Rally Around Tally

Thank you for taking the time to read Brian Tally's tragic story that he intends to turn into a positive ending. Before Brian's appalling misdiagnosis at the Loma Linda, CA VA hospital, he was a strong, healthy 38 year old Marine veteran with a wonderful family of 4 kids and a loving marriage of 20 plus years. In January of 2016, he woke up in excruciating back pain and went to his local VA hospital. The initial diagnosis was a back sprain, even though Brian knew he hadn't done anything to cause it. He was prescribed a cocktail of pain medications and sent on his way, only to continue to have the same and worsening pain in the days to come. After several more trips to the VA hospital, all he heard was "back sprain" and all he got was more pain pills. However, nothing they were doing was working and they brushed off his other symptoms of night sweats, drastic weight loss and other issues. He begged the VA to perform an MRI and they refused. Finally, Brian's wife reached out to a private imaging provider and they paid for the MRI out of pocket. Brian was informed that his spine looked "moth eaten." A simple blood test that the VA hospital had not performed showed the cause to be a "bone eating" staph infection in his spine that was aggressively eating his bones, nerves and spinal tissue. Brian was then treated with IV antibiotics and had several surgeries to try to contain the damage to his spine. He still has permanent nerve, tissue, spinal, digestive, reproductive, and emotional damage that he has to live with for the rest of his life. He can’t throw a baseball with his teenage kids, he can’t stand upright long enough without pain to cook a meal for himself, nor can he sit without pain. He doesn't have normal bowel movements anymore and he has severe reproductive issues. On top of all of the physical and emotional damage, the biggest thing he lost was the ability to earn a living and take care of his family. While still in the hospital, Brian filed a malpractice claim against the VA doctor. Multiple VA attorneys that he'd been working with to settle the claim stated that the "VA failed to meet the standard of care" and that there was a breach in the care and liability was involved, and that VA intended to settle for a fair amount. This gave Brian a sense of security that proved to be a mistake. After almost a year had passed, he was advised that the doctor in question was not a VA employee and was a private contractor, thus not applicable under the current claim. He was told he would have to sue the doctor, but the statue of limitations had run out. Brian was left with zero repercussions and accountability for the wrong doing. As a result of the spinal infection he will live in chronic pain for the rest of his life and face more invasive surgeries. After dropping into a severe depression, one day Brian said "Enough! I am not a quitter!" He decided he would get out of bed and make sure this never happens to another veteran again. To this end, he has organized Team Tally and drafted a bill proposal to take to congress that will prevent this travesty from ever occurring again. He is traveling to Washington DC to meet with several senators and representatives the week of September 9, 2018. All donations will help with his airfare, accommodations and other travel expenses, for this trip and future trips. Thank you for your support.

For more information, please go to: https://tallyteam.org/ 

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