Veterans on hold as disability backlog continues to grow

Reminder, the backlog of claims did not happen overnight. They were this high in June of 2009 and if you look back, this has been an issue for veterans for decades. If that doesn't get you angry, reading it is all still going on should get you really mad. So when exactly does Congress take action to make sure history is not repeated? When another war starts? By the way, the backlog has gone down but if nothing is done, we'll be screaming all over again.

Veterans on hold as disability backlog continues to grow
Northwest Herald
By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO
Created: Sunday, June 9, 2013

WOODSTOCK – Francisca Dimas has gone from serving her country in Afghanistan to struggling to survive the civilian world, as the veteran's medical costs mount and a three-year wait for her disability claim lingers.

Dimas, a 40-year-old single mother, typically starts her day at 3 a.m. to get ready for the long trek from her garden-level apartment in Woodstock to a Veteran Affairs clinic in North Chicago to receive treatment and therapy for a litany of medical conditions, before returning to attend classes at McHenry County College and working a part-time job to support her three children and a new grandson.

The former Illinois National Guard mechanic had no idea that the return to everyday life would be so difficult for someone who risked her life from 2008 to 2009 in war-torn Afghanistan.

Dimas had gone from repairing vehicles for special forces in Afghanistan and recovering tattered equipment from the scenes of roadside bombings to barely finishing a long day in McHenry County.

Her legs often go numb after a typical 16-hour day of travel, school and work. It's the byproduct of a double knee injury that happened overseas after a piece of Humvee equipment fell on her knees and destroyed the meniscus, she said.

Her left eye frequently throbs, years after her safety goggles cut it while her helicopter tried to evade gunfire in Afghanistan. She has shoulder and back pain, and she still receives therapy for her post-traumatic stress disorder and the recently diagnosed traumatic brain injury – both of which wreak havoc on her short-term memory.
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