21 years ago Richard was a Private brand new to the Army and he got sent off to fight in Desert Storm, about 18 years later we started seeing some weird things happening to him, when we were still in Colorado he started breaking out in these huge hives, there was no reason for them, over the last 4 years we have seen numerous doctors, had all the allergy tests and found out he is not allergic to anything, what it comes down to is for some reason his body is reacting to and fighting itself. I started to do some research a few years ago when we were not getting any answers and determined that I am convinced he has Gulf War syndrome, he has all the symptoms I read about(not just hives), but like Agent Orange years ago Gulf War syndrome was very controversial, no one was really ready to admit it existed, even now that they know it does it is really just a name to give numerous different things that have happened to out veterans from the Persian Gulf that no one can explain.
Now on top of the hives the Dr's have found some abnormalities in Richards chest x ray, they think it is caused from the sand he breathed in there, he thinks it may have more to do with the fact that they did PT out in the open while all the oil fields were burning so they were breathing in all the chemicals.
So now that his retirement is getting closer he is in the midst of many physicals etc so that his medical profile will be complete when it is time to retire, they have decided now to send him for an evaluation at Walter Reed, we will be there for a week while he is checked out by the doctors there, then if they will decide if he should come back and be part of a study they are doing, if he is put in that he will be there for 3 weeks. Nothing he has right now is life threatening just annoying and hard to live with, so we are hopeful we will get some answers, some new ideas about how to treat things and medical documentation so that any treatment he needs will continue once he does retire.
We are off next week, with my flight benefits I am lucky enough to be able to afford to go with him, I am grateful for that as I want to hear what the doctors have to say.
