All Episodes
Previous Next
May 14, 2023 - Stew Peters Show
59:23
The Richard Leonard Show: Understanding Gulf War Syndrome and the Importance of VA Enrollment
| Copy link to current segment

Time Text
Thank you.
Thank you.
Were you aware that if you served anywhere in the Middle East from August of 1991 to current day, you are considered a Gulf War veteran?
I believe that a lot of post 9-11 veterans are not aware that they would be considered Gulf War veterans.
So today, my friend Valerie is going to be here with us and we're going to have a discussion about Gulf War Syndrome.
Something that I don't know a lot about, but today we're going to get an education.
So stick with us.
Don't go away.
We start now.
Hey everybody, welcome here to the next episode As always, I want to thank you for joining us this evening.
Before we get started, as usual, I know you won't mind me telling you about how this show was made possible, and that's Cortez Wealth Management.
Get yourself over to AmericaFirstRetirementPlan.com.
Go ahead and sign up for the webinars.
They happen on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7 p.m.
Eastern Standard Time.
Mr.
Carlos Cortez wants to help you build, plan, and execute a tax-free retirement plan.
Your plan for when you're finished working or can't work anymore, whatever the case may be, should be as easy of a transition as possible.
So get a hold of Cortez Wealth Management over at AmericaFirstRetirementPlan.com.
Get all the information.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns after you gather the information, Carlos and the staff will be more than happy to help you.
So get over to AmericaFirstRetirementPlan.com and check it out.
Okay, we got to get started today.
We have a lot to learn.
Gulf War Syndrome.
As I said in the intro, I believe that there is a lot of folks who are not aware that they fall into the bucket of Gulf War Syndrome.
I didn't know until I talked with our good friend Valerie Mulliken, who's going to join us here in just one second.
I was in the dark about it.
And I don't claim to know a lot, but I think I know a lot more than a lot of other folks.
But we're all learners, right?
We're lifelong learners.
So let me...
Valerie, there you are.
Hey, good evening.
Thank you for joining us.
Hi, how are you?
I'm good.
I'm all right.
All right.
Okay, so thank you, Valerie, for agreeing to be our teacher today.
Golf War Syndrome.
Anybody, you and I were talking offline, so anybody who has served in the Middle East from August of 1991 to current are considered Gulf War veterans, correct?
August of 1990, at the beginning of Desert Shield to present day, yes.
It's considered the Gulf War.
Okay.
August of 1990.
See, I'm already learning.
You're okay.
So, can you just explain to us and give us a brief rundown of what Gulf War Syndrome is and what I know it to be?
Is veterans who suffer from things like fatigue, headaches, joint pain, respiratory disorders, stomach or digestive issues, insomnia, memory problems, and things like dizziness.
I'm sure I'm missing some things, but those are like the eight key things that I picked up from the little bit of research I did over the last few days.
I'm sure it's more detailed than that.
Can you fill us in?
Well, it is more detailed than that.
Unfortunately, the powers that be are not very forthcoming in covering everything.
So fatigue is definitely a sign or a symptom.
Musculoskeletal pain, a lot of times referred to as fibromyalgia, is a symptom.
With the fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome is a symptom.
Also, sleep apnea can be a symptom.
Cognitive deficits associated with PTSD, depression, anxiety, also adjustment disorders.
There can be some personality changes, cognitive functioning in regards to memory loss, short-term, long-term memory loss, skin rashes, gastrointestinal issues such as diarrhea or acid reflux,
That progress into more chronic conditions such as Crohn's disease, diverticulitis, ulcerative colitis.
You can also get acid reflux, esophageal problems such as Barrett's esophagus.
Progression of that can lead to gastroparesis, which is a paralysis of that gastrointestinal tract.
So the motility of that system doesn't work and move the food through.
Ultimately, those kind of things can lead to cancers.
Respiratory issues, of course, COPD, emphysema.
We're seeing a lot of scarring on the lungs that restrict the level of capacity of the lungs.
Neurological conditions from numbness and tingling in the extremities to loss of balance, slurred speech, vision issues, hearing issues, a wide range of things.
It's really uncanny.
We also have a group of veterans that are compensated a little extra.
That just came out in the PACT Act.
I'm sure a lot of people have heard about the PACT Act.
And the glioblastoma...
Brain tumor has finally been recognized.
Of course, I'm disappointed that it's taken so long to get that out there.
We actually had We actually had a group of Gulf War veterans that had a cluster of this glioblastoma brain tumor and that it was very alarming and they these veterans have died and their families have not been compensated as a result of that so we're grateful that it's finally been approved through the PACT Act but unfortunately for many they're They
didn't ever receive any compensation.
So that is disturbing, to say the least.
