Support Our Disabled Veterans in America

At one time or another, we have all been solicited by an organization or charity for veterans either in person or over the phone. Most people do not donate because they get solicited on a regular basis by many different charities. Many of us will treat the person soliciting us as if they were less than human. Even though solicitations and requests for financial support have gotten out of hand over the years, the need for financial backing for our disabled veterans is very real.

It's the telemarketing companies who give charities a bad rap because they raise money for several different charities and as soon as we donate to one charity they call us repeatedly with solicitations for their other charities. This tactic will eventually irritate even the most charitable people. Before we hang up immediately we should take a second to recognize the facts. The government is constantly pulling funds away from VA Hospitals that were meant to help those who have made huge sacrifices for our country.

SACRED HEART MEMORIAL HOSPITAL DIET

There are several reasons the government does this, with the major reason being the current war in Iraq. It doesn't make sense to penalize veterans who have been injured fighting for our country and shovel more money into an endless, meaningless war. These decisions by our government ultimately lead to more soldiers being killed, and more injured soldiers for whom there will be no medical care when they finally do come home. Most of us do not think about this fact when we are being solicited for a donation.

We immediately think the organization is trying to scam us, but in many cases this is not true. The real scam is being run by our government, not by charities for disabled veterans. The scam is also being run by telemarketing companies, but we shouldn't penalize the men and women who put their lives on the line for our well being and freedom. Some veterans charities have care package drives that show our soldiers that we as Americans care and appreciate their efforts, and soldiers do appreciate receiving these reminders from us. Some of us will ask what a care package will do for a soldier at war, does a care package really help? The answer is a resounding yes! Do you know how hard it is to get a bag of potato chips in the middle of the desert? How about a tube of toothpaste or a bar of soap? How about a good book to read or even a letter from a concerned family member?

We take these little things for granted because we are accustomed to them being readily available for us at any time. However, this is not the case for our soldiers. It isn't too much to ask of us to take a minute out of our day to pay some type of homage to the people who would lay their own lives down for us. Most people who don't think it's important to support our veterans would fold up like cowards in the middle of the desert with bullets whizzing past their heads, but they have the nerve to get tough on the phone and use profanity towards a telemarketer!

Telemarketers have to make a living too and if I was a telemarketer who had to call hundreds of people every day or starve, you'd better be prepared to hear the phone ringing! I do understand that it's just not feasible to give to every veterans charity we receive a call from, but we should show common courtesy to solicitors for veterans charities because they are human beings just like the rest of us. Our government is not doing everything they can to help wounded veterans, regardless of what they claim to do. There are numerous complaints of injured veterans going to their VA Hospital for help, and being turned away for whatever reason. No man or woman who has been injured fighting for this country should be without proper medical help, period! How can the government authorize a trillion dollars to fight a stupid war, but say no to someone who has gotten an arm or leg blown off while fighting a war for the same country that is run by that government?
These are the reasons we are solicited for donations by veterans charities and when we finally realize the reasons, we will become more sympathetic to their cause.

Even though we should be more charitable towards our disabled veterans, we still should ask what percentage of our donation will actually reach the ones it was meant to help, and who is cashing our check. A reputable charity based in Michigan, Disabled Veterans of America Inc., provides funding for disabled veterans in and outside of VA Hospitals across the U.S. Their activities include wheelchair drives, artificial limb drives, and care package drives for active soldiers overseas. The Michigan attorney general records indicate that at least 85% of donations collected are used for programs to benefit disabled veterans, homeless veterans, and current soldiers. The other 15% is for administrative expenses necessary to run the charity.

If you are considering making a donation to any charity please ask for the breakdown of their expenses, and the information can also be found at the state attorney general for that organization. In summary, let's be a little more sympathetic and understanding when we are approached by a veterans organization, as they are among the few that are making an effort to help our American soldiers, and if we can't donate at the time at least keep their cause in mind just in case we can afford to donate in the future. If nothing else, we can at least pray for the ones who have been injured, and the ones we hope will come home soon.

Support Our Disabled Veterans in America

SACRED HEART MEMORIAL HOSPITAL DIET

Death and Dying - Removing Life Support

In July of 2009, my mother died at the age of 94. For the last 12 years, she had suffered from a serious case of dementia. She did not fully understand who I was, where I lived, whether I was married or whether I had children. My heart hurt every time I completed a phone conversation with her.

