.

even keeled people here. Always thought you lived in Texas - Marble Falls but you don't, right? I have heard some VA facilities are primo.

in the whole system. I read somewhere that only one healthcare system has a better "customer satisfaction" rating than the VA - the Mayo Clinic system.

read your post tomorrow. Sweet dreams.

Sending another hug~

So you have to go read it there because I don't know how to cut and paste on my phone.

In my ❤️!

It must be so hard to have to wait to decide on your options. Please keep us posted, and thank you for this update!

What you are going through is hard as hell and to add financial problems to it makes it so much worse.

I know I don't know much about the VA but I was surprised by the hoopla about how bad it is. I worked with patients at the VA for a few years doing mental commitment hearings. Interacted with 3 providers and was impressed by the VA. My Dad also had VA through one of those long awful goodbyes and my mother loved the help she got through VA. It's my understanding that they can negotiate for drug prices but that might be a myth. Anyway, I'm not sure Americans understand what a great service they provide. Glad you are hooked up.

Best of luck.

When I was young I worked for my dad as a mason's laborer. One summer day when I was 14 or 15 we picked up one of his masons, Turk Turkovic at his home and Turk came out in not in work clothes carrying a large shopping bag folded like a giant lunch bag. When he got in the truck, (me in the middle) there was very little conversation and we drove off for an hour from Akron to Cleveland with no conversation until we got to Wade Park VA Hospital(now Carl Stokes Memorial VA Hospital) where we dropped Turk off with not much goodbyes.

When my dad started to drive off, I asked him how Turk was going to get back and my dad told me simply that he wasn't coming back.

It tool a while for that to sink in but I finally got it: VA was the final refuge for Vets. It was a place to go die.

Not so many tears later, maybe ten, when I got out of the Navy I got a job at Brecksville VA, the first night home I told my wife that no matter what happened to me to not let me be put into a VA hospital. And I remembered something my grandfather once said - when he was nearing the end and there was discussion of whether he should go to VA or not - "put a ham bone up my ass and let the hounds drag me into the woods". Brecksville was a snake pit and featured in a lot of news exposes including 60 Minutes and in '70 had been the place where Hubert Humprey's Congressional Committee went to hold hearings after it was reported Tat vet's were prescribed 5 or more times the Thorazine than necessary and were being posy tied to chair and allowed to piss and shit themselves.

My life went on and got better and most of the time I had cadillac insurence and VA was just a collection of bad memory.

After my dad died needlessly of colon cancer, he didn't tell anyone until it was too late - WAY too late, I started regular colonoscopies. After I turned 55 or so just before a scheduled 'scoping, I found out my insurance had been canceled.

My wife "compelled" me to go to VA by filling out the papers and I went to satisfy her and I knew I needed to get that 'scope.

Man oh man what a change. It was eye opening.

If Congress would keep out of it, like when W closed three or four hospitals around here, things would be even better. A lot of the problem are claimed by non vets who truly believe they are advocating for us because of the past history, and because as a group Viet Vets ... well a lot of us were treated bad in the past and a lot of us weren't treated for things like agent orange,
PTSD, mesothelioma etc. Also a lot of us don't keep appointments, yell a lot and get angry, frustrated and do not comply with a treatment plan.

And a lot of that had to do with the Pentagon denying there were any such problems. If the Army said burn barrels were safe, how could VA treat it? If the Navy said no blue water sailors were exposed to Agent Orange, how could VA treat it? If the Air Force said polyflourides were safe, how could VA treat it? If the Marines said PSTD was malingering .... and for PSTD when the military finally decided it might be a thing, a serviceman had to start his claim while still in uniform. Its only been in last five or six years that a claim could be initiated at the VA, and the rest of the exposures I mentioned have only been recognized since PSTD was recognized. Meanwhile some vets have been fighting for decades for recognition of their service related damages and a lot died waiting, a significant number by their own hand.

VA also if very actively fighting suicide and homelessness. There are homes for vets and jobs for them at VA.

I live far enough from Temple I could use the brand new Scott and White Hospital. Its good but I'd rather be around vets. Its well worth the drive. And as good as the treatment is a Scott and White and it ts very good - VA is better at least for me as a vet.

