Doctor: You know hat condition the VA has been treating for you? You didnt have it

[darin]

So...

Seems the foot condition from which I've suffered since 1998; and continue treatment for via VA Health Care system...is NOT the condition I REALLY Have.

Been working with podiatric surgeon and neurologist in an attempt to get my feet pain under control. Neurologist says I have sever neuropathy likely from years of no-treatment to a condition the Army and VA confused as another condition. Lately the pain in walking is severe. After my last treatment (Podiatrist injected 'pain killer' of some sort into my heel, right between the heel bone and Achilles) I have burning pain when walking. As I step I feel something like FLUID fire spreading from the point of impact of my foot across the arch and ball of my foot up under the toes, ending atop the toe near the nails. Think of it like this - when you walk with wet shoes you can feel the water oozing? That's what the pain is doing for me now. I spent all weekend on the couch - only walking as-needed, and once to make chicken soup and one more time to fry a few pieces.

Today I'm on my last vicodin and some Canadian-purchased Tylenol + codeine (can buy over-the-counter up there). I see the doctor tomorrow but I'm at the point where I sorta just want everything chopped off. :-/

From here - Man, I'll continue down this path to try and fix it, as well as re-file my disability claim with the VA and see what they say.

[Jeff]

So...

Seems the foot condition from which I've suffered since 1998; and continue treatment for via VA Health Care system...is NOT the condition I REALLY Have.

Been working with podiatric surgeon and neurologist in an attempt to get my feet pain under control. Neurologist says I have sever neuropathy likely from years of no-treatment to a condition the Army and VA confused as another condition. Lately the pain in walking is severe. After my last treatment (Podiatrist injected 'pain killer' of some sort into my heel, right between the heel bone and Achilles) I have burning pain when walking. As I step I feel something like FLUID fire spreading from the point of impact of my foot across the arch and ball of my foot up under the toes, ending atop the toe near the nails. Think of it like this - when you walk with wet shoes you can feel the water oozing? That's what the pain is doing for me now. I spent all weekend on the couch - only walking as-needed, and once to make chicken soup and one more time to fry a few pieces.

Today I'm on my last vicodin and some Canadian-purchased Tylenol + codeine (can buy over-the-counter up there). I see the doctor tomorrow but I'm at the point where I sorta just want everything chopped off. :-/

From here - Man, I'll continue down this path to try and fix it, as well as re-file my disability claim with the VA and see what they say.

Darin I suffer from neuropathy real bad, I am on major pain meds 5 times daily for it, it is horrible, my feet burn so bad it is unreal, this may sound stupid and you can only do it at home but maybe it will help you, my youngest son use to grab my feet and squeeze them, it took the pain away immediately, he would do this before my wife was putting pain patches on or honestly I would kick uncountable when she touched my foot, the pain was that intense. So I thought if the tightness of his hands helped maybe if I tied bandanas around my feet it would help and it did, so as to look a little better and get a better fit my wife started wrapping ace bandages around my feet and nope it didn't take all the pain but it did help, well ace bandages come lose, so we went to tractor supply and got the wrap they put on horses legs ( it is the same stuff the hospitals use but at a fraction of the price ) now when the pain get unbearable I wrap that blue ( yea that is the wife's favorite color, but they have many different colors :laugh:) and it helps, not sure how it will help you but ya might try, I pray it eases for ya, I know the pain you are going through, mine is from Diabetes they say, but my sugar level is fine and I am not taking any meds at this point, most articles I have read say a once a diabetic gets his sugar under control it helps, as I said my sugar level is fine and the pain gets worse all the time, it has now moved into my hands, to clap at a ball game puts me in excruciating pain, so most people think I am just a jerk when my kids hits a home run or makes a great play and I don't clap. The doctor told me some wind up in a wheel chair and as far as wanting the foot cut off, I mentioned that very thing to my doc and he told me when a person loses a foot ( or any part ) that doesn't always take the pain away, he explained his Dad had lost a foot but still wakes up screaming from pain in his foot, he called it ghost pain, he said this is very common, Man I sure hope the Docs can help you, between this issue and a host of others ( but that being the main issue ) that is why I am no longer running up and down the road. Man old age stinks :laugh:

[Bilgerat]

Damn brother, that sounds bad.

I went to the VA here in West palm for a foot issue too. Normally, I'm a big fan of the VA, they've always done good by me and I can't really complain on how my care goes.