So there is quite the plethora of issues that Gulf War veterans have documented suffering from.
I wonder, here's one question that I have, and please excuse my ignorance if it's like a no-duh type of answer, but the issues that, let's just say, Vietnam veterans had when it came to any type of exposure or anything like that,
Is Gulf War Syndrome and the issues that you were just talking about vastly different than veterans experienced when they served in Vietnam, or is it similar and it's just kind of separated because of the era?
There are some crossovers, particularly like the skin issues, the respiratory issues, the nervous system issues.
There are some crossovers there.
So you know that the toxic exposures, there's some neuro antagonists and toxic exposures between both of those wars.
And surprisingly enough, Agent Orange was actually, the dioxin was still used.
It has been and continues to be used even today, just in a lesser degree than it was in Vietnam.
So we are still being exposed to that.
Our troops are still being exposed to that to some degree.
So there are some crossovers, but then, you know, the musculoskeletal pains, the brain tumors, The gastrointestinal issues are definitely vastly different than the Vietnam-era veteran.
So that has to be investigated further, and it is being investigated.
We do know that there were extensive toxic exposures.
Actually, I learned about a new one today that I wasn't aware of.
For Gulf War or Vietnam?
For Gulf War.
So in the Gulf War era, we know that there was high levels of depleted uranium.
They didn't have that in Vietnam.
There are high levels of lead and mercury.
And surprisingly enough, I learned today that they're also looking at High levels of copper.
And I didn't even start to question how they are looking at that or why they're looking at that or why they feel that our golf war veterans have been exposed to high levels of copper.
But you can believe me when I say I'm going to start to research that a little further tonight and tomorrow and subsequent days because I want to know what they think copper is causing and how they think it's linked.
It's very important to have an idea of what you were exposed to.
And I have to be perfectly honest with you, Justin, what my husband and I have experienced in the last three days, I was surprised at what things we had to discuss that we haven't in the past.
And the things that we needed to identify.
And I literally, we got done with our sessions today and I started texting my active duty kids and friends of my kids and friends that we have still in the military and saying, guys, take pictures of these things.
Mm-hmm.
Take pictures of the labels of things.
If you are questioning why you're having difficulty breathing when you're working in a space that you're in, make sure you look around and look for whatever kind of neurotoxins might be in that space or respiratory toxins that might be in that space.
I'm just blown away at some of the questions and things that I didn't know how to answer.
My husband didn't know how to answer, you know, well, what chemical was in that paint when you used it?
Right.
How do you know what?
I mean, we're talking 1991.
How do you know what was in that paint?
You know, we don't have a label.
We don't know what was in it.
But we knew that you had to wear a respirator and you had to have specific ventilation, but you didn't have to cover your skin and wear a Tyvek suit.
So that's alarming because your skin is the largest organ of your body.
Everything that you're supposed to in your respiratory tract goes through your skin as well.
Well, this is interesting because you were talking about copper exposure, and I find that interesting because you see infomercials all the time, and people like my father-in-law, he's 84, 83.
Wear your copper socks!
Yeah, and his copper-lined gloves because he has something going on with nerves in his hands.
And so all these things that have copper in them that folks are wearing every day, now it's coming out, or you're telling us that military folks have been exposed to copper and it's potentially very dangerous to us.
So that's quite the interesting revelation.
Yeah.
It absolutely is.
And is it because of a high level of exposure?
A low level of exposure?
Is it the way it's absorbed?
Is it the form of the copper?
I don't know.
I'm definitely going to be looking into it further because it's intriguing to me and my husband's going to be going for some studies regarding copper.
So I find that to be very, very interesting.
Me too.
You know, there are a lot of exposures.
You know, raise your hand if you saw your uniforms dunked in a barrel of pesticide, hung to dry, and then you put it on.
Everybody's done it in that desert.
Yeah.
Raise your hand if you drank that diet soda that sat on a pallet when it was 127 degrees outside.
Yes.
It's better than the water they gave us.
Well, and bottled water, you know, while the bottles are supposed to be BPA-free, they weren't for all these years.
It's just recent that that's become an issue.
Diet sodas have aspartame or phenylalanine in it, which is a chemical to sweeten it, but held it at 87 degrees or hotter, it changes its molecular structure and turns to formaldehyde, so you're drinking embalming fluid.
Great.
Fantastic.
I mean, think about that.
My husband would get headaches after drinking diet soda, but that's what they had to drink, so he drank it.
Yeah, I mean, there wasn't a lot of options.
It was either tons of this hot water that was sitting on pallets in the middle of the desert, or sometimes warm soda, and so to get a break from it, you took it.
I want to, just for clarity, tell the folks that are listening and watching, Valerie and her husband are also members of the Caregiver Program, and so there's a whole backstory there.
