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Stem cell reearch will never help the wounded spirit of my cousin, a Nam vet. He is a Christian and I don't know who he is voting for, so don't get mad, but just consider what some have given that cannot be fixed. Excerpts from a recent amail: PTSD stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - I was wounded slightly twice from mortar and grenade shrapnel in two different accounts, I was given a very small disability, while going to the VA for test, I was informed by a nurse looking at my chart that I was most likely deserving a higher disability rating. I told the nurse, "Fine have the doctor write it up." she said , no you have to file for it, and it's best you go see the local county Veterans Rep. Well, I did and this Veterans Rep. lady is sharp! She reminds me a little of you. I took all kinds of my military records to her and she says, "Wow, you deserve a lot more!" She filled the forms and I at to be seen by several specialist at the VA; internist, osteopath, dermatologist, urologist, psychologist Well the psychologist, said that I had post traumatic Stress. He said most guys that were in combat had varying degrees of it. Said that I had seen a little more than most, had shot several VC, seen guys in my platoon get wounded and shot, He felt that my being a squad-leader for almost 3/4's of my tour contributed, because I was always concerned about getting someone wounded or killed. Was constantly being placed in life and death decisions. He felt I also suffered from what they call survivors quilt, the old question why did I make and they didn't? The day I left the jungle to go back to basecamp to be processed so I could go back home, my platoon had 4 killed and 14 wounded. I always felt I should have been with them and maybe could have helped. When I first got out only the guys that I knew who had got killed or wounded bothered me, but a few years later I started seeing the faces of a few enemy that I had shot. You see we had to go through the dead VC's gear to see if we could find any information items and of course take their weapons. There is nothing like a dead person staring at you. After awhile I would see Luke who got shot and landed on top of me, then I started to see two of the enemy who were missing the tops of their heads. This went on for years, usually right after I would turn the lights, after so many years they became like family and I just excepted the visions. I did tell Kathy (his wife) until just a few years ago. After talking to the shrink and talking more about it, (what I call visions),are not as frequent. So anyway they gave me a rating of 70% for PTSD. Told me it would most likely never go away but they would help me deal with it and they have. I felt I was crazy, I could visualize mortars in a field next to where I worked, things would make me instantly think of Nam, a car backfiring, fireworks, any scream, and of course a helicopter flying over and, Bingo I'm back in Nam for a few seconds. I would loose all trend of thought and just be somewhere else for a few seconds, then shake the cobwebs and come back. I'm sure some people must have thought I was on drugs or something. By the way I never used drugs in Nam or in the states, never, and most all of the guys I served with didn't either. There was more drug use starting around 1969. It really just mirrored what was happening in the states at that same time also. I quit drinking over 28 years ago, afraid I'd become an alcoholic. Chloracne is a type of acne - Extra oily skin, numerous blackheads and skin pimples especially on the face and forehead. It could be very embarrassing to have a breaking out when my job was talking to large groups and a regular basis. It's from Agent Orange Diabetes Mellitus is Type 2 Diabetes - High blood sugar count. I don't have to take insulin shots now if I watch my diet and exercise regularly. Kidney Cysts - they are watching because of their size. Dizzy spells could be from the Diabetes, but it's hard to tell, especially when I've closely watched my diet. I'm going back in July 28 to be looked at again. I've gotten so dizzy at times it reminded me of the first time I got overly drunk. what's scaring is that I do a lot of driving and have to work of ladders and aerial lifts. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn