Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Hello All!, I'm a newbie

I was just given the AS diagnosis on Monday. While I probably have had issues for a number of years, it wasn't that bad and I just shrugged it off. (I'm female by the way :))

I had been having major problems since I was deployed in 2010. I blew out my left Knee and the Army left me embedded on an Afghan base for 8 months-no medical care nothing but a large brace and some crutches!There were 23 Americans and anywhere from 150-450 Afghans. I was the only night person in the TOC because it was the only time the computers ran fast enough for what I did (MI). We had our own building on the base but there were Afghans living in it also. No real security, High Stress, no Nutrition (one hot meal a day set during my "sleep" time), no companionship,no sleep because of all the yelling during the day and no sunlight since I could not go outside our building alone with a very visible handicap and no one else was on my schedule. My body started to attack itself-looking for anything to repair my damaged knee with.

After we returned to the states-I was placed in the Warrior Transition Unit (WTU) to get my knee fixed-Since I was Guard they refused to look at any compensatory injuries - just what was on my Line Of Duty (LOD) Report. Complained about my back-can't look at it, complained about my wrists and shoulders-can't look at it -complained about light sensitivity-not real can't look at it. And the kicker was that -even though I was considered active duty and had medical coverage-because of the WTU program, I was not allowed to use my insurance for medical care. I was being "covered" and had "access" to doctors thru the WTU.

I was med boarded out in october 2012 and have been having civilian doctors documenting EVERYTHING the army doctors refused to look at. The civilian doctors are amazed I can walk after looking at my xrays for my hips!

Welcome to the forum and also thank you for your service for our country. I am sorry you are having these problems. This forum is a great place for support and for knowledge.

I hope you will come back often.

Blessings.
Possi

Welcome

It sure sounds like you have been Hell and Back. I am relieved you are back in the states and will get proper treatment for your knee, and the A/S. It is a great informative site, you will have lots to learn.


Janet

Thank you for the greetings

I spent nearly 2 years in a "hospital setting" without medical care, just prescriptions for pain pills! It was insane. I honestly think that it was the stress of my deployment, lack of medical care while injured and no nutrition which kicked my latent AS into high gear.

Now that I am in the civilian side of things, I found a doctor who looks at the whole picture instead of just one symptom at a time with appointments spread out every 3 months! The first doctor I went to was fired that day. I told him my background and instead of running any tests or checking mobility or anything he wanted to prescribe an antidepresent! I threw out his Rx an never went back.

I get to spend some time learning from this site and see how I can control my AS.

Hope everyone has the type of day they want.

Good to meet you, glad you found your way here. Sorry you've had such a hard time and hope you begin to feel better and better.

Welcome to Kickas Pezami,

Sounds like you have had long road, glad you finally got a diagnosis. Hopefully you can get this treated correctly going forward and find some answers.

Take care,

Tim

Hi Pezami,

Welcome! I'm quite new here myself and this website has been a Godsend for me!! I know how it feels to have Drs ignoring you and/or just prescribing anti-depressants (and I wasn't even in the forces!!)

I hope you will get the care and treatment you need and deserve. Look forward to sharing the journey with you

Dear Lord, am horrified. What a way to treat forces personnel...help. Side lined,, ignored and stuffed in a corner. Sure hope you can bang some heads together over there!

But *welcome to the KA family - mighty glad you found us. We'll support you in every way we can. Hope you can get relief soon from this mess of pottage you've been fixed in. Take care Pezami

Pazami

Hello and welcome to KA. Thank you for sharing your story. Sounds like you have been through a lot. I hope your AS diagnosis is the first step in treatment and recovery. It's too bad things have to get really bad before you are taken seriously. This site has helped me in so many ways, I hope you can benefit from the shared knowledge and compassion that this site affords.

Thank you for your service and hope things start going your way soon.

Welcome To the forum! Sorry you had to find us, but you will find lots of support here!

Thanks for your service