So when you mention it, Valerie, I just want folks to know that there's a whole story about your journey and your husband's journey through We're going to get some of that story, but we're going to start here with Gulf War Syndrome.
Yeah.
I would like to, if you don't mind, talk about the VA and benefits quick for a minute.
Because it would seem to me that there are many post 9-11 veterans who are applying for benefits, whether they be disability benefits, education benefits, whatever, That don't know that they should be also looking into benefits for Gulf War Syndrome.
And so, would you say, Valerie, that there are other forms of care that veterans post 9-11 could be getting or taking advantage of, but are not because they haven't applied or claimed Gulf War Syndrome?
Majority of the time, it's because they've not been educated on it.
Our post-9-11 generation, the VA is very quick to award a claim prior to exiting the military.
And when they award that claim, it's typically 70-100% for PTSD, depression, anxiety, or adjustment disorder.
One of those things, or a combination thereof.
And typically you'll see they've had a TBI, a blast injury of some kind, or been exposed to an IED or some kind of an injury to their head, and the VA lumps it together.
As trauma.
And that's great.
They lump it together as trauma.
That's fantastic.
But what they fail to tell everybody is, let's go over the rest of your body and all of the illness-type things that you're experiencing.
Let's look at those lesions on your skin, those sores on your skin.
Let's look at that irritable bowel syndrome that you're having, that irritable bowel that you're having, you know, whenever you drink a milkshake or you eat eggs or Um...
You know just the wind blows the wrong way and now you have sudden uncontrolled diarrhea or you have vomiting or you have acid reflux and you know the acid reflux is just because of the medication that we're giving you for your ptsd the antidepressants and the anti-anxiety medication so we'll just give you an antacid and they just keep lumping a pill on top of a pill on top of a pill it's always lotions potions and pills yeah and at the end of the day We're not getting to the root cause.
And they don't tell you that all of those things exacerbate or make worse that mental health.
They don't tell you the relationship there.
And then ultimately, you get out of the service.
You have that healthy paycheck from the VA for service connection.
And you're told that you don't want to disturb that.
You want to leave it alone because they can reduce that and they can take it away from you.
And you're not being compensated for those other physical illnesses.
And the problem with that is that if you die of one of those physical illnesses that are not service-connected that very easily could be, before you have been raided for anything at least 10 years, your spouse and children get nothing.
Nothing.
And you're not told that you can be rated for these other things and be compensated appropriately and that there are additional benefits.
There's additional care.
There's additional...
There's additional medical care, there are additional programs available specifically for the people who suffer from neurological conditions that end up with loss of use of their lower or upper extremities.
You know, there are housing grants, there are automobile grants, there are various programs.
You're not told those things.
And I personally, I want to say this, and I realize that the VA doesn't want me to say this.
They don't want me to say that everybody should go through the war-related illness and injury study center.
But I believe that every serviceman and woman, before they leave the military, should have to go through the war-related illness and injury study center.
So that they can have their entire system evaluated and then be appropriately compensated by the Veterans Administration for those things that are directly related to their military service.
Can you just quickly, in a minute or two, let us know what the center is, what they do there?
So the War-Related Illness and Injury Studies Center launched in November of 99, I believe.
Don't quote me on that.
I think it was 99.
It might have been actually 2001 when they actually opened the centers.
The War Related Illness and Injury Study Centers, there's three of them in the nation.
There's one in Palo Alto, California.
There's one in Washington, D.C. and one in Orange, New Jersey.
And those systems are designed to be a comprehensive research facility where they look at war-related illnesses and post-deployment health issues.
The idea is to coordinate and collaborate research throughout different research institutions throughout the United States to be able to help identify what provoked That gastrointestinal system to fail.
What provoked those sores on your arm?
What provoked your lungs to begin to fail at the age of 29?
Right.
So the Risk Center is a phenomenal center.
They have amazing providers.
They're very compassionate and they literally do a whole body system evaluation on you based on your symptoms.
So if you have, if you're listening to this tonight, And you have had difficulty getting anybody to listen to you.
People are telling you you're crazy.
You're a behavior problem.
You really aren't sick.
It's all in your head.
You're making it up.
And you're not feeling like you're getting quality care.
And you're sick and tired of potions, pills, and lotions.
And you're sick and tired of being told you're dreaming it up.
Simply ask your primary care to send you to the war-related illness and injury study center.
Make sure that you have your top three items that you really want to have evaluated and articulate what you have gone through.
And more likely than not, they're going to accept you.
and when you get there they're going to evaluate you and it will not be a one-day evaluation it won't be one appointment they won't just see you one time and never see or talk to you again once you get there this is going to be a three to five day evaluation and they literally it's urine it's blood work it's imaging It's genetic testing, counseling, social work.
