Paralyzed Army Ranger gets hero's welcome

Paralyzed Army Ranger gets hero's welcome in Crystal River
By Barbara Behrendt, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Sunday, September 13, 2009
CRYSTAL RIVER — One year ago this week, the job that Romulo "Romy" Camargo loves nearly cost him his life.

On a mission to destroy a damaged piece of equipment near Kandahar, Afghanistan, the Army Ranger and his unit were ambushed. Fighting their way out of the attack, Camargo was shot in the neck.

Since then, the 33-year-old soldier has fought a different fight, one that at first was a fight just to live. Now Camargo, who is paralyzed from the neck down, fights to be independent, to walk again and to return to that which he loves — service to his country.

Recovering and undergoing rehabilitation at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, Camargo once mentioned to his patient advocate how he'd love to go home and along the way, he'd love to have a few motorcycles accompany him.

On Saturday, he got his wish and in a huge way.
read more here
Crystal River Hero Welcome Home

Injured GI from Howell has a calling. Helping others heal

Injured GI from Howell has a calling: Helping others heal
Golf outing for Brennan foundation
By Michelle Gladden • FREEHOLD BUREAU • August 19, 2009


HOWELL — It's been a long road, in more ways than one, for the Brennan family.
Committed to establishing a foundation that would help other wounded soldiers returning from war, the family is hosting its Brennan Stands Alone Foundation Golf Outing Monday at the Cruz Golf Club.

"We're just beginning to crank it up," said Joanne Brennan, mother of Afghanistan war veteran 1st Lt. Brian Brennan, who suffered life-threatening injuries and lost both legs in a roadside bomb attack. "We have our first corporate sponsor and we're hoping for a good response for the golf outing."

Brian Brennan, 24, said he will serve refreshments during the event while members of the local Policemen's Benevolent Association will prepare food.

It was only a few months after his May 2008 injuries that he and his family expressed their wish to help others the way they'd been helped. But money earmarked for the trust could only be used to help her son, Joanne Brennan said.

The trust fund was established to help the family with the cost of traveling first to James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, Fla., and then to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
read more here
Injured GI from Howell has a calling

Operation Helping Hand at James A. Haley VA Hospital

Giving The Military A Helping Hand
Tampa Tribune - Tampa,FL,USA

By JOYCE McKENZIE

jmckenzie@tampatrib.com

Published: December 17, 2008

UNIVERSITY AREA - U.S. Marine Cpl. Miguel "Mike" Manuel Delgado could not think of a better way to spend an evening in the spinal cord injury unit at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital.

"I've been looking forward to this all day," said Delgado, who has been at the hospital since February. He is recovering from a broken neck that happened in a surfboarding accident in California while on leave from Iraq.

Delgado, of Brooksville, was among several other injured and wounded active duty patients and their families honored on Thursday during an annual Christmas dinner hosted by Operation Helping Hand, an initiative of the Tampa Chapter of Military Officers Association of America.

Delgado and his comrades were showered with gifts and a turkey dinner, compliments of Columbia Restaurant, and served by many of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and MacDill Air Force Base's top brass.

"This is cool and it's great seeing and getting kissed by so many hot ladies," joked Delgado, who has aspirations of walking again. He credits his doctors and nursing staff for getting him on track to be discharged within a couple of months.
click link above for more

Haley VA center apologizes after vet dies

"It just don't seem right," said Szamlewski's widow, Marie. "I just don't understand why they didn't give it to him. Maybe my story can help somebody else to know they've got to stay on the VA every minute."

Haley VA center apologizes after vet dies
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, November 15, 2008



TAMPA — During his recovery from cancer surgery, doctors put Jim Szamlewski on oxygen to help keep him alive.

But they discharged him from the James A. Haley VA Medical Center without the thing most essential to his survival: oxygen.

For up to six agonizing hours on Sept. 5, the 75-year-old Army veteran struggled for breath as his condition deteriorated, his wife said. The oxygen finally arrived. But Szamlewski's heart stopped 12 hours after his discharge. Though it was restarted, his brain had been irreparably damaged.

