On Nov 23rd 2003, I got a call at work, some 20 minutes before our pot luck Thanksgiving office party. My follow up blood glucose check came back, and it was far too high. I was officially diagnosed as a Type II Diabetic. You have two choices on how you live your life as a diabetic. You can have diabetes, or diabetes can have you. I choose the first option.
Diabetes is insidious, it never gets better. Oh, you can hold it off, slow it down, but at some point, meds are going to be needed. I lasted 11 years before having to start meds. Then another 6 years before starting injections. Not bad actually.
But then, well, I enrolled in Medicare. Anyone who knows me, knows my feeling on the subject. Still, my Part D coverage was doing the job. That is, until I was put on Trulicity. The first script required a large out of pocket cost, then settled down to a manageable $47. Then, on Dec 1st I got a text from CVS, telling me my script for December’s Trulicity was ready to be picked up. Okay, no problem, right? Well, instead of paying $47, as I had in the past, I was hit with $211.94. I had hit the so called the donut hole in Part D coverage. Lilly, the makers of Trulicity, will help cover the cost, If you are not on Medicare. To be fair, all the companies play this game, and they do so, because the Medicare laws won’t let them help us. So, I sat down and wrote a letter to my Senators about this, then posted a similar letter on Facebook asking my friends to write their Senators and share this with their friends, so they may do the same.
I got a response from a friend, Jim, that I didn’t expect. He asked me to call him, so we could speak about it. Eye opening and complicated.
In the Spring of 1972, my Senior year of High School, I enlisted in the Air Force. I was on inactive duty until my report date, then active duty from 5 Sept 1972 to 27 Sept 1983. After Basic and Tech School, I was assigned to Offutt in Omaha, NE, then at the end of 1974, to Udorn Royal Thai AFB in northeast Thailand.
The war was over at least for us. Or that’s what I thought. Then April 1975 proved the lie. But, I survived it, as we all did, and came home that November after being there 53 weeks. I said I survived it. Well, I came home without ever firing a shot or being shot at. No, that took being stationed in Southern California to have happen.
Jim asked me if I had been station in Southeast Asia. I told him about Udorn. He as then asked when, and I told him. The next words were chilling, Agent Orange Exposure. I responded, “That was during the war and in Vietnam, not after and in Thailand.” Jim told me to research it. I did, and still am, and I don’t like what I’m reading. I got on Facebook and posted on the Udorn Royal Thai AFB Veterans page about AO and diabetes. Within the day, there was a flood of responses all telling me what Jim told me the day before.
AO was used around the building I worked in, and all along the base perimeter. On Google Earth I found the hooch I lived in, and it is not 190 feet from the perimeter fence.
But, diabetes is just one of the problems AO may be responsible for more that I’m dealing with. Cataracts and hypertension are also something Agent Orange may be responsible for.
Jim and talked about what I need to do now. I had let my membership with the American Legion lapse, so I rejoined. I emailed the local American Legion Service Officer that afternoon. Still waiting for a response. I won’t wait long before I call.
I printed out several Google Earth maps of where I worked and lived. Then others from AO sites showing where AO was used, and when. I sent for my Military Service and Medical Records
The file I have started is thin, but I am betting it won’t stay thin.