August, 2011 due to major pain in his neck and shoulders. Ever since his experience has been a nightmare. He has been volleyed between different clinics ( mainly Neurology and Orthopedics). During the back and forth juggling of consults, there are usually 3-4 months waiting periods. Meanwhile he has to endured this pain with no relief because nobody wants to give him any type of medication that may actually relieve him of pain. His pain level is a constant 8-9 out of ten. He has had 3 M.R.I.’s and been to Physically Therapy numeral times. Three weeks ago someone finally saw something and immediately put him in a neck brace. Really!!!!! Let us not forget the bout he’s having with P.T.S.D. He went to be seen for it finally around Nov. of last year, and since then the V.A. have either been canceling his appointments or being told that someone will give him a call, which of course they haven’t. I have tried to coach him on how to deal with the V.A. from my vast experiences. It’s to no avail with that particular V.A. Center.
Again i’m a patient Of the John Dingell Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan My experiences haven’t been a total disaster and i think most of the treatment i have received have been pretty good. Although it’s extremely hard to convince the providers that you are having an ailment. For an example i had a fracture pelvis, and it took a year and a half before an procedure was done to stabilize it. Half the battle is convincing them that you are ill. If it was not for me had having paperwork from an outside provider and being persistent i don’t know what my condition would be. You really have to keep making visits and keep calling to get action. The second half of this story is the long waiting list for appointments and consults. It usually take any where from 3-6 months to get seen. You have to try shortcuts like going the E.R. or Urgent care to try to get an prompt appointment. Of course by doing this you a causing the Emergency Dept. to constantly be busy.
One more complaint with the V.A. is making a claim due to an injury while on active duty. First its a long wait to even fill out the paperwork. Once you apply you have to wait 8 months to a year to get an evaluation. During that time you are requesting your Active Duty medical records. I have applied 6 separate times and still no records. Why!!!! After you get evaluated within 1 month your claim is denied and when you appeal you are told there another 3 years wait. Wow. I will apply again to get my military records. Lol
All in all i’m proud to have served my country, and yes i appreciate the V.A. Health care. Although a lot of things needs to be fixed. Compare to outside health care providers (which i have had) the V.A. is lacking for a sense of urgency. At this point i’m really concern with my brother’s health. if there’s something you can do please help!! I hope this story get published and the real truth get out. Thank You for your time.
Artrie L. Watson
cc. Artrie Watson artriew@yahoo.com
cc. Percy Watson sinister65@yahoo.com
To: CNN iReport
Attn: Drew Griffin
Ref: iReport November 19, 2013 Anderson 360 V.A. Hospital delays are killing American Veterans.
Mr. Griffin,
My name is Artrie Watson, who is an veteran that served my country for close to eight years. I have been a patient at the John Dingell V.A. Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan close to 15 yrs. Last night i watched a segment from your report regarding delays of care at V.A. Medical Centers. As a patient i totally agree with the report and if i may i would like to share experiences from my brother and myself.
I would like to start with the experiences of my brother because his conditions calls for an more urgent care and reply than mine as my condition has been stabilized. My brother name is Percy E. Watson age 48 which resides in San Antonio, Texas Being his older brother at 50, Percy has followed in many of my footsteps. I enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 17 and so did Percy. He served from 1983 to 1992. As a Calvary Scout he was part of the force that liberated Kuwait in the early 1990's. During his time of serviced he endured several injuries as we all have by basically performing our duties. A couple of his injuries is now affecting his quality of life. The 1st injury was as a driver of a M-113 tract vehicle. The lid of the driver compartment fell on his head with so much force that his bottom teeth came through his lips. The second injury is due from possible P.T.S.D., from combat conditions of the Gulf War 1. Unfortunately 20 yrs. later these injuries are affecting his life. Since he has been released from military service i have been constantly advising him to take advantage of his benefits from the V.A. Finally 2 yrs. ago he took me up on my advice, mainly because of his illness had disabled him from working and he needed immediate health care.
Percy first checked into the Audie Murphy V.A. Center in San Antonio, Texas sometime in August, 2011 due to major pain in his neck and shoulders. Ever since his experience has been a nightmare. He has been volleyed between different clinics ( mainly Neurology and Orthopedics). During the back and forth juggling of consults, there are usually 3-4 months waiting periods. Meanwhile he has to endured this pain with no relief because nobody wants to give him any type of medication that may actually relieve him of pain. His pain level is a constant 8-9 out of ten. He has had 3 M.R.I.’s and been to Physically Therapy numeral times. Three weeks ago someone finally saw something and immediately put him in a neck brace. Really!!!!! Let us not forget the bout he’s having with P.T.S.D. He went to be seen for it finally around Nov. of last year, and since then the V.A. have either been canceling his appointments or being told that someone will give him a call, which of course they haven’t. I have tried to coach him on how to deal with the V.A. from my vast experiences. It’s to no avail with that particular V.A. Center.
Again i’m a patient Of the John Dingell Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan My experiences haven’t been a total disaster and i think most of the treatment i have received have been pretty good. Although it’s extremely hard to convince the providers that you are having an ailment. For an example i had a fracture pelvis, and it took a year and a half before an procedure was done to stabilize it. Half the battle is convincing them that you are ill. If it was not for me had having paperwork from an outside provider and being persistent i don’t know what my condition would be. You really have to keep making visits and keep calling to get action. The second half of this story is the long waiting list for appointments and consults. It usually take any where from 3-6 months to get seen. You have to try shortcuts like going the E.R. or Urgent care to try to get an prompt appointment. Of course by doing this you a causing the Emergency Dept. to constantly be busy.
One more complaint with the V.A. is making a claim due to an injury while on active duty. First its a long wait to even fill out the paperwork. Once you apply you have to wait 8 months to a year to get an evaluation. During that time you are requesting your Active Duty medical records. I have applied 6 separate times and still no records. Why!!!! After you get evaluated within 1 month your claim is denied and when you appeal you are told there another 3 years wait. Wow. I will apply again to get my military records. Lol
All in all i’m proud to have served my country, and yes i appreciate the V.A. Health care. Although a lot of things needs to be fixed. Compare to outside health care providers (which i have had) the V.A. is lacking for a sense of urgency. At this point i’m really concern with my brother’s health. if there’s something you can do please help!! I hope this story get published and the real truth get out. Thank You for your time.
Artrie L. Watson
cc. Artrie Watson artriew@yahoo.com
cc. Percy Watson sinister65@yahoo.com