Szamlewski, of Land O'Lakes, died with the removal of life support on Sept. 9.

His is the third case detailed by the St. Petersburg Times in recent months in which a veteran died after either being misdiagnosed or discharged without vital supplies or equipment.

After a Times inquiry, the Department of Veterans Affairs regional director requested a review of the Szamlewski case by the agency's independent watchdog, the Office of Medical Inspector.
go here for more
http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/veterans/article903950.ece

Dying veteran sent from Tampa VA to hospice died without breathing machine

Transfer of VA patient goes awry
By William R. Levesque, Times staff writer
In print: Sunday, November 9, 2008


TAMPA — His body racked by vascular disease, 85-year-old Varrian "Otto" Wigner struggled with every breath.

Doctors at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa could do little for him. They suggested the World War II veteran be sent to a hospice. Wigner's wife agreed but said she insisted on one condition:

The breathing device that eased her husband's suffering and helped keep him alive must be waiting for him. Haley didn't object.

But the device wasn't waiting on Aug. 29. The hospice immediately tried to get Haley to take Wigner back, his widow said.

Haley refused, his wife said, and Wigner died in less than 24 hours.

"They dumped him like garbage on the street," said Alina Wigner, 76, of Weeki Wachee, Wigner's wife of 53 years. "I never thought the VA would let him down like this."

The case is the third detailed by the St. Petersburg Times in recent months about allegations of poor patient care or veterans who said Haley was too busy to treat them.
click post title for more

Tampa VA Unveils Addition To Center For Traumatic War Injuries

Tampa VA Unveils Addition To Center For Traumatic War Injuries
By LINDSAY PETERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 17, 2008

TAMPA - Wounded troops and Veterans Administration officials gathered at Tampa's VA hospital today to see the latest addition to its unit for men and women with traumatic injuries from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The new building contains apartments for injured troops who no longer need to be hospitalized but aren't ready to live on their own.

It's the first facility of its kind in the VA system, said Steven Scott, director of the Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital.

"This is a great occasion, everybody. We should all be proud," said Scott, who doubles as Haley's chief of physical medicine and rehabilitation services.
click post title for more

Media pressure worked for dying veteran. What about others?

Family: VA gives in on dying veteran
TAMPA - A day after the St. Petersburg Times reported on his plight, the family of a dying veteran says the Department of Veterans Affairs has agreed to provide the care he was previously denied.

The VA will not only admit James Carroll, 64, who is dying of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, to the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa. It will also pick up the full cost of the private medical care he was forced to receive when he was turned away from Haley.

Carroll's sister, Nancy McEndree, said today that several VA officials, including Haley's chief of staff, have contacted her since the Times reported his story Thursday. The entire episode was a "misunderstanding," she said they told her.

A Haley social worker told her the VA will pay all of Carroll's medical bills, McEndree said. The VA originally said he should seek care through Medicare because Haley was full.

Another official said Carroll would be given a tour of Haley, McEndree said, and the chief of staff, Dr. Edward Cutolo, said he would personally monitor Carroll's case to ensure he gets the treatment he needs.
go here for more
http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2008/10/family-va-gives.html

What about all the other veterans this is happening too? Will the media keep on asking questions for the sake of the other veterans?

Dying Veteran Says Busy VA Hospital Refused to Admit Him

Oct 16, VCS in the News: Dying Veteran Says Busy VA Hospital Refused to Admit Him

William R. Levesque


St. Petersburg Times (Florida)

Oct 16, 2008


"It's a disgrace," said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, an advocacy group frequently critical of the VA. "And it's difficult for veterans who are very ill to fight a big bureaucracy alone."

October 15, 2008, Zephyrhills, Florida — Veteran James Carroll is supposed to get free and complete medical care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The trick is getting in the door. Carroll, 64 and dying of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, said the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa has repeatedly refused to admit him for a reason that is no fault of his own:

Haley is too crowded.

