The world’s best healthcare system — the VA — can help
By Larry Dandridge
As a Vietnam War wounded warrior and 100% service-connected and combat disabled veteran with a list too long of old wounds, injuries, and health conditions that cause me continuous pain; as a past VA-accredited Veterans Service Officer, as a Patient and Family Centered Care Instructor, and VA Patient Adviser for 22 years, I believe that I can talk about “Chronic Pain.”
The bad news
Having been drenched in Agent Orange in Vietnam, flying Huey helicopters dispensing deadly herbicides, and having flown Huey Gunships covering those Agent Orange spraying helicopters, I now suffer from stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal and pressure on the spinal cord and nerve roots by arthritic bone and hardening tissues), peripheral neuropathy (pain numbness, tingling, and burning in my lower legs and feet), migraines, bursitis, ischemic heart disease, hearing loss in both ears, high blood pressure, hypothyroidism, AFIB, PTSD, severe Coronary Artery Disease, and my other disabling conditions.
I was wounded in Vietnam in helicopter crashes and shootdowns. I had my back broken, ankles shattered, right hand broken, left mandible broken, neck severely whiplashed, forearms burned, a deep and near-fatal throat laceration, dozens of Plexiglass shards in my face, two Traumatic Brain Injuries, and knees sprained in combat.
Those crashes also destroyed 84 percent of my L1 vertebra, which has caused scoliosis, shortened my left leg an inch, caused stenosis of my spinal canal, and wrecked my hips, SI joint, and knees. This fracture of my L1 has also caused accelerated osteoarthritis in my spine, hips, sacroiliac joint, knees, and ankles.
Add to those injuries my daily migraine headaches from my 12 military TBIs and the fact that I was in 11 car wrecks (one with injuries) in Iran, driven by an Iranian. I also boxed in the Army, played too much football with and without a helmet, tennis, basketball, and softball, and I ran thousands of miles in old Army issue boots and less than proper shoes. Thus, today I am a walking menagerie (collection) of pain and discomfort.
The good news
As a service-connected 100 percent disabled veteran and a retired soldier, I get the world’s best (and free) healthcare from the VA. If I need it, I can also use Medicare and Tricare for life. Over the past 58 years, I have received terrific health care from the U.S. military, the VA, and some civilian providers.
I am fortunate to have received healthcare from two of the best VA Medical Centers in the VA, the five-star-rated Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston, and the Durham VA Medical Center in Durham, N.C.
Those two outstanding VA medical centers have treated my chronic pain with limited oral medications, including Tylenol, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), Diclofenac/Voltaren, Tramadol, and Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression surgery. I have also had hundreds of hours of physical therapy, acupuncture, traction, a Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (using a TENS unit), an epidural injection, chiropractic care, Lidocaine Patches, a back brace, and massages. These interventions have helped, but they do not ever eliminate my pain. The only time I was given opioids was the first week after I was wounded in 1969.
I am in mild to moderate, and occasionally severe, pain 24 hours per day and seven days per week, but my VA doctors, physical therapists, and I have worked together to control my pain most of the time.
The Veterans Health Library (more good news)
There is a comprehensive online Veterans Health Library at https://bit.ly/46CcKWB. At this site, veterans can research topics like:
· Chronic Pain, which includes Understanding Chronic (ongoing) Pain, The Cycle of Chronic Pain, Treating Chronic Pain, Managing Chronic Pain/Activity, Taking Opioids, Buprenorphine Buccal, Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CP/CPPS), Managing Chronic Pain (Therapies for Mind and Body), An Effective Way to Cope with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Understanding Low Back Pain.
· Healthy Living, which covers being involved in your health care, physically active, safe, and tobacco free, and eating wisely, getting recommended screening tests/immunizations, limiting alcohol, managing stress, sleeping well, and maintaining a healthy weight.
· Diseases and Conditions, which include aging veterans’ health, infectious diseases, women’s and men’s health, cancer, and blood, bone-joint-muscle, brain and nervous system, chronic pain, dental health, diabetes, digestive problems, ear-nose-throat, heart-blood vessel, hormone, immune system, kidney, lung, mental health, sleep, and urinary problems.
· Tests and Treatments, which include aging veterans’ health, chronic pain, cancer, women’s and men’s health, diabetes, infectious diseases, dental health, general surgery, and blood, bone-joint-muscle, brain and nervous system, and digestive, ENT, eye, heart and blood vessel, immune system, kidney, lung, mental health, skin, sleep, and urinary problems.
· Medications, which include a comprehensive drug reference and answers to medication questions for prescriptions, over-the-counter products, and nutraceuticals.
· Rehabilitation, which includes after spinal cord injury, after TBI, coping with chronic pain, occupational therapy, physical therapy, pulmonary rehabilitation, and speech therapy.
· Mental health, which includes depression, PTSD, schizophrenia, substance abuse, suicide prevention, and mental health recovery.
· Living with aging veterans’ health, ALS, Asthma, back and neck pain, coronary artery disease, COPD, Diabetes, Heart Failure, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Insomnia, Low Blood Pressure, Spinal Cord Injury and Disorder, Stroke, and TBI.
· Videos and Guides, including decision aid tools, essential guides for chronic conditions, online health guides, VA navigation tools, and video library.
Chronic pain
According to the Veterans Health Library “Understanding Chronic Pain” webpage at https://bit.ly/45yVJeN, “chronic” means ongoing. Pain is called chronic when it lasts over a long period, at least three months. This includes pain that you feel regularly, even if it comes and goes.
Chronic stimulus
Chronic pain may be due to continuing injury or disease. Or it may be due to problems with the body’s pain-control system. An example of this is fibromyalgia. Chronic pain may be from the ongoing arousal of the body’s pain system. The cause may be an untreated injury or health problem. Common examples of these are:
· Joint degeneration (arthritis).
· Back injury.
· Nervous system damage (neuropathic pain).
· Headaches.
With this type of pain, both the pain and the underlying causal condition must be treated.
Chronic Pain Syndrome
In some cases, no cause can be found for a person’s chronic pain. Some people with chronic pain develop chronic pain syndrome. In addition to the pain, this can include:
· Anxiety.
· Depression.
· Anger.
· Changed lifestyle.
It’s important to talk with your health care team about these secondary conditions. You will need treatment for these problems in addition to treatment for pain.
The bottom line
Thanks to good Army and VA doctors, I am still highly functioning, working, and enjoying life. Veterans should sign up for VA healthcare and follow the directions of their doctors and other medical professionals. Pain and discomfort can be controlled and lived with.
Larry Dandridge is a Vietnam War wounded warrior, a combat and service-connected 100% disabled veteran, an ex-Enlisted Infantryman, an ex-Warrant Officer Pilot, and a retired Lt. Colonel. His over 260 articles on veterans’ benefits, leadership, logistics, hospice, law enforcement, and aeronautics have been published in over 20 magazines and newspapers in the USA, Germany, and England. Larry is a former Veterans Service Officer, a Patient Adviser at his local VA Hospital, a Fisher House Charleston Goodwill Ambassador, and the past Vice President for Veteran Affairs for his local Association of the US Army (AUSA) and Military Officers Association (MOAA) Chapters. He is currently the VFW Post 7378 Service Officer, the author of the award-winning and popular (over 250 five-star reviews) Blades of Thunder (Book One), and a contributing freelance writer with The Island News. Contact him at LDandridge@earthlink.net or 843-276-7164.
