Female Veterans Doesn't Have Proper Leg to Stand On

One female veteran’s epic quest for a ‘foot that fits’ 
The Washington Post
By Emily Wax-Thibodeaux
September 5, 2015

“The problem is we are coming home to a society and, unfortunately, a VA that still defines veterans as male — that’s what Americans picture when they think ‘veteran,’ ” said former Army medic Joy Ilem, who focuses on VA’s women’s health-care policy for the advocacy group Disabled American Veterans (DAV).

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Every morning for more than two years, retired Army Sgt. Brenda Reed had the infuriating chore of screwing on what she calls her “man foot.”

The prosthesis was given to her by the Department of Veterans Affairs after her left leg was amputated in 2013, but the replacement was so bulky and ill-fitting that it kept falling off in public. She pleaded with VA officials for “a foot that fits, a female foot,” only to be told repeatedly that the agency doesn’t carry that kind of customized prosthesis, which is available on the private market.

Reed tried to have a sense of humor about it. So she put bright red press-on nails on the wide “man” toes.

“I just wanted to get this man’s foot off of me,” she said.“Does it really have to be this hard for female veterans to get the right kind of care?”

VA hospitals and clinics don’t offer prenatal care; instead they outsource it. And they don’t deliver babies. Dozens of VA facilities don’t have full-time gynecologists, and some don’t have any gynecological staff. Even for basic female wellness services, such as mammograms, some facilities have to refer women elsewhere.
read more here