So the Zephyrhills resident said he has been forced to get care outside the VA medical system, personally accumulating thousands of dollars in medical expenses that he thinks the VA should pay.

The VA refuses.

Some veteran advocates say Carroll is one of many veterans around the nation who have been denied access to VA health care and then forced to foot their own medical bills when they seek care elsewhere.

"I was a good soldier," said Carroll, an Air Force veteran who served four years ending in 1968. "I did what I was told. I don't want to break the VA's bank. I don't want anything that should not be mine. But the government needs to keep its word to me."

Carroll has been forced out of his rental home for lack of rent money. He is living in a trailer on family property near his sister.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/11409

Sailor's promotion is small step in a long road

Sailor's promotion is small step in a long road
By Thomas Kaplan, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Anthony “Doc” Thompson is caressed by his wife, Ivonne, and 10-month-old son, A.J., during the promotion ceremony Monday. Thompson, who received a severe traumatic brain injury in Iraq in April 2007, has been at the Haley veterans hospital for 13 months.
[KEN HELLE Times]

TAMPA — Ivonne Thompson leaned over an ironing board Sunday night and unfurled her husband's fatigues, ready to press them neatly for his promotion ceremony the next day.

Then she began to cry.

The last time Mrs. Thompson saw her husband in uniform was when he went off to Iraq on Jan. 29, 2007. Navy hospital Corpsman 2nd class Anthony "Doc" Thompson came back three months later with head injuries so severe his doctors said he would have died in any previous war.

But the 26-year-old sailor survived, and has spent the past 13 months recuperating here at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital. On Monday, at a ceremony tinged with sadness over the fact he won't remember it, he was promoted a rank to the grade of petty officer second class.

Standing next to her husband and their 10-month-old son, Anthony Jr., Mrs. Thompson was crying again. "It's emotional," she said. "I'm just so proud."

Thompson, a Humble, Texas, native on his second combat tour, was stationed with seven Marines on a highway overpass-turned-observation post outside Fallujah last year when a suicide bomber detonated a truck filled with 3,000 pounds of explosives underneath their feet.

Also on hand was hospital Corpsman 2nd class Andrew Dye, who tended to Thompson when he was pulled from the rubble and is credited for saving his life.

click post title for more

VA letter left out details on veteran's care

VA letter left out details on veteran's care
By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, August 9, 2008

TAMPA — Rep. Gus Bilirakis wanted answers about how the nation's busiest veterans hospital treated a Tarpon Springs man who died in the facility's care.

What Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, got was a letter from the James A. Haley VA Medical Center that did not include vital details about Richard Stecher's treatment.

The three-page letter dated July 24 did not disclose that:

• Haley's chief of staff had apologized to Stecher's companion, Mary Nicholl, the day before, telling her that three VA doctors "missed opportunities" to treat Stecher, 64, who died June 30 of a perforated bowel obstruction.

• Haley had concluded Stecher should have been admitted to the hospital in April after a CAT scan, two months before he was admitted.

• The VA sent Stecher for the April CAT scan at a private company because it was short of staff, and a non-VA radiologist who reviewed the results did not have access to previous scans for an important comparison.

A Department of Veterans Affairs regional lawyer, James Kelly, said on Friday that the VA was not attempting to keep any information from Bilirakis. "Nothing could be further from the truth," Kelly said.
go here for more
http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/veterans/article764297.ece

Richard Stecher died, VA hospital "short on personnel"

[DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD Times]
Mary Nicholl, 63, holds pictures memorializing Richard Stecher, 64, in their back yard in Tarpon Springs, which she said was his favorite spot for relaxing. Stecher died in VA care June 30, and Nicholl blames Haley VA Medical Center for his death.

Apology not enough after a death at VA
Records show multiple lapses in care, and a companion is angry.

By William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer


TAMPA — The chief of staff at the nation's busiest veterans' hospital met last month with a woman whose longtime companion died at the facility. Then Dr. Edward Cutolo did something she found extraordinary.

He apologized.

