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Amputee has harsh words for VA Medical Center

BY JOHN D. HOMAN, THE SOUTHERN

Friday, February 29, 2008 12:13 PM CST

CARRIER MILLS - Kenneth Brock, a Vietnam War veteran, has endured a lot of pain and suffering. Yet, most of the pain and the suffering came after the war, he said, when he began receiving treatment from physicians at the VA Medical Center in Marion.

Brock, 57, of Carrier Mills, began visiting the VA in 1996, a year after having triple heart bypass surgery in Evansville. The retired truck driver is a native of Geneseo.

"It got to the point where I could hardly walk and was starting to get seizures. I even blacked out on occasion from the pain," Brock said. "The doctor told me I was done with work."

Brock, who earned Silver and Bronze stars, as well as the Purple Heart medal, was shot in the leg and injured his back when serving a one-year tour. He said his health continued to deteriorate after he first obtained medical care for his back. Circulation problems led to nerve numbness.

"In 2004, I got gangrene in three of my toes and the doctors at the VA sent me to see podiatrists and orthopedists, because they thought it was a foot problem, but the problem was vascular instead."

Brock underwent a triple aortic bypass at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale in an attempt to clear the blockage in his legs. But a few months later, in March 2005, he was transported by ambulance from the VA to Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, where doctors told him his left leg "had already died."

Brock's wife, Meg, alleges about eight to 12 hours passed between the time a vascular surgeon from the region recommended her husband get transported to St. Louis and the time he arrived for surgery in a VA-authorized ambulance. They were told Brock could not be transported by helicopter.

Physicians in St. Louis had to remove the left leg and part of his right leg. But gangrene returned and VA surgeons removed the remainder of the appendage.

"They dropped me off the bed coming out of surgery," Brock said. "Don't get me wrong. There are a lot of good people at the VA, especially on the mental health side. But I don't have a lot good to say about some of the primary care physicians, surgeons and pain management people."

Meg said much of her husband's pain medication was pulled by one physician.

"I had to watch him go through withdrawals. His pain level was so great that it led to a nervous breakdown," she said. "Why couldn't he have been weaned off the medication in a hospital setting?"

Officials with the Marion VA gave few answers when The Southern asked questions.

"Yes, Mr. Brock does receive care at the Marion VA Medical Center, however we do not feel commenting on his medical record is in the best medical interest of the veteran," said Rebecca Shinneman, spokeswoman for the hospital. "We will continue to work with Mr. Brock on his care and will look into his concerns."

Brock thanked U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, and Bud Belleville with the VA in Harrisburg for helping him get service-connected disability pay.

"They've both been a big help to me," Brock said.

Brock knows there are more veterans out there discouraged about the care they receive from the VA, he said, adding they shouldn't always believe the doctors when told that nothing can be done.

Brock said despite what he considers to be subpar medical treatment by a federally run hospital, he has no regrets about serving his country 40 years ago.

"No, not at all," he said choking back tears. "I've got a flag flying out in the front yard and you can see all the red, white and blue here in the house. Just the other day, a woman came up to me and thanked me for serving my country. That's a lot better than being called a baby killer and being spit on, which is what happened when I returned home from Vietnam."

john.homan@thesouthern.com

351-5805