Convoluted
01.25.06 (7:55 pm) [edit]Convoluted
Drove an older friend of mine to the Veterans Hospital today to get fully integrated into their system, and since it is a very large hospital, with lots of activity, I took along a book to keep myself occupied with the long wait, which is usually the case. When you first go to the VA hospital, and do not know the actual layout of the building, it can be quite bewildering to say the least. The first floor is a warren of hallways, filled with people and signs everywhere; pointing in every direction, to whatever department is being looked for, with the throng intent on carrying out their mission as quickly as possible and going on their way.
Ken had to go up to the 10th floor, which takes care of the Bronze group that is designated for those 75 or older age group. It was for the most part quiet, and the first thing we were told is that Ken has to have a VA card, something he did not have, since it was his first visit. After the receptionist understood his status, she informed us that after our seeing the doctor, Ken needed to get his VA card on his way out. Or to put it more succinctly; get his picture taken, and it will be mailed to him.
The wait was not as long as I thought it would be, and after the initial visit with the nurse for his medical history, we were ushered into another office to await the doctor. The doctor was a very comely looking woman from India, with a very beautiful accent that those familiar with it will agree. The first thing she asked Ken, was if it was alright for me to be present in the room with him, while she asked him the questions needed to get him enrolled. After he gave his permission for me to stay, she began a very rigorous question and answers period, which covered just about everything that could be asked of Ken’s history. She also went over his medication list and again asked many questions about that also. I suppose more time was spent on his medications than on any thing else, very complicated.
She gave him some test, which revealed that he may be having some memory problems, since he failed the “three items” test, which she asked him 5 minutes prior to remember. He did not get one item after the initial 5 minutes were over, correctly. She told him that he could take further test to see if he needed to take come medication to forestall further memory loss, or to simply start taking Aricept, a medication created for that purpose. He said that he would be willing to start the medication right away if necessary. Later it came to their attention after even more test that he may be suffering from some low grade depression and they put him on something for that, and then told him to wait before taking the Aricept, since depression can also cause some memory problems. So we are going to go back together in two months to see how the anti-depressant medication is working.
On the way out Ken seemed at peace with it all, glad that he was getting some help for a possible problem that he may have. He is a quiet man, introverted and while not withdrawn keeps a great deal to himself, but opens up when he is on a trip; a very pleasant man to be with. I took him to “cracker barrel” for brunch, he loves to eat out, especially if someone else is footing the bill……&hell ip;..I don’t mind, since he is really good company.
All in all I am impressed with the VA system, and find that most of the people that I find working there dedicated to their jobs, and really want to help those who come to them for assistance. The doctor told me that they try to be as through as possible, since it keeps them from having further problems in the future. The work load is unbelievable for them, since the Viet Nam vets are starting to come to the hospital in droves on a regular basis, also many veterans from the Gulf War, and also those who have been to Iraq whose numbers are also increasing.
I have a niece that just came back from Iraq, she was over there for almost two years with a medical unit, and she saw some things that have changed her drastically, creating problems that she is trying to deal with. One day she was at a check point, when a Muslim mother, with three children, began approaching a check point. The soldiers ordered them to stop in three languages, but they continued coming. After repeated efforts to get the family to stop, some of the pleas according to my niece were made in tears, for the men did not want to fire, really being children themselves, they were only in their late teens. Well in the end they had to open fire on the family, and the children were killed right off, while the mother died in my niece’s arms shortly afterwards. The whole family was wired with explosives, and in the end everyone lost. The young men were devastated with what they had to do, and my niece was crushed in spirit as the women died in her arms. This war like all wars is a living hell for all those involved, and the lives of those young men as well as my niece will be forever scared by this event. Also the loved ones of the women and her children, who were killed in this one tiny event, in an increasingly bloody war, with no end in sight….. this could on for many years to come. War never did work really, you would think being a so called rational species we would have worked this out long ago; from the looks of it we may never work it out.
I feel for the people who live in that part of the world; I can’t even begin to imagine what it is like for them, to see so much killing and destruction on a regular basis. The vast majority just wants to live life in peace, but it seems that it is denied them. The women, her children and the soldiers are all victims caught in the spider web of war that is being conducted by men on both sides who almost never get their hands dirty or put their lives at risk, nothing new, this has always been the way for the most part. My prayers are for all of them, not just for “my” side, since underneath the different color skin, religion and clothing we are all in fact brothers and sister, who hopefully will one day learn to simply love one another. I can’t rail against my government or against those who are fighting us, it is all so convoluted, subjective and in the end just plain shit. I wish I could rage against one side or the other but that consolation is denied me.
I am not bitter, but the collective wound of war has an effect on all of us, even if not felt or understood directly; for like an undetected cancer it is doing its work. The cure is up to us, but how to do it is beyond me at this time, it seems on one level we know what to do to stop it all, but on the emotional, racial, national level we are lost. Too many walls that have to come down first, walls that in end are illusions, but there none the less and real, because many of us still believe in them, hence their power to influence and control us.
One of my main problems is that I am a political moron; I can’t seem to get my brain wrapped around it. I suppose I tend to think that politicians, both Republican and Democrat, are corrupt, whose only interest is to build up their power base, and are not interested in truth, or for that matter, in what is really best for the country. Everyone has an agenda, their agenda, and their parties’ agenda, comes first…… but I feel the welfare of the country is second or even further down on their list. I suppose our form of government, were the three branches constantly jealously watch each other, works because it is based on the worst of human nature, it leaves nothing to chance. In all the infighting perhaps a balance is kept, were each is kept down by the watch dog approach of the other two branches. The President, the senate and congress do these dances were all they do is circle and watch what the other is doing. I suppose that is why when I vote I vote for which I think is the lesser of two evils.
I feel that if the Democrats won the election we would still be over in Iraq, and it would be the Republicans throwing the rocks at Kerry’s glass house. Of course what do I know, I really am a moron on political issues. Liberal, conservative, left, right, moderate; these are just labels to box and shelve one another, that way no one has to listen, we just become talking heads talking to the air, or only to those who agree with us, what possible good that does I have no idea.
Perhaps the politicians are also caught up in this spider web we have created and simply can’t get out. I guess their must be some politicians who are not compromised but if that is true they must be in the extreme minority.
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