Literally, it's the whole mind, body, and spirit that they evaluate.
They evaluate all of your toxic exposures.
They evaluate all of your visual exposures, your war exposures.
They evaluate any trauma you may have experienced.
They evaluate the locations of the world that you have been in.
They evaluate everything that you have been exposed to.
They also look at your childhood history in connection with your military history to see if there was anything that preceded the military that may have been exacerbated by the military, which is actually a good thing.
And don't think for one minute that if you tell them that you were abused at the age of 10, And then you go to war and now you're struggling with PTSD that they're going to get rid of your PTSD rating because you were abused at age 10.
That will not happen because the Veterans Administration Directive is to compensate you for injuries or illnesses incurred or exacerbated while in the line of duty.
And that exacerbated part is very important because you can have a childhood trauma And it not bother you when you go in the military, but then after you have experienced war on the battlefield, and you face children on the battlefield, Vietnam veterans especially struggle with this.
I'm sure, yeah.
You face children on the battlefield, it brings back that trigger of your childhood experience.
That's an exacerbation.
Through your military service.
So it is still compensable.
So I don't want anybody to think that if you talk about your childhood history, that it will affect your compensation today, because that is not true.
And it's a misguided situation.
Statement from a lot of people that you don't want to tell them about your childhood history because it will affect how much you're compensated today.
And that is not actually true.
So I want to make sure I reiterate that.
Well, that's fantastic.
And it's a super good point because I can't tell you how many people I've talked to just in casual conversation, other veterans, about their situation who have had similar experiences to mine or not.
But a very common statement that you hear is, well, you know, I'm getting X, Y, and Z, and I'm just not going to do anything else.
I don't want to lose it.
I can't afford to lose it.
And that type of thing.
And so...
I think it's very important that we as a veteran community understand that there are other forms of help out there, not just going to a VSO and putting in a claim, getting disability, doing the evaluations, and then leaving good enough alone.
This is something that we need to keep going because the research needs to be done.
That's going to be valuable research, and you shouldn't have to be scared, I think.
There shouldn't be a situation where you have to be scared that you're going to lose what you got.
Absolutely agree.
You know, when you and I first talked, as you and I were talking and you were telling me a little bit about your mental health history, I said, so I'm going to ask you a question.
And I started asking you, do you have numbness and tingling?
Do you have difficulty breathing?
Do you have irritable bowels?
Do you have acid reflux?
And as I started talking to you, and this is a conversation that I have recently, Every day.
When I meet, especially when I meet a post 9-11 veteran, I ask those questions.
This is kind of my standard protocol.
Are you compensated for all of those things?
And you yourself said, no.
And there are other veterans out there that say, no, I didn't know that I could be.
Are you familiar with, and the next question I ask is, are you familiar with golf war syndrome?
My answer is no.
Immediately, the answer is no, and I'm not part of the Gulf War.
Yeah.
Every person who has served in the Middle Eastern Theater in the Persian Gulf area of the world has exposures and are part of the Gulf War.
The Gulf War began in August of 1990, had a ceasefire in the early spring of 1991.
It never ended and the war re-erupted with a battle in iraq in 2001 and has been ongoing ever since if you go to the veterans administration's home page and just google search wartime periods you will see it says from the gulf war is august of 1990 to date to be determined That
means that it is an ongoing war.
We haven't won.
It's the longest war in our history.
Well, and I think that people get confused because there's the GWAT, the Global War on Terrorism.
And so I believe, because I did, I believe that post 9-11 veterans believe that, okay, well, the Gulf War was in the 90s, and now we're part of the Global War on Terrorism.
Right.
When in reality, literally, they're just new battles.
That's all they are.
They're battles of the same war.
And the Veterans Administration, along with a particular couple of non-profit organizations that I'm not going to disclose tonight, Divided our veteran population with the pre and the post 9-11 veterans.
And when they did that, you realize that theory actually has come to fruition with this in divide and conquer, right?
A dead veteran is a cheap veteran is what a Vietnam veteran said to me one day not long ago.
And I can see and understand why that veteran said that, because if we don't effectively compensate you for things that are service-connectable, and you die of those things, your family gets nothing.
Nothing.
Yeah, and we've talked about that before on the show, myself alone and then with other guests that Because questions have been raised about how in the world can our government afford to keep adding benefits to the VA and for veterans?
And the conversation always turns to, well, I mean, we're going to die off eventually.
And so as veterans pass away day after day after day, Well, that's another $4,000 or another $1,000 or another $800 that the VA doesn't have to pay out every month.
And so I think that this information that you and I are talking about is super important because it brings awareness to the folks who may not be getting their compensation, but more importantly, in my opinion, the care that they need to carry on.
