Veterans are not stupid, stop treating them like they are

Why would so many be acting as if veterans are too stupid to make their own choices when it comes to the end of their lives? Sure, we value them when they are willing to lay down their lives for the sake of the rest of us, and we respect that decision. Hell, we even applaud them for it. So how is it that when they actually have bodies and health issues like the rest of us, there are some in this country acting as if they do not deserve the same right the rest of us have when it comes to how they want to be treated at the end of their lives?

My husband and I have living wills and gave medical power of attorney to each other. We know what the other one wants and have promised, if the worst happens, we will honor it. We had no problem at all reading the booklet and he filled out his wishes on a form for the VA.

Was the booklet well written? No but then again, most publications the VA puts out aren't either. Still we have to ask who in their right mind decided that veterans are not able to decide for themselves what it is they want? Who decided they don't deserve the same rights the rest of us have?

This is a false issue and you also need to be asking how it is that real problems our veterans face are not even discussed but this one is. Backlog of claims nearing one million? Is that an big issue? VA doctor screwing up but the veteran can't sue anyone? Is that a big issue? Ever check out the FERES Doctrine? NAMI giving an award to Dr. Katz, the same man covering up suicide statistics and having to change because of law suits and congressional action? Is that a big issue?

Our veterans are in deep trouble in this system but this issue gets blood boiling over nothing! Do they get great care from most VA hospitals? Yes. But there are problems that need our attention. This is a diversion and the people behind it should be ashamed of themselves.

You are able to read the false news, so how about you take the time to read the real document and stop spreading false fear when there are real things the veterans do have to worry about. Anything less than that, is what is really an assault against our veterans. They deserve more from you!


http://www.ethics.va.gov/YLYC/YLYC_First_edition_20001001.pdf


Your Life, Your Choices
There’s only one person who is truly qualified to
tell health care providers how you feel about
different kinds of health care issues—and that’s you.
But, what if you get sick, or injured so severely that
you can’t communicate with your doctors or family
members? Have you thought about what kinds of
medical care you would want? Do your loved ones
and health care providers know your wishes?
Many people assume that close family members
automatically know what they want. But studies
have shown that spouses guess wrong over half the
time about what kinds of treatment their husbands
or wives would want.
You can help assure that your wishes will direct
future health care decisions through the process of
advance care planning.



TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Basics
Why do you need to think now about future health
care decisions? 5
Do you have strongly-held beliefs that should guide
your care? 6
If you couldn’t speak for yourself, what would you
want done for you? 7
Who will speak for me if I can’t speak for myself? 8
Common questions about choosing a spokesperson 9
What else can I do to make my wishes known? 10
Common questions about advance directives 11
What situations and decisions do people commonly face?
Dementia 12
Coma 13
Stroke 14
Terminal illness 15
Telling others what you want 16
Writing it down 17
What’s next? 18
Thought-provoking exercises
Introduction 19
Your Beliefs and Values
Who should speak for me? 20
What makes your life worth living? 21
Personal and spiritual beliefs 22
Hope for recovery 23
Weighing pros and cons of treatment
for different chances of recovery 23
Choices about death and dying
How would you like to spend your last days? 24
Organ donation and autopsy 25
Burial arrangements 25
Funeral or memorial services 26
Health conditions and treatments
Introduction 27
Health conditions
Coma 28
Dementia 29
Serious stroke 30
Terminal illness 31
Treatments
Kidney dialysis 32
CPR-Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation 33
Feeding tubes 34
Mechanical ventilators (breathing machines) 35
Hospice and palliative care 36
Your health care preferences
Introduction 37
Care preferences under different health conditions
Current health 38
Permanent coma 39
Severe dementia 40
Severe stroke 41
Terminal illness 42
A future situation of concern 43
How to talk about your wishes
Introduction 45
Talking about your wishes
Starting the discussion 46
Asking someone to be your spokesperson 47
Who else should you talk to? 47
What if you don't have close family or friends? 47
Nine important issues to discuss 48
Talking to your health care providers 49
Reviewing you wishes 50
Other issues
Legal and ethical issues of advance care planning 51



You have to wonder why FOX thinks our veterans are stupid by lying to them like this. Weren't they supposed to be the ones claiming they supported them? So why is it that when FOX could be helping them for real they come up with a load of garbage like this? The veterans have enough real problems as it is but instead of doing something real to help them, put pressure on our elected to take care of them, what they do is more harm than good. Shame on FOX!

Rove falsely claimed Obama admin. pushing vets toward "assisted suicide"
August 25, 2009 7:23 pm ET
Continuing Fox News' pattern of falsely suggesting that the Obama administration is pressuring veterans to end their lives prematurely, Karl Rove claimed that the Veterans Health Administration is directing veterans to an end-of-life educational booklet, "Your Life, Your Choices," that includes contact information for "a group that believes in assisted suicide," and thus "the kind of guidance we're giving returning veterans" is "you ought to go to an assisted suicide group." In fact, that group is not referenced in the current version of the document, a fact that Jim Towey -- who originated the smear of the booklet as a "death book" -- acknowledged in interview on Fox News Sunday.


