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Coyotebrother
Coyotebrother Posts: 4
in Introduce Yourself
Mitakuye Oyasun!
(Lakota Greeting)

I am a 63 year old Vietnam Vet, living with the legacy of my Karma. Was hospitalized recently because I couldn't catch my breath. Turns out I am retaining too much water, and it's making my heart work too hard. As I don't like the meds they are giving me to deal with the problem (diuretics), I have decided to try another way to shed this 100 lbs of useless weight, and get away from the meds.
The dog in my pic is 'Gunny' (a Boxer), she's my sidekick. She is my Service Dog and goes everywhere with me. I got her when she was 7 weeks old, she just turned 3 in August. I have trained her myself, and together we are one heck of a team.

Replies

  • zensugi
    zensugi Posts: 76
    A warm welcome for you and Gunny. I have a Labrador x Staffordshire (and a few other things) mutt.
  • Renegade706
    Renegade706 Posts: 209
    Thank you for your service, and congrats on making healthier choices!
  • Coyotebrother
    Coyotebrother Posts: 4
    Yo Renegade, I'd like to think that though I don't wear the uniform, I still serve. Now my service is in the form of working to make sure Veterans aren't mistreated by the VA. To that end Gunny and I helped the regional office in Arkansas, rethink their Service Dogs access rules, to the point that they are now 100% ADA compliant. After my move to the Dayton area and my first hospitalization here, I shook up the establishment by walking out of the hospital, IV still attached, because of the shoddy care I had received. Needless to say, that caused a bit of a ruckus. So it is my intention to continue to serve my Brothers who use the VA to my last breath. If I can kick my weight to the curb, I'll have a lot more breaths to spend, reminding the VA what their mission is.
  • hannahpistolas
    hannahpistolas Posts: 290 Member
    You're awesome.

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