Invisible needs?
As I have previously stated in other posts, 3.5 years ago I was diagnosed with stage 3 COPD and was put on oxygen. The Dr advised to start at 3 liters, that did not work except for sleeping. General walking I needed 6 lpm. I have remained on that only with the help of regulators that will deliver me 8 lpm. That is what I would refer to as an visible need, one that the Dr. can see IF he/she looks at the chart.
Invisible needs
An invisible need is one that you tell the Dr about but nothing is ever said. As we all know sleeping on our flat back is a bad situation, also I am not, due to arthritis, able to sleep on my side. Mentioning this to the Dr twice and his PA (physicians assistant) 3 or more times. Still nothing ever was mentioned so I checked on the "net" about hospital beds. WOW really pricey; then I thought maybe the VA would maybe help financially. Kept reading and discovered that they will supply, at no cost a hospital bed if you qualify. It took me one call to the prosthetics department and I was qualified and had my bed in like 3 weeks. I believe the qualifications are rather loose because they did not even ask anything about me.
Help for veterans
I also had other situations that they did not even try to resolve, and again all that was needed was a call to the ENT department. However the DR had retired so they (VA) sent me to another hospital and that situation has also been resolved.
My point is #1 if you are a vet and in the VA system and need a hospital bed call them (the pulmonary dept.) and if they don't know go to the next level up.
#2 Know that the VA is there to serve you, each department has their own representative, they are there for you. Don't give up!
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