Watch the funniest movie you can think of. Laughter is better for ya than ya might think. For dull pain, big barrels of laughter work better for me than low-grade painkillers.

Feel better Sarge.

Well, i'm fucked again. I'm caught in VA hell. My endo appointment was just bumped 2 weeks. Two more days and I head back to Camp Shelby. At least I can try sick call down there (for free), but I'm afraid the heat will do me in. My life is so, so fucked

Do your best. Or you can just stay home. :)

I can't stay home. I'm under orders. I'm trying to work today, but my fever is 103.1

Sarge I'm worried :(
Please tell me someone above you knows about this and can clear a path to sort things out for you?

Paid out of my pocket to see a doctor. I got a shot of rocephin & started another round of bactrim. It's just a temporary patch. The doctor told me I'm not going to get better until I get the tumors under control.

Sundae, I'm on my own. I'm stuck in the "VA system" which is overloaded. Because of the screwups I made in my personal life, I have no advocate. Truth be told,I'm pretty much alone. I created this mess by putting the Army before my family

Ya'll I can't sleep due to pain. I'm too weak to make it to the bathroom. I'm unable to empty my bladder completely. I've got a "pee jug" here beside me. I know I joke and act the buffoon, but I've reached rock bottom. I can't go on like this. I hurt so bad and I have no one to help me. I don't know what to say

I hear you, Sarge, but I don't know what else to say. Hang in there.

I think Sundae was looking at making sure your commanding officer / supervisor / whatever knows about this, knows about your temperature, etc. They might be able to make a few phone calls to get you fixed up sooner, if only because it is in their interest to look after you.

What he said. Sorry Sarge, you deserve better.

Oh Sarge, what a horrible situation. I'll echo the others and hope that your CO knows where you're at. You say you put the Army before your family, and that means you have nobody and no advocate. The Army now needs to be your advocate. Your immediate superiors who know you and might be able to assist/speak for you.


Feel better soon honey.

Sarge I wish there was more that I could do than wish you better.
I'm too far away to do anything practical and have no idea how your systems work.

If there is anything you can think of - even if it means swallowing your pride - try it.
Start making noise and keep making noise until someone listens.
And yes, you deserve much better.
But you still have your family, they didn't just disappear. And your girls love and need you.

I can't imagine what you are going through, but it sounds bloody awful.
Love and wishes.

Damn...

Thanks for thinking of me, but I honestly have to say that my issue pales in comparison to yours. Don't ever feel guilty for "whining" about it. I don't understand how you manage and I wish I could give you more help than you're getting. Your situation makes my heart ache for you and I really hope you're able to get it sorted out.

Sarge, if I were anywhere close, I'd be there in a hot minute.

Sarge. I don't understand the problems with the VA? Maybe I'm just lucky and have got petty good service. I do understand that some primary care DRs are assholes.
While at camp Shelby? See if you can go to Hattiesburg and see DR. Bowling. She has been great to me. Hearing aids, glasses. On and on. Good luck.

I didn't make t to Camp Shelby. I'm still sick but I'm better. I have an infection in my parotid glands in addition to the prostate. I'm hurting at both ends

Damn Sarge. Hang in there Bud. Thinking of you ... and no, not your prostate. :)

Wow your immune system is going haywire! I wish I was closer I would help you too Sarge. :(

Hoping you're feeling better today, Sarge. :(

Thinking about you, Sarge.

Thanks for thinking about me. No fever and the swelling has gone down in the left cheek. Still have some drainage into the mouth from the right side

I met with the VA nurse practioner in the PTSD Clinic. They've upped my meds to 80mgm of Celexa, 10 mgm of Valuim, and 2x1mgm of Xanax daily!!! Sounds like I'm going to be a zombie when the meds get here.

I've still have no updates on the tumors.....

You're not still talking about your prostate, are you?

Just joking Sarge. What with all the Valium/Xanax/Celexa, if you ain't getting better, you'll soon be feeling better, if you can remember you're ill to begin with.:lol2:

Feel better dude.

If I take that and chase it with a couple of mojitos, I won't give a damn about anything. Better living through pharmaceuticals. LOL

I'd join you in the mojitos!
Fingers crossed that things start getting better for you once the juggernaut with the tablets arrives...

Well, I'm having another bad night. I have taken 15mgms of hydrocodone, 2x Lunestra, .and 2x Skelaxin. I'm still wide awake. I wonder if I'll ever sleep again

I've only been off antibiotics for a few days and the infections have started again. Fever is 100.4

Call the doc in the am and get another round started.?

Sarge, it's the hot flushes. But soon Auntie Flo wil be gone forever.

Too late. I've already had menopause

I'm sure you do give men a pause.

i'm trying to make it till the 31st when I see the endo. My prostate is really faring. I'm having problems peeing & fever is over 101. I have my daughters bringing me some food.