And so...
This idea that a dead veteran is a cheap veteran, I think, is something that rings clear throughout multiple generations of service members.
But I think that we would have a huge problem, and of course, nobody would ever admit to that, but the actions of the VA. Like, for example, why would nobody ever tell post 9-11 veterans when they're getting out, hey, by the way, make sure that you look into Gulf War Syndrome.
Because it hasn't ended.
Some of those things you're bound to suffer from.
Because when you and I talked, as you were saying, one of my first questions to you was, did you read my medical file?
Because a lot of the things that you outlined, I was, as we were talking, I was shaking my head, yep, yep, got that, yep, experienced that.
And so it was kind of an eye-opener.
Right, and so what have you done about it since we talked?
Well, I have contacted a friend of mine who is a lot more knowledgeable about the process and the system, and I am going to be submitting a claim as well as having some of the things I'm already service-connected for.
Re-evaluated.
Re-opened or re-evaluated.
Because as you were saying a few minutes ago, they lump a lot of stuff together.
Well, the VA lumped my traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress together, and I was told that they shouldn't be.
Correct.
Now, as you start exploring that, this is a general statement I'm going to give, and I tell all veteran caregivers this.
I tell all veterans this.
If you want to start working on getting effectively compensated, there are three research things or study things, testing kind of things that I encourage everybody to do because your compensation is based on your level of functioning.
So, the first thing that I encourage everybody to do, if you've not already done it in the last two years, you need to have a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation.
Because that will identify not just your Cognitive skills in regards to your level of everyday functioning, but it will also identify any neurological deficits that would be associated with those traumatic brain injuries.
That would also be associated with things that are of an organic nature that come on as a result of PTSD. When you are stuck in flight or fight syndrome, In that fight or flight system breakdown in your system, you have things that are disrupted in your neurotransmitters in your brain.
And I know I'm talking big words here.
But those are very important keys in going forward to receiving treatment to obtaining a quality of life.
And having an accurate picture of your level of functioning for your quality of life.
So a neuropsychological evaluation is something I always recommend.
The other thing that I always recommend, especially for people who are struggling with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, Arthritic type problems.
If you have psoriasis, it's really important that you have an occupational therapy and a physical therapy evaluation.
If you have lumbar pain, you have cervical pain, you have rib pain, get those evaluations done because, again, that shows your level of functioning.
The caveat to that that is a positive Is that when you have those things done, it helps to tailor treatments.
It also exposes the ability to provide you with tools to improve your quality of life.
So maybe you're having a lot of Lumbar sacral pain and they discover you do have degenerative disc disease and they discover that you also have paralysis of your sciatic nerves, which is very common, more common than we realize.
And you need handrails in your bathroom and you've not asked for those.
Instead, you just keep grabbing that shower grab bar until it finally pulls out of the wall and you fall.
The VA can install those grab bars for you.
And so those three things really help identify tools for you to be able to use going forward.
It also helps the VA in determining your level of functioning in adequately compensating you.
And I want to make something very clear about that in compensation.
No veteran should go into this Looking to get 100% compensated.
Ever.
I don't care how bad you are.
I don't care how good you are.
It should not be your end game to get 100% compensation.
Your end game should be to transform yourself to having a quality of life.
Whatever that looks like.
Not every veteran will qualify for 100% service-connected disability.
And I need to make that clear because we have this mindset right now, and I'm not sure why, but how do I get from 90 to 100%?
I'm only 90%.
How do I get to 100%?
I don't want to work anymore.
I'm tired.
And you're not going to medical appointments.
You're not getting any counseling.
You're not going to the occupational therapist.
You're not going to the physical therapist.
You're not doing anything about your diet to get your gastrointestinal health in check.
You have to be your own best advocate.
Absolutely.
You have to be a good steward of the resources that have been earned by you.
And as you were talking about, we don't have an unlimited financial supply line here.
You're correct.
And we have a group of veterans that are looking for anything to make life easy.
To enable them rather than empower them.
And it is really important that we are good stewards of the resources that we have been given because they are not unlimited.
Absolutely.
Very well said.
And we have just like one and a half minutes left, Valerie.
And the one question I want to ask you before we go to a break is, The War-Related Illness and Injury Center, is that ran by the VA or is that separate from the VA? No, the War-Related Illness and Injury Study Center is a Veterans Administration program.
It is at the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center, the Orange New Jersey VA Medical Center, and the Palo Alto VA Medical Center.
And the way to get there is to simply ask your primary care for a referral.
Yes, and I will tell you that if you ask your VA primary care for a referral, they're probably going to look at you like you have three eyes because our home VAs are not good at educating.
