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Frustrating Day with the VA

slowe

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Don't get me started on the VA.

 

He's gone in about every 4 weeks all summer for a CK blood test, as the level just kept going up and up each time. (a high CK level can be a precursor heart attack -- wonderful!) About 5 weeks ago the new DR took him off his lovastatin (for cholesterol) and the test on the 8th is finally near normal

 

But here's how the conversation went down yesterday

 

The DR was supposed to "get back to me" with the results. of course that never happened. So i place a call to the DR. You can never get through of course, you call and leave a message and hope somebody with a brain gets it through the system. I didn't hear back and I didn't hear back, so I placed another call. A nurse calls me back yesterday and asks for him. I explain I'm the wife, he's had a stroke, he's at home can you talk to me. Of course they can't. So I call him and he calls her and then she (finally) calls me back to say the blood test is near normal and he can "continue the medication". I ask if this means keep "not" taking the one she took him off of, or to start taking it again. Seemed like a logical question to me. She says (can you believe this) "I don't have any idea. Let me read to you exactly what it says --and she repeats herself almost verbatim! SO again, I ask, does that mean take the statin or don't take it? She says the prescription is still good. I explain I have two bottles of the *beep* at home, and that's not my question. Does he take it or not? She says she is "just" filling in for somebody and has no idea. God, I hate it when people use that excuse---isn't anybody responsible for anything anymore? I ask her if she could possibly find out from the DR. She agrees to do that.

 

Then I ask if the DR still wants to see him in Oct. She says "well, you have an appt on the 17th with DR M---(some name I've never heard of). I say really? News to me. I ask what happened to Dr. Patel (the second DR he's had here, but we had never seen yet). They reassigned DRs and now we have a "him" dr instead of a "her". I explain that he has historically done better with female DRs. No, you can't change now. Keep this appt and if it doesn't go well, then you can request a change.

 

The last thing on my agenda is to see how to get access to his records, drs calls, etc. I had been told we need an advance directive. I ask if this will let me talk directly to the drs without him giving his ok each time. She says no, it's only "if mr. lowe is no longer able to speak for himself." So I try to rephrase the question and she starts her spiel again. I break in with (by this time thoroughly fed up with the system) "I get it, I get it, I can pull the plug on him. What I'm asking is how to get access to his medical providers directly." Of course she has no idea and refers me to social services. This lady actually has a brain and is nice. Bottom line is each DR interprets the order differently, and it's up to them to "choose" to talk to me or not.

 

UGH!

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jriva

 

 

Slowe,

 

This kind of problems you are having are such a pain in butt!!!!

 

In our state, when you first start going to a doctor they give you a form to fill out and you get to list any and all the people in your family who can get medical information about you directly from the doctors/nurses. (It's not the advance medical directive you mentioned.) And if you want to change that list down the road, you fill out another form and they tear up the first. You might find out if the VA doctors have a similar office procedure and if they do, that might explain why you can't talk directly to the doctors, had your husband not named you when he first started going there. I just filled out one of those form for my new foot doctor last week and I listed four people and the dog---that last one they don't know is a canine but, hey, I can play games too.

 

Jean

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jwatrous

:( :ranting: What a shame it is on how the VA treats its veterans -

At a drop of a hat, this country thinks nothing to send these young boys to possibly die, then when they returned injured, they are put on the waiting list. This is NOT acceptable behavior as our vets should get the best asap

June, husband a vietnam vet

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fking

Slowe,

 

I sorta know from my experience with the VA what you face each time. It's the same way here in my town. I've been dealing with them for years and finally just got a percentage for the first time and I retired in 1979.

 

I have to sign a paper allowing the NOK or spouse to get information about me, even for emergencies. It's crazy. They wouldn't give her my appointment time saying they had to talk to me only like it was a top secret.

 

I have yet to get a call back from my PCP doctor at VA about anything I need to know. They ALWAYS say I can come in to the walk in clinic to get answers and that's just not the case.

 

Seems like all the VA employees are the same no matter what VA you use. Where do they get these people from?

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Guest lwisman

It's not just the VA. In most states doctor offices cannot by law give out info to anyone but the patient unless the patient has given permission. This is to protect your privacy. Like Jean in Michigan, in Illinois you also fill out a form and say who can request your info. Please check with the office. I would think they would have a system for allowing someone besides the patient to be given info.

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swilkinson

A way around here is I say:"Hi, I'm Sue. Ray's wife. He would like you to speak with me on his behalf, here he is now". Ray says his little piece about me handling his affairs. They speak to me.

 

If they don't want to make a note of it and have a form filled in we do that. Speeds up the process somewhat. With computers when X from insurance rings a message should spring up to say Ray has given permission for me to speak on his behalf.

 

But the appointment changing thing applies here too. And sometimes I say sweetly: "Sorry that clashes with another appointment. Any chance of rebooking?" and that sometimes works.

 

I get the feeling it is all a process and we are not people but "cases" to a lot of the medical profession. And only the survivor and/or caregiver sees the human toll this dehumanising process takes.

 

Sue.

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azrabbit

Slowe, The next time you go to the VA, request a walk in appointment with the Social Worker in your clinic. As a caregiver for my Dad, I spend a lot of time at the VA center. While he has had pretty good care there, you do have to "go according to procedure." Having never been in the military, this was quite a learning experience for me. First you sign in, then one person takes your information and asks you if you are in pain, then you wait, then you see a PA or a dr. who spends his/her time reading your computerized chart witout making eye contact. Then they tell you what they are going to do. If the meds are changed, you go back out and wait until the pharmacist can talk to you to tell you what the medication is, then you go wait at the pharmacy until you name comes up on the board. If you are waiting over an hour (which we frequently do) you tell them and your name seems to appear shortly thereafter.

 

BUT, if you are successful in seeing the social worker, they can complete forms for you to be listed as the Next of Kin and you will be able to ask questions, get answers - sometimes, and manage billing. They also redid my Dad's POA and Advanced Directives while we were there. Worth the wait considering what that would have cost us elsewhere.

 

Hang in there! I have found that you just have to keep bugging them.

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