EVE General Discussion

Before I get into the meat of this topic, let me start off by stating that I don't expect a strong response. It's not exactly game related, but I thought I'd give it a shot and post here anyway. And forum moderators, if this is in the wrong place feel free to move it. Hoping it's okay to post here

Now..

About ten years ago I started developing some knee issues. Wasn't a big deal at first, because it only hurt if I was doing certain things such as trying to squat down for long periods of time. Over the years, however, it got worse and worse to the point where I eventually had to see a doctor

At the time, I didn't have health insurance. I was working for a small ISP and honestly they could barely afford to pay me let alone pay for insurance, so I thought I was pretty much out of luck. One day, it became quite extreme. I was in so much pain I couldn't stand up. I didn't know what I was going to do, thinking that there's no way I can afford to go to the doctor, and then I remembered

I have VA benefits. I had registered with the VA when I first left the US Coast Guard in the late 90's but had never really given much thought to using their services. I was healthy, and so I forgot about it. Besides, I wasn't a wartime veteran, having served immediately after the first Iraq war and leaving before the next, so it never crossed my mind

But I was pretty desperate, and needed to see a doctor and soon. So a little over 3 years ago I made a phone call. The guy I spoke to said there was no way they could get me in to see a Primary Care physician for at least two months, so at first I was pretty disappointed, but then he said "Come on in as soon as you can. We'll get you an ID card, and then you can go to our 24/7/365 urgent care service.

I was a little disappointed, but was in so much pain that the next day I went to the VA hospital in Dayton, Ohio, waited for about an hour to get my ID card after filling out some forms and stuff (really wasn't bad at all, considering the number of people there at the time) and that same afternoon I was able to see a doctor

Of course it turned out that there was a lot more wrong with me than just my knee hurting like hell. When I saw the triage nurse it turned out my blood pressure was roughly 220 over 170 and I should have dropped dead from a stroke long before that, so I spent hours and hours in the emergency room as they got my blood pressure under control, then prescribed some meds to help with the pain. It kind of sucked, but they took really good care of me that day, and I left very impressed, especially after hearing some bad things in the past about the VA healthcare system

Cutting to the chase here a bit... over the next few years I began to see a VA doctor on a regular basis. I consulted with rheumatology to see if I had gout, but I didn't, and then orthopedics and was quickly diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis in my left knee. The doctor who saw me literally winced when he saw my x-ray, and I think he knew then that I needed a knee replacement. But we decided that because I was so young, it wasn't our best choice. Yet

We tried steroid injections first and physical therapy. It helped, but not enough and it didn't last nearly as long as any of us had hoped. In the end, we decided there wasn't much that we could do other than try to manage my pain or replace the knee

I went with pain management. I had a great primary care physician, who really paid attention to my concerns, and she worked with me to keep my pain under control as much as we could. If I had an issue, all I had to do was pick up the phone and call, and she or her nurse would call me back and we would get things settled down. Eventually, however, the pain became nearly unmanageable. Even sitting down and not moving I was in some pretty severe pain, to the point where on some days even pretty strong narcotics wasn't enough

So I called my doctor, and she put in another consultation for me with orthopedics. On December 23 of this past year, I talked to a resident again, and when she saw my new x-rays her exact words were "Oh my god, your knee is 90 years old!" For the record, I'm younger than 40. But there was absolutely nothing she could do for me. No injection, no pain medication, nothing was likely to help. So she called the attending surgeon in, and we decided that I had no other options. I had to have my knee replaced

Due to the serious condition of my knee, they did not put me on a waiting list. For elderly, retired patients, the wait could be about six months, but my surgeon said that because of my age and condition, because I really need to work to earn a living still, we weren't going to wait. They decided to put me into the first available slot that came open, and on 7 March I went under the knife

Now, I can tell you how amazing it is. Tomorrow will mark 4 weeks post-surgery, and I am stunned at the things I can already do. I walked 1.61 miles yesterday, further than I've been able to walk in at least 7 years. I have a therapist who comes to my house 3 days a week and works with me, and when that's not good enough, I'll be able to do even more therapy at the hospital itself

The VA has been great to me, and in return I'd like to help them in an area where I know they need help. For those of you who can, who are willing and have the time, I know one thing for certain. Your nearest VA hospital is in dire need of volunteers. When I was in the hospital, it was truly the volunteers who made the difference for me. They would spend time with me in my room, work with me when I needed help, and talk with me when I needed to talk. Volunteers make a world of difference to the veterans who are in a VA hospital, because quite often they are vets themselves. But even if you're not a vet, please consider volunteering. I thank you.

I was wondering about that. Hopefully a moderator will move it if it's too many people complain.