A MAJOR SET BACK

Just when I think we are on some kind of a level field, the bottom falls out.

There is only one thing that could have been worse than what I have lived in the last year, that would have been receiving word that Pat had been killed in combat.

I am posting this on the blog – so I need to elaborate a little. There are people who read the blog that do not receive the e-mails that contain more information than what has been posted here previously in the last 2-3 months.

For a year, Pat has lived with a bullet in his leg, one of the two gunshot wounds he suffered on September 19, 2008. In late August THIS YEAR, the gunshot wound started showing signs of infection – swelling, redness, warm to the touch. He was taken to a doctor, the gunshot wound was lanced, and blood spewed out of it. Lab work was done which showed an infection. He was eventually put on antibiotics. An additional lab test was done – at my request – it was to evaluate the lead level in his blood. That test result came back as elevated – confirmed on repeat testing.

Nye County Nevada said they would make certain Pat got treated – but that ultimately I would have to pay the bill for the treatment. After much discussion between a Senator’s office, the VA, the District Attorney’s Office and the Sheriff’s Department – it was agreed that the VA would see Pat and that the Sheriff’s Department would transport Pat to the VA for treatment.

That was until Thursday afternoon, when the VA squarely SLAMMED the door in Pat Lamourex’s face once again.

Today is Saturday, October 10, 2009. The bullet remains in Pat’s leg. The gunshot wound is still seeping, so much that it runs down his leg. He has developed an anomaly on both of his arms, which resembles something that occurs when someone is taking blood thinners. It is hard to describe – it resembles bruising, but it is a pooling of blood just under the skin that is not the result of trauma. It just appears.

I called the detention facility Thursday after being told the VA was not going to take care of Pat. I asked them to please have my husband call me – it was important that I speak to him. They refused to relay the message.

It was not until late Friday that Pat finally called, and I gave him the news that we were back at square one. I told him to put in another request for medical treatment. It will be a second opinion; I told him to request repeat lab work, as well as additional lab work that has not been done previously.

There are many possibilities as to what could be causing these “bruising” spots on his arms.

I know that Pat is extremely stressed, and so am I; and he is not getting the appropriate medical treatment from ANYONE for ANYTHING.

This is how we say “Thank you for your service.”