My brother lived near her and visited the facility weekly to check on her care and keep up to date with her condition. Unfortunately, I lived about a thousand miles away.

SACRED HEART MEMORIAL HOSPITAL DIET

He told me early on that she would confuse him with her own deceased brother, then later with our father. It caused him pain that she did not recognize him. Near the end, she was always glad to see him, but she had no idea who he was.

When she was 93, at the time of her last hospitalization, the nurse asked my brother to contact me about what to do if she had a heart attack. I was listed as her durable power of attorney for health care issues. To his surprise, I said, "Let her go."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "If she knew where she was and what she was doing that would be different, but she does not know life as we know it."

I know that was difficult for him to hear. After all, he had built a close bond with her over the years of checking in.

My mother, her second husband and I had discussed end-of-life issues over lunch one day. If she did not agree with what I believe, I figure she would not have made me her durable power of attorney.

Formulating a Belief System

I first began thinking about end-of-life issues in the 1980s. One evening I received a phone call from my Aunt Polly, who was preparing to go into the hospital the next day for heart surgery. She called to say goodbye, because she was not sure she would survive the surgery and to tell me that she had given copies of her living will to all her doctors and to the hospital.

She said that her friend, a division head in the government, had gone in for surgery and had come out of it not knowing how to choose what to wear each day. Nor was she able to make any other decision. Polly told me that she did not want to end up like that.

To be honest, it was a heart-rending phone call. One I will never forget. Fortunately, Polly lived a couple more years, but that conversation did set me on the path of wondering what I believe. It took a while, but in my role as a patient representative checking on care for patients in a hospital, I began formulating my beliefs.

Removing Life Support - Our Decision Is Not the Final One

Over the years people have come to recognize the importance of Living Wills. Most hospitals now require patients to have a Living Will signed before they enter the hospital for any kind of surgical procedure. Today, it is even more important for people of all ages to discuss their potential end-of-life preferences before any hospitalization occurs and they are put on life support, which may include a respirator.

As a volunteer patient representative who discussed care issues with patients and their families, I realized that from time to time people are put in the dilemma of trying to decide what to do when a loved one unexpectedly arrives at the hospital and is put on life support.

By the way, the television version of being put on a respirator is nothing like what goes on in a hospital. A respirator is not a passive machine. It very forcefully pushes air into a person's lungs, expanding the ribs. Then it pauses, while the air instantly escapes and deflates the person's lungs and rib cage. This happens several times a minute.

We have a wonderful medical system that can keep people alive under extraordinary circumstances. For that, I am grateful. This two years ago, my husband had emergency surgery and two other surgeries. Without advanced techniques and procedures, he might not be alive today. The question for me is: What kind of life will this loved one have? Will he be himself? Will she be only a shell of herself?

I have personally witnessed what can happen when a family member is put on life support. In the first case, a teenager was in a serious car accident. Previously, he had told his parents that if an accident of this sort happened, he would not want to be kept on life support. After several agonizing days of trying to save their son, his parents decided to go no further with his care and to let him go.

The officials at the hospital deemed that letting him go was wrong, so they had him put on life support. Once anyone is put on life support, the family has to petition the court to have the person taken off. After days at trial, his family won, and the young man died soon after of being taken off life support.

A couple of years later, in another case, I spoke to the husband of a woman who was taken off life support. He was unable to answer my questions about the care. All he could say was, "It's a miracle." When I asked what the miracle was, he replied that they had taken his wife off all life support a week before and that she was still alive.

These two cases helped me understand that when we make the decision to let our loved one go, the ultimate decision for the end of life is not in our hands. Should the person pass immediately, then they were supposed to pass. If they linger on, then they are supposed to stay longer.

If you are in the unpleasant position of deciding whether to let someone go, you need to understand that while you may decide that it is time to remove life support, the body and the person's Higher Power will make the final decision of when that person is to pass.

This can be a comfort. Knowing that your decision is not the final decision can relieve you of the guilt that you might feel during a very difficult time.

Death and Dying - Removing Life Support

SACRED HEART MEMORIAL HOSPITAL DIET