One week in mid-January I spent several hours on the phone with Dr. A who called to gather more information on Sean's case for the MEB. We talked at length about Sean's abdominal problems, PTSD, TBI, and every other symptom under the sun. Finally, Dr. A told me that the information in Sean's records and the information I was giving him correlate, but it does not go with what he was asked to put in his report. Wait. What? What he was ASKED to put in his report does not match the information in the health records or information I am giving him? I wonder why my faith in this system is shaken.
Dr. D who sits on the PEB board at Ft. Lewis, WA was not happy with the ophthalmology report in Sean’s packet. The examining ophthalmologist at Ft. Riley, Dr. P, retired prior to writing his report so the new ophthalmologist wrote a report based on the notes left behind. Also, somewhere in Sean’s file someone wrote “no light perception” and although we know that’s not true, Dr. D wanted it re-tested. Dr. D was also not happy with the neuro ophthalmologist report we had done last spring by Dr. S in Minot because he is not a military neuro ophthalmologist.
We traveled to Ft. Riley the last week in January where Sean had an examination by ophthalmologist Dr. B for more than three hours. Sean was also scheduled for a mental health evaluation later that day “just in case” they didn’t like the results of the eye exam. After we reported to Mental Health, we saw Dr. B come down and consult with psychologist Dr. M. We were then told that before they proceeded with the mental health evaluation Sean would need to go to Madigan Army Medical Center at Ft. Lewis, WA for an examination by a military neuro ophthalmologist. After that is completed, we will need to return to Ft. Riley for the mental health portion.
Sean is extremely upset that the military will not accept the report from the neuro ophthalmologist he saw last year and that they continue to make him reprove his disabilities. It is also disheartening that although Senator Johnson's office made a formal request for this to be our last trip to Kansas, we may still have to return.
In approximately 3 weeks we will reach the 1 year mark since Sean's first MEB examination and his paperwork and tests will start to outdate. We are working with our FRC, Rosa Hamilton, and Tonya Peterson of Senator Johnson’s office to get things resolved as quickly as possible. Sean is very frustrated that the military is trying to dismiss his vision loss and blame it on his mental health. In my opinion, if his blindness is psychological (which I doubt) then the military and VA have spent three years doing nothing about it. . . that's service.
How long can they drag this out? How many times do they need to evaluate so they can get the information they need to make a diagnosis. . . .the diagnosis they want vs one that is accurate?
It's been over a year since we testified on "Seamless Transition" and were promised that things would be resolved. Hmm. . .
In better news, the VA finally increased his PTSD rating due to the number of medications he is on to manage symptoms and they also finally acknowledge his TBI instead of lumping it in with headaches. They still did not grant a permanent and total rating for the vision and want to re-evaluate in the future.
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