Harry is Harry Smith, an ex-Marine from Winston-Salem
Managed to avoid sinking into despair and bitterness -- despite suffering from an advanced cancer that doctors at the Veterans Administration should have detected much earlier.
Smith, you might recall, served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1972 to 75. He suffered from mental illness, and like many others with mental-health problems, he had good times and bad. His physical health was relatively good, and Shabazz did her level best to see that he was OK.
His life took a nosedive in early 2005 after he went to the W.G. Hefner VA Medical Center in Salisbury to see if doctors there could find the source of his stomach pain. He was told that he had gas, and he was sent home.Over the next year, his symptoms grew progressively worse -- diarrhea, abdominal pain, weight loss and severe constipation.
According to Dr. Tim Collins, an oncologist who later treated Smith at Forsyth Medical Center, those symptoms could be indicative of a more serious problem. He stopped short of casting blame, but did say that "when you work through (the symptoms), you always consider a cancer or malignancy." Instead of ordering blood work or a colonoscopy or even a simple X-ray, VA doctors kept pushing Smith out the door with prescriptions for painkillers and antibiotics.
Fed up with her brother's treatment, Shabazz took Smith to Forsyth Med on Aug. 13, 2006. Three days later, he underwent surgery for a massive tumor in his colon. If you thought that the VA would immediately do the right thing and cover all of his medical bills, you would be wrong. Shabazz had to write many letters, sift through a mountain of paperwork, and call members of Congress before officials approved his claim for disability compensation.
"I've come to the conclusion that they were just waiting for Harry to meet his demise so they don't have to pay," Shabazz said in December 2007.
Rest in peace
The first message from Shabazz about Harry's death came a week or 10 days later. After transcribing her words, I called to express condolences.
She talked for a few minutes about the service at home in Philadelphia, and promised to send a copy of the program.It arrived in a manila envelope along with photos from the graveside service. As befitting his status as an honorably discharged Marine, Smith's funeral was attended by younger Marines in dress blues who saluted him and smartly folded the flag that draped his coffin.
Sad to say, though, I put the envelope in an avalanche of paper and forgot about it in the blizzard of excitement over the election. When the envelope and its contents were rediscovered Tuesday -- Veteran's Day, of all days -- I felt as though I, too, had let Harry Smith down. When I last saw him, Smith was sitting up in a bed at Forsyth Medical Center after undergoing a round of chemotherapy. He was grateful for everything that his sister had done for him -- Shabazz has set up a nonprofit veterans outreach committee to help others navigate the VA system. And he said he wasn't giving up.
Here's hoping that Harry Smith has found peace, and that other veterans don't suffer the way he did.
H2A2R2R4y (Helping 2 Advocate 2 Research 2 Respond 4 You a Veteran Community Outreach Service is an organization, incorporated in 2008. H.A.R.R.Y is comprised of veterans, family and friends that advocate on behalf of veterans and active duty service members. H.A.R.R.Y assists veterans and their family as they make the transition from military life back into their perspective communities. Special emphasis is placed on the veterans who served during the previous War Time Periods. H.A.R.R.Y takes a holistic approach in working with veterans by providing a support system for their families. H.A.R.R.Y also provides goods and services to active duty military members and their eligible family members.
H.A.R.R.Y is an organization that researches issues that impact the quality of life for members of the Armed Forces, veterans and their families. The organization address the problems by collaborating with other concerned, interested individuals and/or organizations to find resolutions to the problems that exist.