• Helping veterans • No sympathy • ‘Fountain of Youth’ Helping veterans I was reading Mr. Fujimoto’s June 5 article about the new VA clinic location and I felt delighted. This is long overdue and sorely needed. I’ve had to
• Helping veterans • No sympathy • ‘Fountain of Youth’
Helping veterans
I was reading Mr. Fujimoto’s June 5 article about the new VA clinic location and I felt delighted. This is long overdue and sorely needed.
I’ve had to deal with the tiny clinic in Lihu‘e as I cannot afford health insurance due to an ongoing medical condition. My dealings with the Palo Alto, Calif., VA clinic (back in the early 70’s) left me with bitter feelings about the VA as a whole and I haven’t returned until recently, here on Kaua‘i, out of sheer desperation due to my worsening medical problems.
My experience here has been frustrating not because of the treatment but rather because of the incredible waiting time in between appointments. I’ve been going to the tiny clinic by Wilcox for about three months and have yet to be seen by a regular doctor.
I usually have to deal with a nurse practitioner named Sharon Espina who is always very thorough and professional. I did see an orthopedic surgeon (Dr. Sowa) about my knee problems but he only comes over from O‘ahu once a month and if I miss my appointment (usually because of frequent miscommunication problems) I have to wait two months for the next appointment. This surgeon had no problem expressing his own frustrations to me and the staff on a regular basis. A recent miscommunication over medication caused me much grief and was resolved at the last possible moment (thank God!) after leaving message after message for four weeks when my condition worsened on a recent business trip to Chicago. Finally, Nurse Sharon told me she only received one message in all that time.
For the over 6,000 veterans there is only one M.D. to serve the entire clinic and he is severely overloaded and that’s why I have never seen him. I had to go through Nurse Sharon to get the medication as I was unable to see the M.D., personally.
My hope is that these problems will be smoothed out and our veterans will be served with the expediency and respect that they deserve. There is a sign above the receptionists window stating that “disruptive and violent behavior will not be tolerated.” I am a patient person but I fully understand the reason it’s there along with a guard in the reception room. Hopefully, that sign or the guard won’t have to be there at the new facility if things are structured more efficiently. Altogether my hat is off to everyone at the tiny clinic and how they deal with what little they have. Thank you all for helping me.
Don T. Heitkotter, Hanalei
No sympathy
I have one question to ask Mr. Rosen (“Join the ‘freegan’ movement,” Letters, June 5).
He states that he finds meals “fit for a king” for his dog in his dumpster diving. Do you partake of the same things you are feeding your dog, Mr. Rosen? And by that, I mean are you willing to eat what you find? Your dog deserves better treatment from his master/comrade.
I think these actions underscore just how little value people place on their pets around here. It’s your property, right? You can do with it as you darn well please? Wrong. They require responsible behavior from you.
If you don’t have the means to properly care for a pet, do them a favor — don’t have one. You have absolutely no idea what is on these scraps. If you knew the owner of the restaurant, and they set aside some of their unused food for your dog, that would be one thing, but to feed your pet refuse that you have no idea about, and to be so proud of it, seems extremely odd.
Were I the Humane Society, I’d be investigating this. I’m guessing TGI has a very good laugh every time they print a Rosen letter. I find this utterly lacking of humor or merit.
Please don’t complain to us, Mr. Rosen, if your dog becomes ill by your hand. I’ll certainly have no sympathy for you. I’ll be very sad for your dog, though.
Michael Mann, Lihu‘e
‘Fountain of Youth’
Since a new movie about the search for “The Fountain of Youth” is being filmed on island it reminded me of a realization I had when I first started surfing as a teen in my native state of Florida.
I couldn’t believe how many surfers I met in their 50s, 60s and even 70s who seemed so vibrant and full of life in their golden years. When I was 18 I met a 65-year-old regular at the Cocoa Beach pier that could do handstands on his longboard. I asked him how he could still do that at his age since I couldn’t even do a handstand on the beach… ever.
He said the ocean is what kept him young and he tried to swim or surf in it as much as possible. Now I was taught in school that Juan Ponce De Leon was searching for a spring that could give him eternal youth and it occurred to me that day that he was probably sailing over “The Fountain of Youth” the whole time he was searching in vain for the magic spring.
I’ve always thought that was very ironic so I surf and swim in the ocean as much as I have time for and I do whatever I can to keep the water here as clean as possible. I’m always amazed at the ignorance of those who trash the beach and the ocean. Don’t desecrate our fountain of youth, you might need it one day.
Jason Nichols, Koloa
