1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:17,900 Welcome to Veterans Radio. 2 00:00:17,900 --> 00:00:20,560 I am Jim Fossone. 3 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:22,880 I'm the officer of the deck today. 4 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:24,760 We've got some great programs for you. 5 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:29,560 We always want to remind you you can find more about Veterans Radio at its Facebook 6 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:35,280 site or at the web veteransradio.org where we're on the web 24-7. 7 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,400 You can find a lot of our podcasts there as well. 8 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:45,040 We post new ones every Tuesday so you can get a new story, a new interview, something 9 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:49,840 you didn't know before by going to veteransradio.org. 10 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:53,080 Before we get started we want to thank our sponsors. 11 00:00:53,080 --> 00:01:00,920 Next up we want to thank National Veteran Business Development Council, NVBDC.org. 12 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:06,600 It was established to certify both service disabled and veteran owned businesses. 13 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:13,120 You'll find out how they can help your business by going to NVBDC.org. 14 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,640 We want to thank Legal Help for Veterans. 15 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:22,160 Legal Help for Veterans fights for veterans disability rights all across the nation. 16 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:33,280 You can reach them at 800-693-4800 or on the web at legalhelpforveterans.com. 17 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,080 And finally, PuroClean. 18 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,720 PuroClean is the paramedics of property damage. 19 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:44,600 It provides water damage remediation, flood water removal, fire and smoke damage remediation, 20 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:48,080 mold removal, biohazard cleanup. 21 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:52,280 It also has a focus on veteran franchisees. 22 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:57,040 You can learn more about them by going to puroclean.com. 23 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:04,280 Two interesting segments today for veterans and their friends and family. 24 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,440 First up, and I don't know that we've ever really had a discussion on this on Veterans 25 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:14,080 Radio, is about the VA dental benefits that are available and VA dental insurance which 26 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:15,960 is available to every veteran. 27 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,560 So kind of an interesting topic. 28 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:26,720 And second, we're going to talk about veterans and their exposure, I guess, prevalence to 29 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:32,600 Parkinson's disease with a veteran and the Parkinson's Association. 30 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,080 Probably something you ought to listen in and learn about. 31 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:37,880 Hopefully, you'll never have to worry about it. 32 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,760 But then again, so listen in. 33 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:46,680 We want to welcome to Veterans Radio today the Assistant Undersecretary for Health for 34 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:49,120 Dentistry, Dr. Christine Lamar. 35 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,880 Dr. Lamar, welcome to Veterans Radio. 36 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:54,760 Thank you. 37 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:55,920 Thank you so much for inviting me. 38 00:02:55,920 --> 00:02:57,760 I'm really excited to talk to you today. 39 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:02,320 Well, we're really looking forward to getting some information out to our veterans about 40 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,600 the VA's dental policies and those benefits. 41 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,360 But let me set this up a little bit. 42 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,680 You completed your general practice residency at the VA Long Beach Health Care System in 43 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:16,480 California in 1998. 44 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:21,720 In 2002, you became Chief of Dental Services. 45 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:26,680 You've also served at VISN 22 as the lead dentist for seven years and the Office of 46 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:30,800 Dentistry Infection Control Consultant for six years. 47 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:35,000 You were appointed the Director of Operations in the Office of Dentistry for 2021 and the 48 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:38,360 Acting Undersecretary in 2023. 49 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:42,440 So you have a long history with the VA and you're an active member of the American Dental 50 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:45,720 Association and a fellow in the International College of Dentists. 51 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:50,560 And we're going to ask you some questions about some ADA information later. 52 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:57,560 But you bring a real focus on dental health care with veterans. 53 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,840 How did that become of such an interest to yours? 54 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:04,280 And tell us a little bit about your career. 55 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:06,200 Yeah, great. 56 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:08,320 Thank you for asking. 57 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:14,360 So I first started off, my first love was to work with communities. 58 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:20,400 Prior to coming to the VA, I ran a Ryan White clinic, which was a dental clinic for individuals 59 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:22,440 with HIV and AIDS. 60 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:28,600 And kind of fell in love with that sector of the community outreach. 61 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,080 And I had always, I loved my residency. 62 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:32,640 I did it at the VA. 63 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:38,300 And when an opportunity opened up, I looked into it and I thought, this is the perfect 64 00:04:38,300 --> 00:04:40,480 place for me. 65 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:47,400 My grandfather was a World War II, 100% service connected veteran, my father's a Vietnam veteran. 66 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:54,040 So I always felt like I've been a caretaker, so to speak, of veterans throughout my life. 67 00:04:54,040 --> 00:05:00,760 We often find when we ask that question that back in the family history somewhere, there 68 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:03,080 are family members who have been veterans. 69 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:08,240 And certainly, both your father and your grandfather obviously had an impact on your 70 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:10,080 career choices, I think. 71 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:16,840 Yeah, no, definitely with my grandfather, especially with him being a 100% service 72 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:22,080 connected veteran, he got all his care through the VA and he even lived in a veteran community 73 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:24,120 in Florida. 