Now for some help. I didn't want it getting lost in the rant above.
My name is Kane, I can help you. No seriously, I've been fighting these bastards for years now and would be nothing more than pleased to get you headed in the right direction. Don't let anyone tell you it's futile. It's one rung up from futile, but it isn't futile. It's long, drawn out and it may take forever, but it is doable.
First and foremost, you NEED an advocate. The more the better, but you need one like Amvets or American Legion (that's mine) to handle paperwork, and you need a family member or friend with you at every appointment so they know you aren't alone. If you have a problem at an appt. or with a doctor or whatever that you can't resolve, go to the patient advocate at that hospital RIGHT AWAY. They can help a lot of times. Having a family member there to handle that while you wait is doubly effective too, and having them at the appt.'s themselves; it also helps with the tempo of the conversation, as it's harder to brush off two people than it is one. I have a really good advocate at the Legion, this guy has fixed a LOT of problems, from ratings to the army taking out double what I owed them, etc., etc. The patient advocate I have is stellar. Don't forget to write letters to the hospital director to tell them how impressed you are with good doctors, nurses, receptionists, whatever. I do this once a year. My patient advocate got promoted over one of my letters (that and she was just damn good at her job, but that isn't a VA requirement for advancement). But if a letter gets there that says good things, that's rare there. Very rare I hear. You do that and help get a patient advocate promoted to the head advocate, you've got a friend.
Most VA personnel I wouldn't trust hold a dime. Some I'd trust my family with. Those are the ones I try to call out for being good in the system, as it only helps me in the long run. I could say it's being nice, paying it forward, but it's actually a quite selfish move so I can get what I need from my broken healthcare system. Lots of little tricks, I found this one out on my own.
Second, if they've cut you and fucked you up like cutting the wrong side, dude, stop wasting time. That's blatant and no excuses malpractice. You'll need a personal injury lawyer or better, one that works specifically with suing the VA. It's a byzantine bunch of bullshit, a bureaucracy designed to wear you out and make you go away. If they cut your back and it got worse (saying they cut the correct side) there isn't much you can do --they have statistics to back up the fact that back surgery is shady as hell at best. A surgeon not knowing left from right is much more egregious.
Third, don't give up. If they ignore you or deny you, appeal it. If they still don't comply with you, request a board hearing. Contact your congressmen and senators, they can be helpful in this situation believe it or not. Even their receptionists can pull strings. I'd inform them of your problems in full via a phone conversation. Maybe schedule an appt. to speak with the politician you think will help you the most. Then when you get the ball rolling on a malpractice suit, you'll have them hopefully in your corner and informed in advance.
I don't know what you can get out of a malpractice suit, but waking up missing healthy parts I doubt is one of the protections afforded to them under law.
Fourth, be patient, they work on forever time. Follow up. Read ALL the shit they send you and ALWAYS reply when they request it. Here is where the American Legion helps with the paperwork: they'll catch a lot of stuff you or I would miss. Sometimes just not sending in a form can cost you your claim. Fill them out correctly and completely, one mistake can render your claim moot. They'll try and send you to a civilian doctor they contract out for claims reviews. DO NOT GO TO THIS APPT.!!! But don't blow it off either! Send them a letter AND call them to tell them you will ONLY do C&P exams AT the VA with VA doctors. Trust me, this works MUCH better, but it will delay your claim in the meantime. The civilian doctor, no English, fat women breastfeeding kids wearing greasy t shirts at the desk with their boyfriend and friends in street clothes hanging out, and not a goddamn thing in the office. Looked fly by night. Take my advice, no C&P exams unless at VA hospital by VA doctors.
Finally, if you want to talk to me about this more, I'd be glad to speak with you if like, just PM me with your number and I'll call you. Or we can write it out in PM's if you like. I'd also like to ask if you know a guy (there's a slim chance you may be him, and if so, we worked together for a while, or you may know him --I'd like to get back in touch with him if possible).
Also, go talk to some of the guys at Hadit.org and there's another veteran's site that's slipping my mind. They have lots of good info, dossiers on VA doctors with patient submitted information IIRC --it's the only place like it. If you were building a case against any one doctor, I'd look for his other pissed off patients too.
Us vets, the disabled ones in particular, we HAVE to stick together. We're easy targets and just wanna be left alone for the most part, and they know making it difficult for us will make many just go away. I've seen 'em blow off one vet and threaten to call the police because he was getting shitted on by the VA over something (I forget that particular reason). They thought he was being unreasonable, but considering how bad off he was, they should have dropped what they were doing to assist, he couldn't even stand up, was sweating bullets, weak as hell. But no, it was the vets in the waiting room that stood up and said "come on, help him out, don't leave him like that" and "I'm gonna get the patient advocate now" and "I'm filming all of this and it'll go on the internet if you get the police involved". That guy they stood up to help was me, and I had collapsed just inside the waiting room in front of the doctor office, but instead of helping me they just walked over and around me. And the VA police? They'll fuck with one guy, but they won't fuck with a platoon of them. They aren't eager to make King 5 news for roughing up a bunch of disabled vets for stepping in to help another. So don't stand by and watch them screw over another fellow veteran, speak up. It really is "us against them" over there for the most part.
There are good people in the VA, but no good systems in the VA. Remember that.
PS, they thought I had high blood pressure for years, even put me on a med for it. Turns out after I got on the T and lost weight, I just get high blood pressure anytime I roll through those VA gates. It's automatic and happens every time.
Hope this helps, and anything else I can do to help, just PM me. Seriously, good luck. I do know what back pain is like, hell, I didn't sleep at all last night, couldn't, and little the nights before. So excuse me if my ideas seem jumbled today.