Those of you who follow me on Facebook know I pushed it very hard on Fri & Sat. Two hard days of checkpoints in the heat. plus I have a grant to finish this week, process prisoners, final budget hearing on Sep 1, Grand Jury on the 12th, and Homeland Security Grant due on the 30th.

Finally, the she devil ex is flirting heavily

pain is terrible. i'm mixing valuim and hydrocodone trying to manage. i can't live like this

Oh sarge! Can't you get to a doctor before 31st? Please?

no honey. that's the earliest for endo. i'm going to beg for radiation or surgery. i can't live like this

only two days left now, sarge, you can do it.

Print this thread out and make them read it. Or read it to them.

Thinking of you Sarge. Hope you're hangin' in there OK. And I think Zengum is right.

I've finally gotten a doctor who is going to treat me as a whole person rather than concentrating on a few symptoms. He has totally ruled out discoid lupus (which the Army has been treating for the past few years). He believes I have had chemical exposure in the past which could be causing some issues, especially photosensitivity. In believes my earlier tests were skewed due to the cortisone treatments. He has placed me on propranolol for tremors and added Axiron. I had a new round of blood tests & I have another MRI being scheduled for the tumors. He is concerned about the asymetery (sic?) and the continued fluxuations of the hormones. He said my scarlet flushing & sweats are when my testosterone was bottoming out and is akin to menopausal hot flashes.

I am having some breast enlargement, but I figure if they keep growing I can just stare at them in the mirror all day. Who needs to go out when you have your own great rack? LOL.

As you can tell, my spirits are lifted. I feel like I do have someone who is going to try to fix me. It is costing me a fortune, but it will be worth it in the end

Outstanding!

Thanks for the update, but thanks a LOT for the good news!

hurrah, big sarge.

Good News in the Ban News thread is always good.
Happy to hear it all.

Good stuff, sounds like a tide has turned.

Gulf war syndrome?

I'm glad you finally found a useful Doc!

Good news, good news.
Very happy to read good news in a bad news thread.

And VERY happy that someone is treating you properly.
The rub-some-dirt-on-it approach might work when you're six, but make-do-and-mend is not appropriate medical treatment for any adult, let alone one who has served his country.

It happens here too and it baffles me.
Surely the Armed Forces (current and ex) should get the very best healthcare available?
I'd be happy to wait a little bit longer for treatment if someone who had put their life on the line was receiving it instead.

All too often, the only people with access to full and immediate care are the very rich, the monarchy and politicians. If David Cameron or Prince Harry was hit by a car on a zebra crossing, they probably wouldn't have to queue up for 20 minutes (standing!) at a triage window, and then wait 9 hours for treatment. And then find the wrong part of the leg had been X-Rayed, so go back for another 7 hour wait.

Okay, I didn't serve.
How much more frustrating must it be if you did?
You should get a Priority Pass, like you do in theme parks.

Anyway, sorry - a bit of an off topic rant.
Yay for the doctor looking after you for us.

thank you sweetie. things haven't improved much, but he has lifted my spirits greatly by taking the approach of treating me as a whole person. there is some concern about the shape of the tumor, but we're going to do another mri

Sarge, is your new doc by any chance a D.O.?

We started going to an upstart D.O.'s office when I was a teenager (just two docs then...now it's many docs and P.A.s and Nurse Practs, etc) and I remember learning about how D.O.s treat the whole person. I've been going to that office ever since. My doc asks me questions about my life, how I'm feeling, how it might relate to this or that...he doesn't treat me like a set of symptoms.

I'm glad you found a good one. :)

I'm glad to hear you're heading somewhere rather than nowhere in term of treatments.

My new doc is Indian and specializes in Endocrine & Metabolic Disorders. Really a great guy

So glad to hear it Sarge. Sounds like you're in much better hands with this new doc.

Great news Sarge! You finally hit the jackpot in the VA lottery!

We can even compare racks sometime! LOL

:lol:

Actually, when sarge posted that picture of the not terribly feminine dispatcher he works with, I was kind of wondering if he was preparing us for a Big Announcement, and maybe we would end up with another Pamela.

I think my boobs are already bigger than our dispatcher. The only problem is I'm growing so much fur I won't have to wear clothes before long. I'm already considering trying to do a comb over using my pubes

You're turning into a werewolf? Cool as fuck!

Dana when my clothes are off, I look like a panda (white chest hair) sprouting boobs. LOL

Werepanda!

With red toenails, no less.

I reckon crime will fall pretty fast once word of that gets around. Seriously, would you want to be arrested by that???

I'll try to dig up some old photos of me undercover back in the early 90's. Talk about freaking folks out. LOL.

werepanda - love it & I'll start using that.

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