I dread the day...

[silverlib]

I work/volunteer for a non-profit that cares for mentally challenged and brain injured people, all of whom I dearly love. The mentally retarded are sweet and have no memory of being anyone but who they are. The brain injured are angry because they remember who they once were. As well as the normal coping, thinking and motor skills they loose, most of them also lose their families. Seldom do they lose their memories. The once police officer and engineer talk to me about how it “used to be” and they are so proud. We have a pending contract to serve the brain injured veterans from Iraq. I marched last Saturday with over a thousand others in Austin, to end this senseless war. Please keep me in your prayers or light, for what will I do when I see reality? It’s not enough to mourn the dead. It really hurts to mourn with the living.

From the Latest Breaking News and the Greatest Page:

BOSTON (Reuters) - Medical costs for U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could range from $350 billion to $662 billion over the next 40 years, as soldiers survive injuries that would have killed them in past conflicts, according to a Harvard University study.

Due to improvements in battlefield medicine and equipment, there are now about 16 "nonmortally wounded" soldiers for every death, far more than the 2.6 soldiers wounded per death in Vietnam, the study said, citing Department of Veterans' Affairs data.

The author of the study, Linda Bilmes, a lecturer at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, presented her findings at an academic conference in January. They were released publicly by the university this week.

The potential costs include medical care, disability payments and other benefits paid to injured veterans and assume that 44 percent of veterans eventually claim disability. That was the percentage of claims from the first Gulf War. Bilmes' calculations assume that by 2016, 2 million soldiers will have participated in these wars.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070202/us_nm/iraq_usa_vete...

[illinoisprogressive]

1. This is going to be really hard for you. We, here, will be around for you if

you need to talk. It helps. Maybe do a diary of it. Like post a series every week. Or contact some of us to talk to. DUers care for their own and we will be here when and if you need us.

[silverlib]

2. Thank you!

I really appreciate your response.

[illinoisprogressive]

3. It is the truth. People here are caring and would help. You can

personal message me any time if you need a friend to talk to. It's hard to deal with people who hurt and you are a compassionate person. It can hurt alot. These guys coming back need you but, you will need friends here to help.

[PDJane]

4. I add my name to the list, if you need support.

I know what it's like to lose things from accidents; fortunately, my intellectual capabilities are unimpaired, but I have sensory mix-ups and have lost mobility. A lot of mobility. I'm not confined to wheelchair, but live with chronic pain.

I find it helps to talk sometimes, and yes, keeping a diary helps. Friends are necessary.

Those who have you to deal with are lucky; your compassion is important!

[silverlib]

5. Thank you...

I'm equipped to deal with the people. I'm just not sure how equipped I am to deal with the anger towards this administration. I really appreciate your support.

[northofdenali]

6. We'll be here for you.

If our Dem. Congress doesn't step up to the plate, the whole fucking bunch of them may be in for a real surprise in '08 - not to mention a new revolution.

NOBODY deserves more consideration than "the least of these" as the philosopher Jesus put it. And the corporatist Dems out there who still don't get it will get it - when they lose to more progressive leaders.

[silverlib]

7. Thank you - and it is the least of these

that really upset me. Not enough Americans will see them and care for them. They will be hid in all the non-profits and military hospitals and no one will see what this war has done to them. I'll be okay - though angry. But what about them? Their stories will be protected by HIPAA, and rightfully so, but they will remain unknown.

[northofdenali]

8. Maybe you could diary some stories told to you firsthand -

just leave out, or rename, the patients. It would be powerful, even if only blogged or journaled! :hug: for what you do - I'm the primary caregiver for my father-in-law, a once-dynamic, intelligent man who is now in Stage 3 of Alzheimers. He doesn't even have flashes of his old self any more and it devastates me. He once had so much humor, vigor and just plain LIFE, and now, to be brutal - I long for him to pass because he is just not there any more. :cry:

[silverlib]

9. Let me put this another way....

Yes, I want your prayers and light. They mean so much to me and I really appreciate the responses.

But let me scream this from the mountain top...

Why are non profits getting into the brain injured Iraqi war veteran business?

Answer: Because the military hospitals are not equipped to handle all of them. There are so many that they will be "farmed out" to non-profits, often times not in the area where they lived. All across our nation, non-profits will be taking brain injured veterans far from their homes.

I doubt anyone we get will be from Austin, TX. They will be from far-a-way places, forgotten and not recognized. They will be angry and alone but for the new people that they meet. And they will REMEMBER!

This is not so much about me - it is for them. And yes, if the non-profit I work for gets the contract, I will keep those who have responded up to date as much as I can and still comply with HIPAA.

I am angry... I am angry for them.