You are in great hands at the VA. My husband is a Vietnam vet and he chooses to go to the VA even though he does not have to. The care here in Albuquerque is top notch. A contributing factor is that employee satisfaction is very high too, according to my daughter who has worked at both the VAMC here in Albuquerque and the one in Fresno, Ca. You have an amazingly positive attitude marble falls. That is sure to help with your healing process.

its a surprising thing to me to realize how many vets and their families are on DU. Also: how completely satisfied everyone is with their VA hospitals and doctors.

I always ALWAYS feel I am the only person they are concerned with. My wife and I have made friends with so many people at the hospitals, its so strange to have so many people know my name ( I admit that being there pretty regularly over the last five years might have a part of it though it also shows that employees tend to stay on the job) and my wifes nickname there is the 'calendar lady'. We don't ever have to reschedule and we never miss an appointment she got it all under control.

I'm glad you and your hubby got a good hospital and I'm glad your daughter has been there to help us.

at the VA 9 years ago. I've got some answers if you have any questions. Send me an mail.

It was too advanced to do anything but remove it. He is still around, has adjusted, and doesn't seem to have slowed down any. He has had the catheter and the bag ever since, but after three years, it's like second nature. It's amazing what one can get used to when the alternative is oblivion.

I'm really glad you have the VA support. I'll bet that's the difference between hope and despair at this point.

As a matter of fact, I am making a quick visit to the USA starting Friday, and expect to see him while I'm there, so I'll get to do exactly that.

DC, Dallas, and some you-can't-get-there-from-here place in the Midwest, all in 2 weeks, and then back over here.

There's never a dull moment. Hell, there's never a moment, period. I know this pace will kill me at some point, but I've been doing this for 44 years now, and I'm pretty sure it beats dying of boredom.

oil painting, hand dye fabric and weave.

I try to stay away from DFW (the area) as much as possible!

The pace is more likely to keep you alive longer as use it or lose finally becomes truer everyday.

I think I've inherited the gene.

Was good to my mom.
Good luck and good vibes!

I've been thinking about you since I read your other post on this subject.

I'm sending you good thoughts...I think you will come through this OK. It sounds like you have excellent medical support, and I think that you have strength. Please keep up the good fight, take of of yourself the best that you can, and continue to keep a good mindset. Your body tends to follow your mind when it can. Tell yourself you will get through this, no matter what the prognosis.

Please keep us updated on your progress. Stay strong and beat the cancer.

May you feel the strength of those who care as you walk this path. And know we are glad you have the VA, too!

👍🏼

I was not following this but I feel for you. Several of my friends have been dealing with cancer and all I can say is that I hope you have options that improve the quality of life. All of that is a really tough call.

your feet.

to see you have a positive mindset about it! I sincerely wish you all the best on this journey.

Being on DU has been the best therapy ever.

Medical decisions can be difficult, until they aren't. Be wise, stay strong, and have a speedy recovery!

That two weeks for the biopsy report always had me on edge.

I am so glad you have the VA. I had private market insurance so that the cost of premiums and deducible was more than twice what a full time minimum wage job paid. The ACA helped, but it was still very expensive.

I'm with you in spirit!

what absolutely drives me nuts is the health care isn't a Democrat vs Republican issue, its a conservative vs liberal issue. How health care is administered is a Democrat vs Republican issue. ACA was President Obama's attempt at bipartisanship with the GOP: using private insurance to effect heath care should have appealed to all those Republicans who claim they want to reform how health care is administered in this country. What President Obama should have done was force single payer down their throats and put the private health in insurance scams into the history books.

I sure do miss Barack and Michelle Obama.

and there's nothing they can do for him. Gave him a shot hoping to slow it down. He's 64.

contact me, PM me if he's interested and I'll get you my contact information.

Most prostate cancers grow slowly, so chances are he will die of old age or other causes first.

I am glad you have great health care and you have a really good attitude which is important in fighting this thing.

preferably single payer.

..(((hugs)))...

Best of luck!!

Best of luck to you.

I’m in Austin, a really great place to live, so not far from Marble Falls. Wishing you a great outcome.

be fine, a little dinged and dented, missing a coupla pieces of original standard equipment but I'm going to be just fine.

surround you and bring you back to your native vital strength, and resilience. I send prayers, positive energy to loose this disease, completely. Peace.

,