Richard Stecher, 64, of Tarpon Springs died June 30 at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center after several "missed opportunities" to treat him, Haley documents show.

Stecher, a Coast Guard veteran, died primarily from complications caused by a perforated bowel obstruction. Minutes after emergency surgery, he suffered a heart attack and never regained consciousness.

But to Mary Nicholl, Stecher's live-in companion of 19 years, the care Haley provided before surgery amounted to gross inattention by a hospital where, she said, care was often chaotic and substandard.

"No veteran," Nicholl said, "should endure what Richie endured."

On Thursday, the Department of Veterans Affairs refused to discuss the case or its medical files on Stecher, given to Nicholl by Haley at her request.

"I am not going to rebut anything she says," Cutolo said Thursday.

A surgeon, a primary care physician and a gastroenterologist failed to adequately treat Stecher over two months, according to VA minutes of Cutolo's meeting with Nicholl.

VA records say Stecher should have been admitted after an April CAT scan but was not admitted until June 27, when the emergency surgery was performed.

Cutolo told Nicholl in a July 23 meeting that doctors were "misled" by his atypical symptoms, records show.

Short on personnel, the VA sent Stecher to a private company in April for a CAT scan. The results were viewed by a non-VA radiologist without access to previous VA scans for comparison, according to a VA document.

That communication gap, Nicholl said, may have led to the failure of Haley to recognize how seriously ill Stecher was. His primary care physician at the VA, located at a VA clinic in Pasco County, strongly suspected an obstruction, records show.
click above for more

Army veteran disputes VA clinic's decision to end his vending contract

Army veteran disputes VA clinic's decision to end his vending contract
By Jodie Tillman, Times Staff Writer
In print: Sunday, August 3, 2008


NEW PORT RICHEY — So a stranger walked into the canteen of the Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic last Tuesday afternoon. He did not want a hot dog. He wanted a word with the hot dog man.

The hot dog man was Bill Donley. He sold Florida Mutt Dogs for $2 and Texas Prairie Dogs for $2.50 from his cart called The Dog Sled.

The stranger pulled out an identification card. He was a criminal investigator with the Department of Veterans Affairs. He had driven over from James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa. He had a few questions.

The investigator quizzed him, Donley later recounted, on whether he talked with the media about the Veterans Affairs' decision to cancel his concession stand contract. Or whether he threatened an administrator at the clinic over the issue.

Donley's year-long reign as the hot dog man of the VA clinic was coming to an end after disputes with officials over business signs and the volunteer groups Donley says were hurting his business by offering free coffee and sweets in the canteen during his breakfast hours.
go here for more
http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article752943.ece

Florida VETS BLAST VA FOR EMPLOYING FULL-TIME INTERIOR DECORATORS

VETS BLAST VA FOR EMPLOYING FULL-TIME INTERIOR

DECORATORS -- In the Tampa area, VA has eight

interior decorators with total salaries of $660,000

a year. (with must-watch video)

This goes on all over the country!

My VA hospital has a half-time interior decorator.

What does she do? ..... "Let's see...should I paint this hall institutional gray, institutional brown or institutional green?"

You ABSOLUTELY must watch the video at the link below to see the reaction from a veteran.
click here for more
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfJUN08/nf062108-4.htm

Absolutely, positively, sickening! In Florida we have some hospitals that look like resorts but they don't hire full time decorators. When you listen to this report, they asked other hospitals nearby James A. Haley VA about this and they laughed! Who had this bright idea at the same time we have psychologist, psychiatrists and mental health workers donating their time free of charge because the VA doesn't have enough of them to go around?

James A. Haley VA Hospital VA Clinic Would Make A Difference

New VA Clinic Would Make A Difference

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 11, 2008

The James A. Haley VA Hospital & Clinics is the busiest of the nation's 164 Veterans Administration hospitals and the fifth most complex in terms of medical care provided.

Yet employees and veterans face a space crunch. Often near-skirmishes occur in the parking lot. There simply isn't enough room.

