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All right, I want to welcome Jesse Razinski back to
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the show. It's been a while, and you're back, by
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the way, your podcast, which is a good thing because
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you are the facts and data guy, and uh, you're
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back your shit up with a lot of receipts. So
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it's really good to hear you're back in listening to
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your return. As we discussed online, I wanted to, if
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you want to, I want to start with your VA
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experiences and what led you back to podcasting because when
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we talked about it's been over a year now, huh,
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since you're on last it was a year?
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It was it was close yeah, close to nine months.
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So back then you were having troubles, uh with the
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VA and trying to get help and doctors, et cetera.
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And and so the reason I want to talk about
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this is, first good thing, you are getting the damn
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help finally. Uh. But what changed and what in your
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mind led to you actually getting what you need finally
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after all these damn years, Like it seems like the
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struggle was it was ridiculous, you know, for someone like you,
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a veteran who literally needs that help but yet couldn't
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really get anything together. And now all this now all
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of a sudden, everything's just kind of coming like it's working.
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I got to understand what you think for what you
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know happened that that really led to that change and
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getting you back to where you need to be.
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Well, first off, let's throw a big thank you to you,
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because everyone asked every once in a while, you were
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the only person actually, you know, texting me like every
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seven to ten days agoing when youre getting back behind
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the mike, when you get mike, when you're getting back
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behind the.
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Mike, you need to be I need to, you know.
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But last, because last thing I did was right after
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he announced Pam Bondi as the AG back in November,
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so it was I didn't realize it was nine months. Yeah,
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I actually went and did one knowing good. But you know,
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the VA was a pile of ship for years. I mean,
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it's the frankest way to put it. I mean, I
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hadn't easier time getting my face put back together in
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the height of COVID after the accident. You know, it
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was easier to have surgery done during the height of
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it than it was just to get a doctor. Yeah,
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the last four years, it's amazing how that happened. Yeah,
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it's actually kind of funny if you think about it.
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But for four years, I mean I had three primary
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care doctors, and that includes like the year and a
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half it was eighteen to twenty one months.
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Where I didn't have a doctor at all. There was
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just nothing.
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And that doesn't include the time in between, you know,
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appointments when I didn't see anybody because I didn't even
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know my primary care doctor and Hannah's brother's primary care
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doctor were the same people, and I happened to see him, like, well,
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they just canceled my VA tomorrows. Something was to doctor
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I'm like, yeah, oh, she's been god for like six months.
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I'm like, wow, cool. So she quit, like, you know,
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the day after I saw her last week.
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Yeah, nobody reached out on man, don't no cared.
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But they figured they were just going to, you know,
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play it off until we all had to show up
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and that none of us talk to each other, which
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again it's the VA. Why would they be that smart?
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But thankfully my neurologists totally didn't suck. So Yeah, one
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more giant shout out to doctor Oaster because he was
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taking care of X rays. He was taking care of
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all kinds of stuff for me that was well beyond
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you know, a neurologists you know, jobs, title and all that,
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Like never I needed an X ray or anything. And
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I saw him he's like, cool, it's in go. Because
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I literally, like at one point, was arguing with doctors
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like can we do the X rays when I'm going
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down to see neuro and like we'll talk about it
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your next appointment, Like yeah, but see that's like two weeks.
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I'm gonna be there next week because it's down to Wilmington,
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so it's like an hour or so away, you know,
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so I'd like to do the X rays well I'm
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down there instead of seeing you guys week after in
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the driving back to Wilmington, and the response was we'll
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talk about it in your appointment, okay. And I told
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my neurologist and he's like, cool, it's in go. Thank
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you because they can apparently all see each other's direct
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messages that we have through there, so they can read
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everything we're saying. He's like, go, thank you. But uh yeah,
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it absolutely sucked. I couldn't get anything done and miraculously,
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I mean I don't find it to be a coincidence
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because the the first four years I was in absolutely sucked.
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Then there was this four year period where suddenly things
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were starting to roll again to include all the surgeries
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and I got run over. You everything I needed during
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COVID there was physical THERAPYOC and everything I needed. Then
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there's four years of nothing and I don't find it.
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And since then this year, just you know, since February,
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I got to go see the urologist. I mean I
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had to drive all the way to Richmond, but you know,
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I got to see them, the endochronologist, all of them,
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and got testosterone treatment from yeah, to replace everything because
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I was down at barely one hundred and the average
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is way above one hundred for my age group. So
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I got that taken care of, which I think is
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taken care of you. It's nice when your body feels
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like it's healing. It's good to have energy and not
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feel like a zombie all the time. It's not necessarily
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the funnest stuff for the injection to walk around for
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a day, but yeah, that got done. They sent me
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to a chiropractor finally, which is fantastic because I was
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arguing for that for years, and they got me a
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elymphatic drainage. You know, Lympho Press machined all the compression
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to help get rid of all the swelling, because I
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think I sent you pictures of the swelling, like at
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one point, if they could just sent you one of
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like my left leg, it was all blown up. So
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they got that and that took care of that problem,
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which you know, God bless them. They got me in
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for chiropractor again. Like I said, I'm going back to me.
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I got my head taking care of this. I think
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I go back to him next week.
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That got me put in for acupuncture.
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I made. There's so much going on.