74 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:26,440 And I used to spend my summers down there. 75 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:31,200 My parents, we were in Michigan and my parents would, I know kind of the opposite right of 76 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:36,200 a snowbird, but I would go down to Florida for the summer and spend it with my grandparents 77 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:37,200 down there in Florida. 78 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:38,200 Thank you. 79 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:43,920 Let's turn to veteran dental care because I think a lot of people struggle with understanding 80 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:48,120 how one qualifies for this benefit. 81 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:49,560 You shed some light? 82 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:50,560 Yeah, absolutely. 83 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:56,440 And that's probably the most common question we get, right, is who's eligible for VA dental 84 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:57,960 care? 85 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:03,240 And this question most often refers to VA provided dental care. 86 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:08,200 In order to qualify for the VA provided dental care, a veteran would need to meet certain 87 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:10,680 criteria set by law. 88 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:16,520 And some veterans may have a limited eligibility and others are eligible for what we call comprehensive 89 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:18,640 dental benefits. 90 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,440 I actually have a, I'm going to go into it a little bit for you, but I actually have 91 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:26,160 a fact sheet that I can send you. 92 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:31,560 If you have a website, we could put up for folks to look at as well to help with this. 93 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:32,560 Oh, absolutely. 94 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:38,440 Yeah, I'll give it to you later and we'll put that up on veteransradio.org as well as 95 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:40,680 the social media pages. 96 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:42,840 Okay, perfect. 97 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:43,840 Thank you. 98 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:50,000 So for comprehensive dental benefits, there's about four categories a veteran would need 99 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:54,520 to, or criteria, excuse me, a veteran would need to meet to go into that. 100 00:06:54,520 --> 00:07:01,120 One is they would need to have a service connected, compensable, dental disability or condition, 101 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:12,480 be a former POW, have a non-compensable dental condition or disability resulting from combat 102 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:14,560 wounds or service trauma. 103 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:21,400 Or, and this is our most common category that we see in our clinics, is they have a service 104 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:29,840 connected disability rated at 100% or unemployable and paid at the 100% rate due to their service 105 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:31,480 connected conditions. 106 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:37,880 So if I have what's commonly known as TDIU, which gets me rated at 100%, that would be 107 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:39,720 that fourth category? 108 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:41,960 Yes, yes. 109 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:47,720 And then we do have some limited categories of care. 110 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:50,000 So I'll give you one example of that. 111 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:55,920 For a veteran who's been recently discharged from the military, they would become eligible 112 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:02,560 for one-time dental care if at the time of discharge, they did not have all of their 113 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:10,000 dental treatment completed by the military and that was notated on their DD 214. 114 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,760 These categories are pretty clear. 115 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,520 I don't know why they're not so well known. 116 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:24,320 As you explore this issue as the Assistant Undersecretary for Health for Dentistry, why 117 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:27,840 doesn't the message get out more, do you think? 118 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:34,560 You know, that's a great question and something we absolutely are pondering as well. 119 00:08:34,560 --> 00:08:37,080 And it's just a lack of awareness. 120 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:43,000 And so I think that folks are not really sure, dental's kind of that area of the hospital 121 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:50,640 that maybe they're not as familiar with and they are not just aware of that. 122 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:54,840 You know, sometimes people have their own dental insurance and so they think, oh, well, 123 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:58,120 I have a dental insurance, I can't use the VA dental. 124 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:00,080 Well, that's actually not true. 125 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:06,240 You can use your own insurance and you can use the VA dental benefit, but we want every 126 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:10,960 veteran to use all of their earned benefits, especially their dental benefit. 127 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:11,960 Absolutely. 128 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:17,080 They earned them through their service and they shouldn't be shy about using them. 129 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:22,680 I saw in some research that VA provides medical care for about 9 million veterans, but only 130 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:29,440 about 1.8 million are eligible for dental care and only about 40% of those who are eligible 131 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:31,040 actually use the care. 132 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:36,920 So there's a big gap between those who are entitled to and those who actually use the 133 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,240 care. 134 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:44,800 One of the questions I guess I'd have, and this seems awfully naive on my part, but does 135 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:51,240 every VA hospital have access to a dental clinic? 136 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:59,080 So every hospital except for one has a dental service associated with it. 137 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:05,480 So when I say that, what I mean is, you know, you might have a hospital in a location and 138 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:10,040 then in the CBOC, they have dental clinic or it could be in the hospital, but we do have 139 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:15,680 dentistry associated with every hospital except for one in the country. 140 00:10:15,680 --> 00:10:20,000 And so the dental services might be provided, you mentioned a CBOC, which is a community 141 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:21,480 based outreach clinic. 142 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:24,680 So it might be in the clinics versus in the hospitals. 143 00:10:24,680 --> 00:10:25,680 Is that what you're saying? 144 00:10:25,680 --> 00:10:27,160 It could be. 145 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:28,160 Absolutely. 