So I would encourage you before you go to see your primary care that you go to the Google search and put in war-related illness and injury study center or the initials WRIISC. Pull it up, print off the cover sheet, take it to your primary care and say, I want to go to this center.
I want to be evaluated by these people because nobody can figure out what's wrong with me and I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired and I don't want any more of your lotions, potions and bills.
Very well said.
Ladies and gentlemen, that is Valerie Mulliken.
Valerie, you'll come back with us sometime soon.
We have a lot more information to put out, and we really want to hear you and your husband's story.
Will you do that for us?
Absolutely.
Thank you.
Very good.
Folks, stick with us.
We'll be right back.
Hey everybody, thanks for joining us again this weekend.
We really appreciate it.
I want to talk to you very quickly about GoldCo.
Call GoldCo today at 855-920-3196 and talk to them about how to back your Roth IRA with up to $10,000 of free silver.
With our economy collapsing, the value of the US dollar dropping at radical rates at times, there's no time like the present to back your plan for retirement With precious metals such as gold and silver.
So do yourself a favor.
Call 855-920-3196.
That's GoldCo at 855-920-3196.
And tell them the Richard Leonard Show sent you.
Hey everybody, welcome back here to the next segment of the show.
Valerie, let's just jump right in.
I'd like to ask you, how does one veteran go about beginning to be evaluated for Gulf War Syndrome?
So, it's important that the veteran very first thing out of the service get registered in your local VA medical center and obtain a primary care provider.
Absolutely.
You may not like that primary care provider and you do have the right to change primary care providers, but it is important that you get enrolled in your local VA, you meet with a primary care provider and you begin to unpeel that onion of your exposures, your illnesses, the things that you're struggling with.
A lot of times they'll give you a lot of referrals, and that's okay.
Go to those referrals.
Get those tests done.
They're going to do lab work.
They're going to do x-rays.
They may do MRIs or CT scans, PET scans.
Do those.
Follow through with what they ask you to do.
It's not always going to be a perfect fit, but it is important that you do it.
For a host of reasons.
And once you start to work on that down the road, if you feel like you're not getting adequate answers, ask to be referred to the War Related Illness Injury Study Center.
Ask to be referred to local universities that maybe are doing research.
Georgetown University does a lot of research on Gulf War illness.
Johns Hopkins is another one.
Ask to be referred to those facilities that are doing research and do your own research.
Be your own advocate.
You can research golf or illness with a simple Google search.
If you are a university student or college student of any kind, you can use your university college library and do your own research through there that you know is vetted.
Regardless of how you look for it, you have to be your own best advocate and don't stop talking if you are not satisfied.
Yeah, and so I often give similar information to veterans, you know, and it mimicked the guidance I gave to younger soldiers when I was towards the end of my career, you know, because soldiers would ask, well, you know, how do I get here and how do I get there?
And I always tell them, you have to take control of your own career.
And as veterans, we need to take control of our own healthcare and our own being.
We can't wait for the VA to call and say, hey, by the way, you need to be screened for toxic exposure.
There's enough news out there.
We already know things like the PAC-DAC came and toxic exposure is a thing.
So we have to ask for those things and we have to play the game to get what we need.
And so it's a very good point, Valerie.
Right.
And I will add to that, if you are not on the Gulf War Registry and you are not on the Burn Pit Registry, you need to get put on both of those registries yesterday.
Yes.
And I am not on the Gulf War Registry.
I will do that.
Everybody that's listening and watching, we have homework.
If this applies to you, we have homework.
And it benefits us.
So why would we not do it?
So I'm taking notes for folks watching.
They see me writing.
I'm taking notes as you're talking.
Okay, that's good.
Because it is really important that you get on those registries.
There's a couple of things about those registries that we have personally experienced.
By being on the golfer registry and the burn pit registry, as new information comes about, you are likely to be notified that they want you to come in and do an extra blood test.
Or perhaps they want you to come in and do a pulmonary function test.
The other thing that's really good about those registries is that you get periodic notifications about new research that's coming out, about new treatments that are coming out.
That gives you the opportunity to have a conversation with your providers so that you can obtain a quality of life and overcome and persevere those illnesses and injuries of war.
Well, and furthermore, if anybody thinks that this type of thing is not important, if places like Georgetown and Johns Hopkins and all these big medical teaching universities and things like that are still conducting research after all these years on things like Gulf War Syndrome, it's pretty dang serious.
This 33 years, this August.
So think about that.
33 years after the first portion of the Gulf War.
So that was Desert Shield.
33 years and we're still learning.
And we just passed the PACT Act that just expanded some of those exposure levels.
Related illnesses and injuries as service-connectable.