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What what what led? What happened? Though, likegime, yeah, so okay,
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we can talk about that because I remember you and
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I discussing back and forth. You took a break because
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you had to get shipped done right, and you were
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frustrated as hell because like I can't get anything, like
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no one's responding to me. I keep put, keep put,
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being put back on the list, like going to go
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back to the line. Basically, it's like, and so you're
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the the you think the change really has to do
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with Trump's second term. Here at the start of the
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second term, that's when you did you start to notice
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it then or was a little bit down the line.
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I'm trying to understand what made the difference, because it's like, why,
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why should caring for veterans ever be politicized or prioritized
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differently depending on who the hell's in office? Like that
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doesn't make sense.
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Let's also not forget what the last regime did in there. Yeah, legitimately,
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I mean taking resources from the VA to deal with
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what was happening down in Texas. Let's just say that, Yeah,
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they were literally taking stuff from us. But it was
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a regime change, like I noticed it, yeah again in
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the first four years as a headache to do anything,
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and everything wasn't perfect, you know, under Trump's first term obviously,
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you know, and if you can look at you know,
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just basic numbers though, like where the veteran suicide rate was,
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Like it did go up a little bit as first year,
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a little bit of second year. But then in nineteen
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and twenty, even with yeah, all the lockdowns and isolation
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and all of that, like, we had our two biggest drops.
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Like ever it might have been, I couldn't even tit
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it last time. We had back to back drops of
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that big and then we almost went right back to
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it the first year under Biden, and then in case
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anybody's curious look it up. They haven't reported anything since
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twenty one, which tells you exactly how everything was handled
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for all of the can't some Port Trump and saying
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some Port veterans, Yeah, at least Trump let us know
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how many of them were. Yeah, how bad the situation
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actually was, which is, well, a lot of my liberals
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friends are gone on Facebook, but God rest their souls,
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they can't help themselves. But yeah, it's totally regime. Like
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there were four years where I was like, was the
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Cares Act where they said if we can't get help
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within thirty days, we can go in town And I
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literally when I was trying to get I don't remember
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who the hell it was at this point. I argued
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with them for so long but might have actually been Ortho.
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But like, the closest one we have is like six
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months from now. I'm like, yeah, but the Cares Act
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and she was like yeah, no. I was like, it's
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still the last time I checked, they didn't get rid
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of that. She's like yeah, but no, I was like,
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yeah it is. You're like no, And then I was
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like ever just schedule the damn thing some thing. And
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this time I mean like I've I mean, I forgot
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the consult went in, go do the acupuncturists. Just because
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they've been calling me for so many damn things lately.
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It's a very odd change of pace to see the
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VA's number pop up on my screen that much. Yeah,
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Like they call me in, They're like, oh, I can't
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do anyone in the network. The closest persons in Newburn
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good enough for you. I'm like, yeah, I'll drive a
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half hour, four whatever, I'll go to Newburn, like you know.
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It was just like that.
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And she's like, there's no more bureaucracy. You get your
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you know console, you get your twelve and if it helps,
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tell your doctor, he'll tell me. And it doesn't have
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to go through any you know, VA bureaucratic things. She's like,
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what like and she'll set up you know, she said,
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but it's approved. If it works, I'll approve it immediately.
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I'm like, are you sure this is the VA. She's like, Hi,
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I'm the VA, and I approve it. Like yeah, but
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god damn, where was this it was?
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They these guys in the VA even acknowledge that they
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were fucking you off for the for so many years
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before like all of a sudden, it's just g glad
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to meet you. We're here for you. They just me
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more everything previously.
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My neurologist always he always, he at least acknowledged that
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he knew how I'd say fucked we all were, because
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I mean I obviously wasn't his only you know patient
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that was probably asking him for you know, things outside
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of his means, because we just couldn't get anyone. I mean,
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it was like to the point where they were going
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to send me out in town and then they kept
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and then they're like, cool, we'll send you this place.
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I'm like okay, and then like they did the confirmation
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text in the afternoon like before, and then like at
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seven thirty that night, suddenly I got the canceling thing.
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You know, we have to reschedule you because the and
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that happened like three times, and I called him like,
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there has to be someone else that you could just
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send it to well, because they keep canceling the day
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before like and then they just stopped responding all together.
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So that was, uh, my eye doctor fighting that's not
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really a fight anymore, but arguing with optum because I
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scheduled my doctor appointment about this time last year. I'd say,
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except it was for you know, this year, Like you
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can go back to the say my doctor about us
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to be next summer. Let's cool. Whatever. Yeah, I'm not
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desperate for glasses, but just because of where I've been
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there enough times, they have all that. You know.
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I was like, but we need we need to acknowledge though, Jesse, like,
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this is a major problem in where it's catastrophic. Yeah. Yeah, yeah,
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because we're talking about people as yourself was served. Uh,
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you come back with actual ailments and injuries due to serving,
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and and they treat veterans like their second class when
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it comes to medical or there's never enough resources. But
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we've got people living on you know, assisted living. How
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this is like medicare whatever, you know, any government assistants
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that aren't veterans that can call and get their treatment
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and get things paid for or get you know, a
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large percentage paid for it without a problem. But if
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you're going to the VA, the channel you're supposed to
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go through as a veteran, it's like you got to
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jump through hoops to make it happened. Yeah, it's it's good,
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you guys. I mean, it sounds like it's turning around finally,
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But the lack of accountability and admission to their fuck
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ups is ridiculous, like just acting as if no, it
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was always we're always here for you.