But the feet thing, I have large pads or growths on both feet right near (behind) my big toes. I can't remember them not there, so I haven't felt that they were an issue. No pain (unless I hit them walking barefoot).

I went in for my diabetic well care, and the new Dr. checked my feet. She asked me "what are those"? (This is only the start of that question). A podiatrist was scheduled.

Went to the foot doctor who looked and said (you guessed it) "what are those"? He called in his nurse who said "what are those"?

Now I'm wondering, why is a college educated Dr and a trained nurse asking me, an old hole snipe, what the growths on my feet are.

Since I have no pain and I do have heart/diabetic issues, it was decided "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

But the whole foot thing with the VA has left me scratching my head ever since.

Here's hoping they fix your problem

[darin]

Oh my god Jeff. I had no idea. You EXACTLY know the pain I have.

THANK YOU for that post. Holy cow - ya know what? For the last 5 years? I haven't been able to clap my hands without pain and nobody around me believed me.

:-/

I too love the squeeze and release (sounds sexy). I don't have anyone to do that for me - nor do I have any mechanism yet for pain-control. I'm hoping there's hope for me. The neurologist put me on a heavy vitamin B regimen. Nothing works so far except the vicodin.

My blood work came back just fine - a LITTLE heavy on the sugar except I'd just done the fasting glucose - and consumed something like 75 metric tons of sugar in their 'control' drink.

[jimnyc]

Damn, sorry to hear about the pains, I can only imagine. Hopefully you'll/they'll find what the hello is going on, or at the very least find a way to bring you some relief.

[Trigg]

Physicians at the VA's do NOT have to pass the American Boards. This is one reason why they have more foreign doctor's, and one's that don't seem to know what they're doing. Our veterans are getting second rate care, with fewer oversights than private hospitals.

This one reason why I've said in the past that VA's in populated areas with many different hospital choices should be shut down. Veterans in these area's could be given the same care for the same cost and save the government millions, and they'd get better care.

[aboutime]

All of us (Veterans) should know, by now. We have been handed nothing but BS from the Govt. that pretends they are UPSET, and ANGRY whenever they hear stories like ours, or those, like the waiting lists, and deaths.

Personally, as I have discovered. Giving up on the VA in lieu of getting a Civilian Family Practice Physician, has paid off big-time. Bet many of US....VETERANS never knew the VA and TRICARE had a terrible habit of NOT approving CANCER TREATMENT payments. Like the Chemo, and Radiation treatments from OUR OWN POCKET?

Not a joke. As far back as 2009. The VA, and TRICARE refused to accept Civilian sources of Cancer treatments like the Chemo, and Radiation...unless someone from the VA gave it their blessings.
Consequences....nearly losing everything we owned. But, we survived, and the VA really hasn't changed all that much since being exposed over the last several years.

NO civilian will ever understand, or feel what VETERANS are, and have been forced to accept. Even after our OWN U.S. Govt. Broke the Contracts all of us signed.
Truth is. There are still large portions of our Civilian population here in the U.S.A. who are still under the false impression that WE VETERANS are getting EVERYTHING FOR FREE, while playing Golf, Fishing, or Being on Vacation while everyone else has to WORK (IF THEY CAN).

Surprise. To our non-veteran, fellow citizens. Don't believe everything you hear, or read.
Generally. The U.S.Govt. LIES.

There is only ONE GOOD THING we veterans should have, and demand. A CARD that gives us permission to enter, and use ALL MEDICAL facilities, doctors, hospitals...even if they are NOT Military.

[Jeff]

Oh my god Jeff. I had no idea. You EXACTLY know the pain I have.

THANK YOU for that post. Holy cow - ya know what? For the last 5 years? I haven't been able to clap my hands without pain and nobody around me believed me.

:-/

I too love the squeeze and release (sounds sexy). I don't have anyone to do that for me - nor do I have any mechanism yet for pain-control. I'm hoping there's hope for me. The neurologist put me on a heavy vitamin B regimen. Nothing works so far except the vicodin.

My blood work came back just fine - a LITTLE heavy on the sugar except I'd just done the fasting glucose - and consumed something like 75 metric tons of sugar in their 'control' drink.