So it is really, really important because the Gulf War era veterans have been exposed to things that have not been seen before.
And those things, they don't know how they're going to affect your body at the present time that you're exposed, much less years down the road.
Like one of the researchers that I talked to earlier today said, you know, we're just now starting to see some illnesses from a group of veterans that were in Iraq and Afghanistan back in the 90s.
We're just now starting to see illnesses erupt in them and we can see a cluster.
So there are illnesses that are now going to be investigated and are going to likely come up on the presumptive list in the near future.
It also gives an edge, even if it's not on a presumptive list, If your doctor looks at the research and they are treating you and they write in your record, more likely than not related, the VA can say, well, you know, it's outside of the seven-year presumptive window, but you can get that DBQ and you can fight that to get that compensated because your doctor said more likely than not related.
Wow.
Well, all of that information that we just put out, I'm going to go back around the block to say it is extremely important, folks.
If you have served in the military and you have not registered, With your local VA system or the VA in general, you need to do that.
There is issues with funding, there's issues with access to care and benefits.
Even if you're not going to use it, but you are a veteran, and if you don't want to use it, I get it, I understand, but please go and register.
In my opinion, Valerie, if you are a veteran, registering with the VA is just as important as going to vote.
Absolutely.
What veterans don't understand is when they register with their local VA medical center, whether they're eligible for benefits or they choose not to use the benefits, that helps the government allocate funds to that region to ensure that that medical center is adequately supported.
There isn't a veteran in this world, unless of course you are a multi-billionaire, That isn't going to run out of money before they run out of life, typically.
And there's going to come a point where you might need those VA medical services and if you don't have enough funding to your region, you may have to wait to get services and may never get services.
So it is really important, especially when you get into your older years.
I see this a lot with our Vietnam-era veterans today, where they didn't get registered in the VA, they don't have any real compensation, and they have now run out of their savings, and they are living on Social Security.
Which doesn't pay anything more than their utilities and their food.
They don't have a supplemental insurance because they can't afford it.
So all they have is Medicare.
And they have to pay deductibles and they have to pay co-pays.
And they don't have the money.
They now need aid and attendance.
They need assistance at home, but they can't get it because they don't have the funds to get it.
By being registered into the VA, they have the opportunity to use the VA for their medical care and avoid having to pay those out-of-pocket expenses because they do what's called means testing.
And if you are below a certain threshold, your care is at no cost to you even if you are not service-connected.
The other caveat to that is that you also may be eligible for a veteran's pension and aid and attendance, and your spouse may be also eligible for aid and attendance.
So that would be if your spouse became disabled, was not a veteran, and needed some support, or you die and your spouse is left and needs support, they can apply for the widow's pension.
So, there are a lot of benefits to registering into your local VA, and I have to be honest, we are definitely not hitting the mark by any means across the nation, particularly in my local area, but across the nation, we are not hitting the mark in getting registered into those VA medical centers.
Even if you have no intention of using the services or you're not eligible for the services at this time, your name matters in the amount of funds allocated to your local VA. So please go get registered.
Yes, Richard, you are right.
It is just as important as having your name ready to vote.
Absolutely.
I know that we spoke offline about this, and if you don't mind, can you share the statistic about your local area and people registered with the VA? So, in my local region, in West Central Ohio, my county specifically, we have just under 7,000 veterans.
And of those 7,000 veterans, less than 48% are registered at our local VA. So, not even half.
And apparently, not even half.
And in our region, I'm in the Dayton, Ohio region, we're probably right about 50%.
So, we have a lot of work to do to get our veterans enrolled into our local VA medical center.
You may get told when you go to enroll that you are not eligible for services.
That enrollment still counts, folks.
It still counts in your name and number.
Count in how much funding is allocated to our region and that makes the difference on the quality of the care and the availability of care because every VA medical center has to be accountable for their funding and they have to tweak the staffing that they have based on the funding that they have.
The services that they have available is based on their funding.
While we have a A global oversight of our VA medical centers.
We also have a local one.
So it is imperative that you get registered in your local VA, please.
Yeah, and it's not just, I mean, everybody knows.
I mean, if you're breathing and you have a cell phone, you know that our government is in shambles.
Right, and the VA is already trying to budget and things of this nature.
So when we have areas in this country, I would like to, I'm going to try to look up the national statistic, but when we have areas in this country where less than half of the veterans that live in whatever geographical location are registered with the VA, It's my opinion, just like voting, right?
If you don't register and you run into a problem, you got no right to bitch about not being able to get the things that you need.
Just like if you don't vote, there's no reason for you to be bitching about what's going on, whether it's right, wrong, or indifferent.
And if nothing else...
Help out your fellow men and women at arms, your brothers and sisters at arms, and just go register.