Veterans arriving for outpatient appointments, especially those from east Hillsborough and Polk counties, would find some relief if the U.S. Senate follows the House and provides funding to lease a 50,000-square-foot building in Brandon.

Congressman Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, shepherded the $4.3 million appropriation, which would be available in 2009. The new clinic would serve as an extension of Haley and serve more than 10,000 veterans annually.

A smaller clinic is expected to open this fall near the Hillsborough-Polk county line.

Only California has more veterans than Florida, and Haley posted more than 1 million outpatient visits last year. With more than 100,000 veterans living in Hillsborough County and nearly 56,000 living in Polk, trips to VA clinics for blood work, X-rays and other outpatient procedures are expected to increase 25 percent in the next two decades.

Veterans shouldn't have to battle for appointments. It's good to see our congressional delegation doing its part to relieve the congestion.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jun/11/na-new-va-clinic-would-make-a-difference/

Military Chaplain Army Capt. Terry Cobban Honored

Military, Officials Honor Soldiers' '911'

By JOYCE McKENZIE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 16, 2008

TEMPLE TERRACE Military chaplains are the most valuable players on their teams, says Maj. Gen. Michael Diamond of the U.S. Central Command.

Diamond was at the Courtyard by Marriott last week with several other military officers and veterans to honor Army Capt. Terry Cobban, a chaplain wounded in Iraq by a suicide bomb attack in December.

"They are the 911 for all our soldiers, sailors, Marines and Coast Guard people, and during deployment the stress is probably 150 percent more than what it is for the others," said Diamond, who spoke on behalf of Project Gratitude, a nonprofit charitable organization created in Tampa last year by David Lefavor, a retired Navy chaplain and former chaplain at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center Spinal Cord Injury Unit.

The program's objective is to thank chaplains who have served tours of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan with a three-day respite in Tampa for them and their families, where they are treated to a stay at the Marriott Courtyard, compliments of John McKibbon, owner of McKibbon Hotels. They are given free admission to Busch Gardens, the Museum of Science & Industry and the Kennedy Space Center. They also receive gift certificates to several area restaurants, including Lupton's BBQ in Temple Terrace.

Despite his fall move to Dayton, Ohio, Lefavor continues to oversee the program - one that on a quarterly basis recognizes deserving chaplains from across the country - that was instrumental in his being presented the Point of Light award in 2007 by Gov. Charlie Crist for his outstanding volunteerism.

Lefavor planned a trip to visit his grandchildren in Temple Terrace with his wife, Rosemary, so that it coincided with his being able to emcee the ceremony honoring Cobban in the presence of his wife, Su, son Nick, 17, and daughter Elyea, 15.

While on a routine mission in the Baqubah area of Iraq with a group of his soldiers, Cobban suffered soft tissue injuries to his right side and to his extremities when a bomb exploded about 2 feet from where he stood. He also suffered severe hearing damage to his right ear and moderate damage to the left ear in the blast that killed one of his soldiers and injured seven others.
go here for more
http://northeast2.tbo.com/content/2008/apr/16/ne-military-officials-honor-soldiers-911/

Government settles suit over wrongful death at VA's Haley

Government settles suit over wrongful death at VA's Haley
By Thomas Lake, Times Staff Writer
Published Monday, April 7, 2008 10:07 PM


TAMPA — Pancreatitis did not kill Hugh Morris. Nor did nausea, vomiting or the bacterial infection that put him in the hospital. What killed Morris was too much medicine: a dose 60 times larger than what the doctor prescribed.

This fact is undisputed. Dr. Edward Cutolo Jr., then the acting chief of staff at James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, admitted as much in a letter dated July 6, 2006, about two months after Morris died.

"Although Mr. Morris was gravely ill," he wrote, "we feel the incorrect dosage was responsible for his death."

The federal government filed court documents Friday stating it had settled a wrongful-death suit with Morris' widow, Elizabeth. Neither side would say how much money changed hands.