Darin the old saying that ya just don't know the pain some live with didn't make sense to me until about 5 years ago, my pain Doc says he can give me enough meds to take all the pain away and I will also have zero quality of life, I was on enough pain meds to choke a horse but after the last surgery I cut it in half. Nerve issues is the worst, yes I have asked the doc to just cut the feet off and as I said that wouldn't help either and as craty as it sounds he understood why I felt that way. People that have never dealt with nerve damage, well imagine feeling like your foot was in a fire and ya couldn't get it out, yes some nights it is that bad, and my littlest would ask Daddy can I squeeze your feet ( hell I didn't even want the kids to see me in that pain ) but I would let him and it worked, his little hands fit perfect, like I said go to a store like tractor supply and get the wrap they use on horses, wrap it around the middle of your foot and it helps, or it helps me at least, when I told the Doc he smiled and said hey what ever works. He did say the squeezing helps ( he explained the reason but I would be lying if I tried to explain it ) but he had never heard about the horse wrap.

You say your sugar is fine, they told me I was a diabetic because my sugar level was one number higher than normal, they called it borderline and then they told me there was no such thing as borderline, you are or are not a diabetic, and according to the Doc's I was, I decided to quit the meds they had me on and watch what I ate, I did that for 6 months while I monitored my sugar level and when I went back to the Docs he said my A1C ( I think that is what it is called ) was perfect, I explained I quit all the meds, he wasn't happy but what could he say. All I have read says usually once your sugar is controlled your issues ease, not mine, the Doc said some just have it and have to learn to live with it.

Good luck with it Darin

[Perianne]

Physicians at the VA's do NOT have to pass the American Boards.

Trigg, are you certain about this? Can you provide a link that backs up what you say? I know for certain that nurses have to have American license to practice.


...when I went back to the Docs he said my A1C ( I think that is what it is called ) was perfect...

It is called A1C and is a measurement of your blood sugar levels over a period of 60-90 days.


All I have read says usually once your sugar is controlled your issues ease, not mine, the Doc said some just have it and have to learn to live with it.

Jeff, what you have read was incorrect. Damage caused by diabetes is cumulative. That is, it does not goes back.


I wish you gentlemen well. I have seen the results of diabetes on a large percentage of my patients. It is never pretty.

[darin]

But I am not diabetic. I didn't have these 'FOOT IS ON FIRE OMG' pains until after a treatment last week; prior to that I had 'foot pain' - like...I dunno...normal hurtful pain. None of this nerve-fire pain.

:(

[Nukeman]

Trigg, are you certain about this? Can you provide a link that backs up what you say? I know for certain that nurses have to have American license to practice.


.

Here is the pertinent part of the "qualifications"
QUALIFICATIONS

Minimum qualiications for appointment as a VA physician are:
• U.S. citizenship (non-citizens may be hired when it is not possible to
recruit qualiied citizens)
• Degree of Doctor of Medicine or an equivalent degree from an institution
approved by the Association of American Medical Colleges or the American
Osteopathic Association for the year in which the degree was granted
• Full, current, and unrestricted license to practice medicine or surgery
in any U.S. State, Commonwealth, the District of Columbia, or Territory
(e.g., Puerto Rico)
• Appropriate professional record for experienced physicians
• Satisfactory physical examination (may include drug screening)
• English language proicienc

There are a number of Territories that the US has and most of them have VERY easy licensing requirement compared to the continental US.

[darin]

Visted doctor today; he's convinced the injection simply injured my nerve and it will heal - on steroids and a few opiates till next week

[Perianne]

Visted doctor today; he's convinced the injection simply injured my nerve and it will heal - on steroids and a few opiates till next week

Great news, dmp!

When I was a new nurse, I gave an injection in the deltoid and found resistance. It was a nerve that I had hit. Just bad luck for him. He later told me it took a while for his arm to feel normal.

[Jeff]

Trigg, are you certain about this? Can you provide a link that backs up what you say? I know for certain that nurses have to have American license to practice.



It is called A1C and is a measurement of your blood sugar levels over a period of 60-90 days.



Jeff, what you have read was incorrect. Damage caused by diabetes is cumulative. That is, it does not goes back.


I wish you gentlemen well. I have seen the results of diabetes on a large percentage of my patients. It is never pretty.

What the article had said was no it doesn't go away nut it is controlled, in fact I think it was Gary Coleman ( was a kid actor from way back that they used as a example ) anyway I am not doubting you at all because like I said mine is under control but the pain isn't.