Because the VA Medical Center is a training and teaching hospital, I knew I was going to have to get out of the VA one way or another, before I get murdered...or WORSE! 

In 2007, I broke out of the VA Medical Center, before I got murdered...and so I'm in a unique situation.  Having got my medical care at the VA for over 18 years; and now getting my medical care in the private sector under Medicare.  I give the VA Medical Center a grade of 'F' and I give the private sector a grade of D...for dismal.  In August, 2013, I don't know which is worse...the VA Medical Center or the private sector hospitals.  If you'd been the route I've traveled over the last seven years, you would paobably call it a  tie. 

During the seven years I've been out of the VA Medical Center, I have had to pay for my Medicare; co-pays and prescriptions...but, it has been worth it, because any day now, I would have been murdered at the VA Medical Center. Here, in the United States, we live in a country of choices, etc.  So, in August, 2013, I had a choice to make as far as medical care is concerned.  Would I rather get murdered at the VA Medical Center OR...get murdered in the private sector of hospitals under Medicare.  I find myself caught between a rock and a hard place, etc. 

$64,000 question; How long does it take to change a mailing address from a residence to a PO Box?

A.  NINE months, if you're lucky. 

This is how long it took me to change a simple address at Lovelace Healthcare.  And, to do it, I had to go to Medicare and to the CEO of the Lovelace Plan. 

In the seven years I've been in the private sector, I have now fired 3 primary doctors, with the last one, getting her pink slip last week.  (August 6, 2013.  The University of New Mexico Hospital, is a teaching and training hospital, and I don't know how I got here, but I was furious when I found out.  This hospital is the old County hospital, where all the poor people go...and like all the other hospitals, it is known for the guinea-pigging and expermentation that goes on.  That's one of the reasons why I left the VA Medical Center...it, too, is known for guinea-pigging and experimentation of the patients, while the authorities "look the other way."   At the VA Medical Center, don't be surprised if your primary doctor is only 13 years old...OR 166 years old.  Either way, you'll probably get screwed...I escaped from the VA Medical Center just in time, before I got murdered...

When I drove out of the VA Medical Center, I was driving so fast to get out, that my tires were not even touching the ground...Whew...I got out with my life...In the seven years I've been in the private sector, I don't see a lot of difference between the VA and the private sector hospitals...so, that has to be scary for the American people to know! 

I think any medical person, that can't find work in the private sector, will find work at the VA Medical Center.  My primary of 13 years, had to be one of the stupidest people in the world, and I think he's selling beach-front property in Nebraska someplace. 

I have never trusted my doctor or medical people in general.  At one time, the medical profession was thought to be squeeky-clean...but, not anymore.  There are just as many criminals and people of bad behavior in medical, as there in any other profession.  After having a stroke in May, 2012, I was in the hospital for over a month.  The scariest part of being in the hospital that long, was the night shift, which worked 12 hours from 7 in the evening to 7 in the morning.  At both places, at the Heart Institute and at the Lovelace ReHap center, I thought these people were hired off the streets and maybe gang members, to work for the minimum wage.  Registered nurses or LPN's are not going to work for minimum wage...but, gang members will. 

The reader will realize how scary this is, when one of these people come into your room at 4 in the morning, and tells you he would like to put an IV in you...what are you going to do?  What are you going to say? 

All in all, I have fired three primary doctor's during the seven years I've been in the private sector.  I brought up the issue of possible neuopathy in my hands and feet, and she just ignored it.  I brought and took a copy of the letter from Lovelace (HMO), which was a red flag against using the diebetic medication named Gylburide, and my old medication, and in whichI was not told.  She just folded the letter and threw it away!  I almost walked out of the exam room that day.  I stopped using the medication right away.  A follow-up on the kidney stone, that I was to have had three months previously, was not discussed.  Needless to say, I was not a happy camper after the visit...

I fired my primary on August 6, 2013, and I have a visit with my new primary doctor on Friday August, 16. 

WORK IN PROGRESS...

AUGUST, 2013

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Copyright; 2013; Jerry Aragon; The Humor Doctor