I wish I could say that things were better for Hank, my Marine husband, but alas: if anything, things have gotten worse.

We are still fighting with the damned VA system.  They continue to give Hank (and myself) the runaround.  They still refuse to give him pills to help with the flashbacks or the ongoing pain he suffers.  

Poor Hank is as miserable as ever.  It hurts me (and the children) to see him suffering so needlessly.  

In addition to this, Hank has been denied his disability claim, so we have had to go back to square one and start all over again.  It is a maddening, frustrating process, and I'm about to start pulling heads off in anger!  Can't they see my husband is disabled and uses a crutch to walk?  He has shrapnel imbedded in his knees, and he can't walk without excruciating pain!  Sometimes the pain he has is so bad he ends up falling flat on his face!

What do these goons at the VA think they are trying to prove?  What do they think they are doing?  They are doing everything possible to try to crush his spirit, and I think they do this, so they can make him give up the fight!  Well, they've got another thing coming: I am not one to give up THAT easily!

I will continue to fight for the benefits that my husband so rightfully deserves!  He didn't ask to get injured in Iraq; he got hurt through no fault of his own!!

We are making it by the grace of God, but it's hard, damned hard.  I just wish people could understand that Hank is more than a number or a case in the VA health care system: he is a human being with feelings, and he deserves all the help that is out there instead of them giving it to the wrong people or to those who knowingly abuse the system!

At the last appointment we had at the VA system, we ran into a fellow who was getting VA disability for something ridiculous.  The buzzard could walk and even work if he wanted to, but he claimed that he was in too much pain to be able to do so, so he is collecting disability that MY husband cannot get!!

I was so angry I couldn't hardly see (or think) straight!  I hate dealing with the VA system, and I hate dealing with the government!!!!

Meanwhile, Hank continues to suffer flashbacks/nightmares, and I'm at the mercy of his tirades.  So are the children.  Our family unit is quickly unraveling, and there isn't a goddamn thing we can do about it either!

~To be continued.~