"I will say it was not a lot of money," Elizabeth Morris said Monday in her living room, as the smell of baked steak with brown gravy floated in from the kitchen. This was one of her husband's favorite dinners. They were married 62 years.
go here for more
http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/medicine/article447121.ece

Veteran Walk for Haley House

Veteran Walk for Haley House

March 30, 2008 11:14 PM EDT
Featured Video

Walkathon on Siesta Key to raise money for wounded Veterans

Soldiers have been fighting in the Iraq war for five years now. And medical assistance for those injuried and their family is needed. Today, a walk-a-thon on Siesta Key raised money for the Haley House.
Around three hundred people, including veterans, put on their tennis shoes and started walking. With proceeds going to the Haley House a non-profit organization that will give the family of wounded soldiers a place to stay, while their loved one is in the hospital.
And with soliders that are critically injuried the cost for their families to stay for months at a time can be expensive.
"There is no money available for them so it comes out of their pocket, when they go to see somebody. What was happening in the past is these people were spending the night in their cars or sleeping bags on the door of the hospital."
Todays, walk-a-thon raised about 30-thousand dollars for the Haley House. But they could use more. It costs anywhere from 10 to 20-thousand dollars a month to house the families of veterans.
For more information on the haley house click on links we mentioned.

This is what I did yesterday. Living in the Orlando Area, it was a long drive but it was well worth the trip. We got up at 5:00 am to be able to get there in time for the walk. I have to tell you that it felt good to walk in the sand again. It had been years since I was able to do that. I miss Nahant beach back in Massachusetts. The beach back home is rocky and not as clean as Siesta Key beach. The sand at Siesta is smooth and I was able to walk barefoot easily. It was really funny after the walk, I was sitting on a bench near some great Blue Grass band when a veteran came over to me laughing. I had on my Army style pants with my Chaplain's hat and healed sandals. He pointed to the sandals, "I've never seen high heals with that style pants before. I hope you aren't setting a trend!" Ok, so it may not have looked normal but considering they are the only pair of sandals I have, so be it. There was no way I was about to miss walking barefoot in the sand! Style be damned!

There are so many people in this country putting the wounded and the veterans first. This I am proud to be a member of. Veterans for Common Sense is dedicated to putting them first and using politics to take care of them. It would be great if both sides of the Iraq debate at least stood with them for this sake alone, but they don't. It's almost as if they have an agenda of supporting the president, they cannot bring themselves to support anyone speaking out against how he is treating those who serve and especially those wounded by serving under him as Commander-in-Chief.

What got me was that as we were leaving the parking lot was full as people went about getting a tan. I thought that it would have been great if they had taken the time to take a walk for men and women wounded serving this country who may never be able to walk again. I thought it would be great if they had taken the time trying to look good and did something good so that the families would have one less thing to worry about as they leave their jobs so they can be there with their family member recovering from their wounds. They could have worked on their tans, got some exercise and did something for someone else at the same time.

If everyone would put the veterans and the wounded first, there would have been hundreds of people there and thousands of dollars donated. Now that would have made the day perfect! If I didn't guilt you enough to donate to this awesome cause, then take a look on line and Google wounded veterans. Then click the image search. Take a look at some of the wounded and then think. What if it was your son or your daughter. Wouldn't you want them taken care of?

Wouldn't you want to be there with them while they recover in the hospital? I'm sure when you put your own skin in the game, make it personal, you will be moved to donate to this cause. We, after all, are a generous people fully knowing that even $10.00 can go a long way when everyone kicks in.

Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Annie Okerlin's Yogani Studios Exalted Warrior Foundation

Reaching Out To Heal
By JAMIE PILARCZYK

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 22, 2008

Updated: 03/20/2008 05:33 pm

HYDE PARK - The young veterans walk into Annie Okerlin's Yogani Studios, some with their disabilities visible, others with them hidden.

John Shahin limped a bit and used a cane but otherwise looked much like any other 23-year-old.

