Update

My battle buddy Steve Cooper won his lawsuit against the VA. The first of many.

Arizona man awarded $2.5 million

Look for help elsewhere

VA Doctor: What’s wrong?

He looks at his computer monitor with an annoyed looked on his face as I sat down in the chair.  I have been waiting in the lobby of the Long Beach VA for 2 hours now.

Me: My left foot. I have been having pain in it for years.

I start to remove my shoes and socks. He still looks away from me.

VA Doctor: Oh yeah…..

I sit and wait. I thought it was kind of rude of him to not even look at me or greeted me when I walked it, but whatever. He must be having a bad day. I stare down at my bare feet.

He continues to stare at the screen of his monitor.

VA Doctor: Well….I don’t really see anything from your previous x-rays.

That’s it. I don’t really recall the rest. Maybe it’s because he didn’t really do or say anything of importance for me to remember this day. All I can say for sure is that he treated me like I was an annoyance. Like a Doctor House, but without the actual talent. That was the last time I ever went to the VA.

Years later I finally got a job with health insurance and I went to a civilian doctor who sent me to Physical Therapy. Turns out all those years of waking up in the morning and feeling a stabbing pain in my foot was all due to having a flat foot. It took the Physical Therapist 15 minutes to figured it out!

This is some minor shit here. Imagine if I had a bigger problem. Like cancer. Well an Army buddy I know is dying of cancer. Cancer which should have been discovered by the VA. They didn’t and now he’s dying. Learn a lesson here. Go to a civilian doctor if you can and always try to get a second opinion. It just might save you years of pain, or even save your life.

BTW – read my friend’s story here: $50 million civil trial