We both have brain injuries and the lack of healthcare in Maine would render us helpless and dependent on the VA healthcare system until we found out what was wrong with us. The fact that we couldn’t get any treatment no matter how many times we begged for it created mental health issues out of our control until we got the treatment we needed to lower inflammation levels in the brain.
As a result of these disabilities, we were vulnerable to those who abused their power and treated someone with mental health struggles more like a drain on society as opposed to a person with traumatic experiences and mental health issues who needs help. Jennifer and Lee are two years into treatment in California where the brain inflammation was discovered by a rare disorder doctor specializing in autoimmune dysfunction.
The healthcare in California far surpasses the low quality healthcare in Maine.
Chelation Therapy (EDTA) infusions (this stopped after 8 infusions because the California Board of Pharmacy banned it from the State of California despite the fact that it’s the only recommended form of treatment by the CDC in the United States)
Replaced all teeth after chronic lead poisoning went untested and untreated for over 20 years and created Burton’s line
This is the Burton’s Line that showed up in 2019 around 15 years after leaving a toxic military base. Jennifer’s lead levels were 12x higher than what’s acceptable in the body. Jennifer experienced long term exposure to lead contaminated water and soil while stop lossed for four years at Joint Base Cape Cod in Massachusetts, also an EPA superfund site still under the supervision of multiple agencies.
“…The symptoms emerged one by one throughout the pages: stomach cramps, incessant headaches and extreme exhaustion. By the time [Mark] Jackson made it back to Melbourne, Florida, in April 2004, the former marathoner said he could barely walk up a flight of stairs.”
“Jackson filed for disability compensation for all his ailments but said he only got approved for the thyroid disease. He is among many veterans who say they are waiting for the government to recognize that their illnesses are related to military toxic exposure, advocates say.”
“A report released Wednesday found that sick veterans have waited an average of 31.4 years from when they first made contact with dangerous toxins on duty to when the government acknowledged they were exposed.”
“Most recently, in August 2022, lawmakers passed the PACT Act, which expanded benefits to millions of veterans exposed to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan and other toxic substances. Before then, advocates said it was challenging for veterans to prove their sickness was related to their service in order to receive disability compensation. ‘In both those instances, and for many other military toxic exposures, it took decades for the VA and Congress to finally act,’ Wednesday’s report said. ‘Some died before achieving justice.'”
“Veterans exposed on U.S. soil have had to wait even longer.”
“In one of the largest water contamination cases in U.S. history, up to 1 million people who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune from 1953 to 1987 may have been exposed to a drinking water supply contaminated with chemicals that have been linked to severe health problems, including cancers and birth defects, federal health officials said.”
“The agency [VA] said it is conducting a scientific review to determine whether there is a relationship between toxic exposures and three conditions — acute leukemias, chronic leukemias, and multiple myeloma outside of the head and neck — for service members who deployed to Uzbekistan and other locations.”