Rove claimed booklet says vets "ought to go to an assisted suicide group"
Rove claimed "Compassionate Choices" a.k.a. "the Hemlock Society" referenced on "Page 99." Rove asserted that, concerning guidance on advanced directives, "Your Life, Your Choices" "lists one group ... Compassionate Choices [sic]," which "is a group that believes in assisted suicide." He added that "it gives their phone number and their log site." [Hannity, 8/24/09]

Booklet doesn't reference Compassion and Choices, Hemlock Society
Booklet contains no reference to Compassion and Choices or the Hemlock Society. Contrary to Rove's claim, the current version of the booklet as posted on the VA's website does not reference either group, nor does it provide "their phone number and their log site." ["Your Life, Your Choices"]

Towey admitted Compassion and Choices reference "pulled" from 2007 edition of booklet during Bush administration. During his Fox News Sunday interview, Towey alleged of "Your Life, Your Choices" that "[t]he 2007 edition said go to Compassion Choices [sic]. That's the Hemlock Society." After host Chris Wallace stated that "we need to point out that those references which were in ... the 2007 edition are not in the edition that is currently being circulated at the Veterans Administration," Towey acknowledged that "they pulled that page after we raised concerns about it." [Fox News Sunday, 8/23/09] Media Matters for America has documented that Towey, who originated the smear that "Your Life, Your Choices" is a "death book," has advanced numerous false claims about the VA's booklet and has a financial interest in undermining it.

There is no "Page 99" of "Your Life, Your Choices." In fact, the current version of the booklet as posted on the VA's website only contains 51 numbered pages. ["Your Life, Your Choices"]
read more here
http://mediamatters.org/research/200908250055

False outrage of the week continues

Now we know who is behind all this false outrage..... Where was all of this commotion when reports came out about veterans committing suicide because the VA did have enough people to process claims and take care of them? Where is it now? Whenever I read "issues" like this getting this kind of attention it's easy to guess there is someone behind all of them with a lot of power but not a whole lot of common sense, hell bent on some kind of power trip instead of being hell bent on really taking care of veterans!

Where were all of these people when Bush was President and the VA was turning away PTSD veterans? Where were they when the reports came out about Walter Reed? Where were they in any of this when their voices really could have made a difference and did something that would actually help the veterans? I still want to know who in their right mind came up with this being a slam against veterans instead of putting end of life decisions into their own hands the way lawyers do all the time with living wills and medical power of attorney documents so that family members can make sure people have their wishes honored. Looks like Spector doesn't think they deserve that kind of right at all.

Specter Calls for Hearings on End-of-Life Care Guide for Veterans
The guide, called 'Your Life, Your Choices,' was suspended under the Bush administration but has been revived under the current Department of Veterans Affairs.

FOXNews.com

Sunday, August 23, 2009


Sen. Arlen Specter on Sunday called for hearings to scrutinize a guide for veterans' end-of-life care which one former Bush official says sends a "hurry-up-and-die" message to injured troops.

The guide, called "Your Life, Your Choices," was suspended under the Bush administration but has been revived under the current Department of Veterans Affairs.

Jim Towey, former director of the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, told "FOX News Sunday" that the pamphlet makes injured veterans feel like a burden, encourages the severely injured to die and should be tossed out.

Asked about the document, Specter, a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, said it raises "a lot of questions" and that he would call for hearings immediately.

"I think consideration ought to be given right now to suspending it pending hearings," Specter, D-Pa., told "FOX News Sunday."

Towey first wrote about the revival of the manual last week in The Wall Street Journal.
read more here
Specter Calls for Hearings on End-of-Life Care Guide for Veterans

False outrage of the week

Veterans Administration Encouraging Suicide for Disabled Soldiers ...
By Brian Kelly
The American Catholic reports: As the Wall Street Journal reports here, the Veteran's Administration is providing seriously wounded veterans with a pamphlet entitled “Your Life, Your Choices“, which encourages veterans to refuse ...

This is all over the blog world and
frankly it's disgusting.

My husband not only filled out the form for his wishes to be honored, we also have living wills. We gave each other medical power of attorney, just in case the worst happens to one of us because we know what the other one wants.

So where is this false outrage coming from and who started it? What was their motivation?

You need only ask yourself if you ever read about the real suicides from the same source that were happening everyday across this country of PTSD veterans because they didn't get the help they needed or received substandard care. Did you ever read about congressional hearings or testimonies from any of these sites when some of our elected were fighting like hell to have the budget increased at the same time some of our elected were saying there wasn't enough money in the budget to do it because "there are two wars going on" and they had to be paid for? Do any of these sites cover anything that is helpful to the men and women serving this country or to the veterans after they served it?

I bet you never once read that veterans have been paying for their services from the VA with other insurances all along. Look up "means test" on this blog and see what I'm talking about. Did they ever tell you want the ruling from congress did to our veterans allowing the VA to collect funds for non-service connected treatments? Or the fact that until a claim is approved, it's considered non-service connected?

This false outrage is all over the blogs as if the veterans don't deserve the same right to have their last wishes honored the same way the rest of us have that right. Why clip it down to a sound bite to cause fear and panic in our veterans when they have enough real problems to worry about when it comes to the VA not having enough doctors, nurses and claims processors to take care of all of them?

Did you notice who owns the Wall Street Journal now?