The worst thing that's going to happen is you're going to get an ID card.
The other thing that I'll add to that, especially in rural areas or in areas where the VA is lacking in Reasonable travel time to a VA medical center.
I'll give you an example.
If you're in the northwest corner of Texas, your local VA is going to be in Oklahoma City, and it's usually around a three, three and a half hour drive for a lot of people.
That's your local VA. The people in that region were all to get registered into the VA. The VA is going to have to say, look, guys, we either need to get a CBOC out there, a small clinic out there, or we need to build a full hospital out there.
By getting registered, you help identify the holes in the system and the lack of Accessible care.
It is just so important.
And while you think that the government knows who you are, I mean, they had you for however many years through the DOD, they should know that you're accountable through the census, I mean, right?
They don't.
Those departments don't cross over to the VA. The VA and the DOD are autonomous.
They are not one in the same.
They do not talk except for verifying that yes indeed you served in the military and oh by the way you retired prematurely so you don't get your retirement benefit.
We're taking it away dollar for dollar for your VA benefit.
Sore subject with me and that's for another time.
But other than that The VA and the DOD really don't talk, guys.
So it is really important that you get registered in your local VA medical center and tell your friends to do the same.
Don't shuck that.
Please don't.
It's just so important.
Wow.
You know, I really appreciate the time that we spent today because I think that we covered a lot of stuff.
And by the way, folks, I know that it sounded like we were saying goodbye to Valerie at the end of the first segment, but things changed for her, so she was able to join us.
But, you know, Valerie, I'm just going to throw it out there.
We have about two minutes left.
Before the end of the show.
And usually I like to do like I called arms or just a final thought.
So I'd like to give you those two minutes if you would like to just kind of give your final thought to the audience.
What do you want them to know?
Or give them homework.
You're really good at giving homework because I got a list right here.
I like homework.
So I guess from my perspective, as both the wife of a totally disabled veteran and also as the director of a small nonprofit in West Central Ohio, my takeaway tonight would be get registered in your local VA. Get established, guys.
Write out a list.
Keep a list.
Write out a list of the things that are bothering you from that hangnail on your big toe to the Gray hair that stands straight up in the middle of your head.
Obviously, I'm exaggerating.
But everything on your body.
Make a list from your toe to the top of your head.
Make a list of everything that is questionable that hasn't been answered.
Take a notebook with you to every appointment.
Be your best advocate.
And if you are struggling to advocate for yourself, find somebody to advocate for you that will go with you.
I cannot tell you enough that Being your best advocate or having an advocate with you is going to yield a much better quality of life in the long run.
Utilizing the services that are available We now have the community care program, so if you are uncomfortable with the providers at your local VA, you don't feel like you're getting adequate answers, you can always ask for that second or third opinion through your community care department.
Don't hesitate to ask questions.
And when you're asking questions, make sure that if you're not getting effective answers that you know how to use the hierarchy.
If your primary care or your specialty physician are not giving you the answer, you go above them.
You go to the department head.
If the department head doesn't give you the answer, you go to your patient advocate.
Patient advocate doesn't give you the answer, you go to your chief of staff or your medical director.
If they're not giving you the answer, you go to your visiting director.
If your visiting director is not giving you the answers, you go to your congressman or your senator.
And I'm going to tell you folks, by the time you get to your visiting director, 99% of the time, you're never going to have to go further than that.
We have a lot of people who jump.
Outside of that chain of command, and every veteran out here, and most spouses that were married to them, y'all know the chain of command.
Use it!
Because I'm going to tell you now, when you use it, the benefits far outweigh the struggles.
And I know that you're going to run into personality conflicts and you're going to run into stumbling blocks, but I guarantee by the time you get to that business director, somebody's saying, whoa, we missed the boat on this and we need to address it before they get to a congressman or a senator.
Because when it gets to that and you get a congressional inquiry, That's when your new medical center gets in trouble.
And a lot of times there's backlash on you.
It shouldn't be, but there is, and you're noted as the troublemaker.
So utilize the system appropriately and save that Senate and congressional inquiry as your final step, because I tell you, you get more flies with honey than you do with shit.
Very well said.
And so, very quickly, my takeaway, other than getting registered, folks, is that we shouldn't be, as veterans, concentrated on what we're getting paid from the VA for disability.
I understand that it's important, but your quality of life is more important.
I would give up my VA disability benefits, 100% of them, if I could be the way that I was before.
The deployments and the basic training and the this and the that.
And to have none of the issues that I have.
I'd give it all up.
So focus on that.
Get in there.
Get the care you need.
And focus on your quality of life.
As always, I want to thank everybody for joining us.
Thank you, Valerie, for your time.
And we will be back with you next week.
▲
Export Selection