Monroe Dispatch - No Struggle, No Progress

We often hear from politicians about how much the nations owe our veterans who has served and that they deserve the respect owed to them for protecting our freedoms. The nation has a vast complex medical system that is there to make sure that our veterans receive the best in care, no matter what it is. But we also know that the V.A. Medical System has "issues" with many veterans when it comes to receiving the kind of care that the private industry can supply. Kenneth "Duke" Arnold is a proud veteran who utilizes the V.A. for all of his medical needs, "Duke", as he is called, went to the local V.A. clinic because he was suffering from severe stomach pains. Arnold has been having stomach pain/discomfort for weeks and decided that it was time for him to seek medical treatment. He wasn't able to see his doctor and the clinic would send him to St. Francis where he was seen by a nurse practitioner who after taking an x-ray of Arnold's stomach, gave him some laxatives for alleged constipation. The laxatives didn't do any good and Arnold would go back to the V.A. Clinic, To Arnold's astonishment, the nurse practitioner at the V.A. didn't perform any test(x-ray), but according to Arnold, told him to follow the instructions that he received from St. Francis. He was told that based on the information from St. Francis, he was suffering from stomach pains and the pain was from gas, Irritable Bowel Syndrome(I.B.S.) and constipation and was given additional medication. The pain and discomfort never went away and Arnold stopped taking the medication. Arnold would later, be able to talk to his doctor at the V.A. who wasn't available during his previous visits and his doctor told him to call 9-11 if his condition got worse. Arnold's condition did get worse, as the pain moved to his chest and he called 9-11. But instead of going back to St. Francis, he went to Monroe Medical Center LSU/Conway. While at LSU/Conway, tests were performed on Arnold and he was told by a doctor that he was having small heart attacks. He was given nitro pills for the pain and that the pain was caused by blocked arteries. The doctor explained the seriousness of Arnold's condition, and a stent was placed in him. The doctors told him that placing the stents in him, kept him from having to have open heart surgery. But Arnold said that the doctors were "surprised" at how those at the V.A. and St. Francis never considered that Arnold's pain was a signal that a heart attack was a real possibility. Arnold said that doctors "couldn't believe" that he was only treated for constipation and didn't consider his heart. Arnold was sent to Shreveport and had the stent procedure done and now he says that he "is feeling good", though he will have to undergo a second procedure in January to complete the process. Arnold says that he is "thankful to be alive", because if he hadn't call 9-11 when he did, he "might not be here". Arnold said that he "is disappointed" with the V.A. in how his case was handled, as it is not the first time that he has received treatment and the outcome was not satisfactory. He only wants things to get better at the V.A. because he knows that he is not the only veteran who may have had similar experiences. But he is thankful for the doctor at LSU/Conway for not stopping at just a stomach pain diagnosis, but instead, looked a little further, because it made the difference between life and death.

Photo Kenneth "Duke" Arnold