The retired Marine corporal served two tours in Iraq. In 2004, his Humvee was hit by a bomb, collapsing the side of the military vehicle into Shahin and leaving him with shoulder, back and hip injuries. He also suffered traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder and needed reconstructive surgery to remove shrapnel from his nose and ear.

When his therapists at James A. Haley VA Medical Center said he would be leaving the North Tampa facility last week for a South Tampa yoga studio, Shahin wasn't sure what to think. But by the time the yoga mats were rolled up and the stretch bands put away, he was feeling better and relaxed.

"I have a limited range of motion in my arm, and this made me work hard," the Riverview man said of the hourlong therapy. "I'd recommend it. Part of that is the staff, though; they were really nice, and they kept correcting me."

Through her Exalted Warrior Foundation, Okerlin provides yoga therapy, coined warrior yoga, to military personnel at Haley and Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. The foundation came about through two of her Yogani clients and a little bit of kismet.

Tom Steffens, a retired Navy rear admiral who is a consultant from Virginia Beach, attended classes with his wife, Ellie, while serving as the chief of staff of U.S. Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base from 1997 to 2001.

The 6-foot-2 Navy SEAL is "twice as wide as the door frame," Okerlin joked. "You meet him and he's Mr. America."

"I have legs that weigh more than Annie," Steffens said of the 5-foot-1 yogi.

The unlikely duo have a shared belief: the power of yoga to heal. Steffens, a 10-year yoga veteran, talked with Okerlin about bringing yoga to Walter Reed.

"God puts things in the right places," Steffens said. "She's a naturally uplifting person. She draws out the best in people, and that's what she does with these soldiers: draws the best out in them. These are life-saving, marriage-saving techniques."

In April 2006, a month after Steffens arranged the military connections, Okerlin was on a plane to Washington, worried about how she would be perceived by the soldiers. She went to Banana Republic to buy a "military hospital pretense outfit."

"I expected them to be thinking, 'Where are the Birkenstocks? Where are the feather earrings?'" said Okerlin, 36, whose mother served in Britain's Royal Navy and father was a U.S. Navy hospital corpsman. "But there was no pretense."

She was greeted by soldiers who had amputations of every kind - big, gruff veterans who left her star-struck.

"It was trial by fire," said Okerlin, mother of a toddler.

She has to limit the swearing in class and breaks assumptions that yoga won't make you sweat.

"They are strong, young and fit, but we're teaching them the art of relaxation," the Davis Islands resident said. "We are helping them to achieve more comfort ... reconnecting the soldier to his body, teaching him that he is whole, just different."
go here for the rest
http://centraltampa2.tbo.com/content/2008/mar/22/st-reaching-out-to-heal/

Peake pops into Tampa VA without an appointment

Normally I don't like to post an entire article and never like to use the comments but in this case, you have to read it all to believe it.

March 18, 2008
VA secretary pays Tampa unannounced visit
TAMPA -- The secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs made an unannounced visit to Tampa today to address a group representing paralyzed veterans and to visit with patients and VA workers at the nation's busiest VA hospital.

Dr. James Peake, appointed by President Bush in October, addressed the Paralyzed Veterans of America board of directors at its annual meeting at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay. The meeting was closed to the public.

Afterward, Peake visited with doctors, nurses and patients at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center. Reporters were not invited or told Peake was in town.

The St. Petersburg Times has made repeated requests to interview Peake since his nomination. But a VA spokesman said Peake decided before departing Washington for Tampa that he was too pressed for time to grant any interviews.
-- William R. Levesque, Times Staff Writer

http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2008/03/va-secretary-pa.html

March 18, 2008 in Hillsborough, Pinellas Permalink
Comments

I certainly hope the Hon. Mr. Secretary left with some Bay Pines careers in his briefcase.
The Medical end of the house is visibly trying to improve, but the everyone in disability adjudication can go out and get a real job.
To tell me after a fourteen year appeal (sluggishly going from 10% to 50%) that if I'm not drooling on my shoulder while sitting in a wheelchair, then I'm not disabled, is a travesty.
Don't. Permit. Your. Children. To. Enlist.
Posted by: Don March 18, 2008 at 04:07 PM
Thank God this putrid Administration is on its way out and either Hillary or Obama is taking over. This man sneaks in and out and could not really care less about the injured Vets and thehir families Mr. Cheney's & Mr Bush's war oil war has hurt.
Posted by: Ray March 18, 2008 at 04:19 PM
Put away the kazoos. Quick, sound the trumpets, roll out the red carpet.
Posted by: March 18, 2008 at 05:48 PM

