Please Help Our Veteran Uncle/Son

When my son was sent off to Kuwait for a 6-month tour it turned into the Gilligan’s Island version when they became the tip of the spear 3rd Infantry Division Rock of the Marne that lead the liberation of the Iraqi people in 2003. He became violently ill along with much of the rest in the mess hall in Kuwait prior to the invasion. The turkey was said to have gotten to warm and given them all dysentery. This was a field diagnosis as no labs were done. The violent symptoms continued for him throughout the war from Kuwait to Bagdad and then when they thought they were heading south to go home, on to Fallujah.

                      My son had a tooth ache there. The first one he’s ever had apart from his wisdom teeth he had taken out. So he went to wait for hours at an abandoned truck trailer with a lock on it. A dentist showed up and opened the trailer to a dentist chair and no lights. He told him he needed a root canal, well they performed the procedure right there in an empty truck trailer in the middle of the desert with minimal light and other than sanitary conditions, since then he has had numerous mouth infections, they have had him on strong antibiotics, but they will not refer him to a dentist, because he can’t prove it was service connected.   So far he has lost twelve teeth and the impact on his life is debilitating. The picture of him is in Kuwait a month or two before the dysentery incident. You can see his beautiful teeth and smile. A friend of his used to joke that he had dentures. So what happened? Now he needs dentures after the deployment!

                       I know how sensitive he is and my heart just aches for him, because it changed his whole appearance and his confidence is nil.  He continues to get infections and is on antibiotics almost all the time.  Two doctors have told him if he could get is teeth out it might help his autoimmune system, it is causing other problems with his health and social anxiety as well as depression.

 

                      We had dental insurance but it expired because we could not pay the premiums, and the dentist said it would cost almost triple without insurance, we have literally no money to even pay essentials and let alone $7500. for his desperate need to have his teeth pulled.  I IMPLORE YOU TO HELP MY SON TO GET HIS LIFE BACK.  It will mean so much. He will be able to return to full time work and move back out on his own and finish college. He has the equivalent of an associates and was working on his bachelors when things went south.

                      I am 75 years old and his caregiver, it has been very hard on me to see him suffer like this and not be able to help him. Thank you for taking the time to hear our story and if you can't help financially, thank you for your prayers~!

Joyce