The Broken Soldier

Another full day without the full prescription of pain medication.  My wife and I did manage to get generic equivalents of two of the three pain management medications.  However, during this pay period we can’t afford the primary pain managing medication, Duragesic Transdermal Patches, and pay our mortgage.  The medications we could afford, while I’m very thankful to have them, reasoning that something is better than nothing when speaking of pain management, but they were prescribed for ‘breakthrough pain.’  They were not intended, nor are they sufficient to manage post open back surgery pain.

The people at Fort Knox and at my unit have said they’re doing what they can.  I’ve been calling them everyday since Monday.  I talked to them yesterday, after not hearing from them.  I was promised they were continuing to work the issue.  I’ve not heard from anyone today.  Meanwhile, the pain isn’t getting better, in fact it’s getting worse, and unless my wife and I choose to default on our mortgage we have no recourse but to wait this out.  But we shouldn’t have to wait this out.

Why wasn’t my treatment plan, to include post operative care, figured out weeks ago?  If we were to pay for said care, which was not clear at any point in this discussion, why weren’t we told?  Had we been told, we could have saved money in preparation.  And why is it that I am having to pay for care while on active duty - the ease of facilitating care a condition of agreeing to Active Duty Medical Extension in the first place?  And why is whatever needs fixing not fixable in three business days?  I sense because managing my pain isn’t a high priority.  I’m getting that familiar feeling that something is wrong, and the equally familiar feeling that my wife and I will be the only people involved dealing with the consequences (of other peoples’ careless mistakes).