Imagine you’re member JM. You have some issues with a toasted knee in service in 2005. You’ve gone through all the vA hoopla to get in and be seen. You’re scheduled for a new MRI (back in March) for this June. Now vA calls up and says they’ve got a new, improved  program and your MRI has been cancelled. You must now see an Orthopedic surgeon first who can authorize this. The earliest opening for that appointment is in July. With any luck, JM will get in for his MRI (if Dr. Orthodude approves it), some time before Christmas.

My advice to you, JM is go out and try to run a 5K marathon the day before the Ortho appointment because if you can walk, they’ll say you’re good to go and give you some OTC Alleve. One other consideration would be to do the 5K fun run tomorrow and then show up at the VAMC in Urgent Care with the disability and make it more “emergent” as they are fond of saying.

Forewarned is forearmed. If this starts to happen to you, explain that knees and liverboxes wait for no man be he mortal or doctor. vA has always been fond of jerking our chain and I do not mean that to be unkind. The whole VHA system is inhabited by personnel who feel there’s no hurry and rush. If one didn’t know any better, he or she might think they were back in the service again and going on sick call-or trying to.