Tampa's VA hospital reaches out to Iraq, Afghanistan veterans

Frank King of Altamonte Springs holds his 7-month-old daughter, Raynah, as he gets information Saturday during a Welcoming Home Day at the Sun Dome in Tampa. The event was sponsored by the James A. Haley VA Medical Center for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tampa's VA hospital reaches out to Iraq, Afghanistan veterans
By Jessica Vander Velde, Times Staff Writer
Published Saturday, March 15, 2008 11:09 PM
TAMPA — Iraq war veteran Ken Guillion's back still hurts, even though he stopped carrying heavy .50-caliber machine guns in the Army more than a year ago.

The 29-year-old former gunner wants to start physical therapy for his chronic back pain, but the waiting list was too long at the Veteran Affairs hospital near his home in Indiana.

He's more hopeful about Tampa's services. Although he just moved to the city a week ago, he was at James A. Haley VA Medical Center's "Welcome Home America's Heroes" event Saturday to gather information about medical care he's eligible to receive.

"She pushed me to come," he said, smiling, as he pointed to his fiancee, Linda Rondon.

In a nationwide effort to reach more veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has asked its hospitals to hold welcome back events.

Only about 30 percent of veterans go to VA hospitals, and that needs to change, said Seamless Transition coordinator Steve Preston. "We'd like it at 100 percent," he said.

It's his job to help transfer veterans from military hospitals to VA hospitals.

Tampa's VA Medical Center's chief of staff, Edward Cutolo Jr., said that even though troops are told about VA services when they leave the military, many don't remember the information when they need it.
go here for the rest
http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/veterans/article419066.ece

If you live in Central Florida, join the walk the Veterans For Common Sense is doing on the 30th of March for the men and women we all claim to support. I'm going!


Siesta Key Beach walkathon for Haley House
Veterans to benefit from walkathon
By LESLIE FEINBERG CORRESPONDENT

The Florida Veterans for Common Sense (FVCS) have organized a walkathon to benefit wounded veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan on Siesta Key Beach on March 30.The hospital receives more seriously injured veterans, with staff specializing in the treatment of brain and spinal cord injuries. Since patients often need several months of treatment, their families are left to handle the cost of hotels and living expenses during their recovery.

The Haley House in Brandon helps the friends and families of patients who live more than 50 miles from the Haley House and qualify for aid based upon income with living arrangements as well as the recently completed "Comfort Center," complete with full kitchen, washer and dryer, and a TV and game area.

Volunteers at Haley House have found a marked difference in a patient's recovery with the presence of their loved ones, providing them with the necessary support system to significantly cut down on their recovery time.

As Harry Stimmel, FVCS board member and co-creator of the walkathon said, "If the parents live in Oklahoma, and they don't have much money, we're providing them with some kind of facility so they can visit the veteran ... it can make all the difference."

As a display of their faith in the Haley House Fund and the support that it provides to veterans and their families, each member donates the cost of a room to Haley House on his own birthday every year.All of the local members of the Florida Veterans for Common Sense plan to participate in the walk, as well as many of the Haley House staff.

INTERESTED?
To participate in the walk, make a per-mile pledge or to make a direct donation, contact retired Air Force Lt. Col. Len Gumley, FVCS board member, at (941)927-0777, or mail it to him at 5408 Eagles Point Circle, Sarasota, FL 34231.

All funds raised by the walkathon will go to the Haley House Fund, which was created in 2004 to provide facilities for the visiting loved ones of veterans being treated by the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital.
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9568