146 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:34,800 We have many, many in the hospital, but you know, depending on the region and the access 147 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:39,600 and where the veterans live, we do have them in different locations. 148 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:44,000 Now I saw a report from some researchers at the American Institute of Dental Public Health 149 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:45,480 and CareQuest Institute. 150 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:51,720 I don't even know who all those people are, but they say that veterans have a higher rate 151 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:56,960 of dental problems than the civilian population, including issues with tooth decay and gum 152 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:58,320 disease. 153 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:05,040 Does that sort of track what you have found in your role as assistant undersecretary for 154 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:07,120 health for dentistry? 155 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:08,120 We have. 156 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:09,120 We do see. 157 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:14,200 I'll be honest, I haven't looked at the literature exactly what you're referencing, but we do 158 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:20,200 see our veterans have a high rate of periodontal disease and dental carries. 159 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:26,000 I think though, when you look at some factors, such as the age of the population we're treating 160 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:30,880 and other things, it might be closer to the norm with that. 161 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:35,920 But we definitely make sure we're focusing because we know that is very important to 162 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:36,920 our veterans. 163 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:39,400 So there's a couple of things we really look at. 164 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:44,520 We have some quality indicators in place to make sure we're getting patients in for 165 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:45,520 recalls. 166 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:49,560 We have fluoride interventions and all these different preventive things that we focus 167 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:54,000 on because we do want to make sure that their oral health is optimized. 168 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:59,520 Yeah, I think there's general recognition nowadays that your oral health does relate 169 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:03,400 to your overall physical health, doesn't it? 170 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:04,400 Yes. 171 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:05,400 Absolutely. 172 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:11,360 So oral health is part of whole health and we've had some articles out there that absolutely 173 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:19,200 do not necessarily it's cause and effect, but it can have different, you know, we know 174 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,400 it can affect those chronic diseases. 175 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:26,400 So what services, Dr. Lamar, are actually available? 176 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:32,520 Is it just cavities and pungent teeth or is it cleanings and x-rays? 177 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:39,040 I mean, when we talk about available dental services, broaden that out for us a little 178 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:40,040 bit. 179 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:41,040 Yeah. 180 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:48,240 So we offer the full gamut of dental services outside of maybe a couple of things and I'll 181 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:56,760 get into those as well, but we offer everything from exams and x-rays, fillings, all the way 182 00:12:56,760 --> 00:12:58,600 up to implants. 183 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:01,360 So we have a full gamut of services. 184 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:06,920 I think what is maybe sometimes difficult to understand about the VA versus just going 185 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:13,440 into your private dentist is that we don't have a list of things that it says you can 186 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:15,040 have these things. 187 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:20,440 We create a customized treatment plan for every veteran that comes in. 188 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:25,840 That's a big difference because in the private sector, it's what is your insurance allow 189 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:27,800 and we'll do this? 190 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:28,800 Exactly. 191 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:29,880 Exactly. 192 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:35,960 And that's where we focus on what is going to get you to the optimized oral health. 193 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:43,760 So that is our focus and sometimes we might say, this is what we are going to do today. 194 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:48,200 Let's get your oral health up to that and then let's move on to that next step and see 195 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:50,080 what we can do then. 196 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:57,200 But we sometimes take a, we really take a long-range approach where our focus is on, 197 00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:01,400 let's get you up to that optimized oral health with this customized treatment plan. 198 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:07,200 So as somebody who's not a big fan of dentists and who's had root canals and crowns, I assume 199 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:12,160 your treatment services include those sorts of things and maybe even dentures? 200 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:14,640 Yes, absolutely. 201 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:21,360 We include crowns, partials, dentures, root canals. 202 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:26,920 You name it, we have all of those things and we even have in some of those areas, we have 203 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:32,560 residency programs teaching people how to become specialists in some of those arenas. 204 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:36,440 So we definitely provide all of those services. 205 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:42,240 I'll go back because I realize I didn't mention the couple of things that we don't do. 206 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:48,360 We don't do dentistry purely for cosmetic purposes and then orthodontia is not something 207 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:55,280 we offer unless you need orthodontia as a result of a CERNUS trauma condition. 208 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:58,440 Certainly, yeah. 209 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:04,080 One of the challenge, I'll come to the challenge in a minute, but you mentioned residency and 210 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:10,720 I always like to take a minute to remind people and I assume it's true in your area because 211 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:16,080 you did your residency, general practice residency at VA Long Beach. 212 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:20,720 I think people forget how much training the VA does. 213 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:27,120 Can you, and this is medical doctors and nurses and PAs and everybody else, I never thought 214 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:31,760 about the training, the teaching it does in the area of dentistry. 215 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:33,720 Can you elaborate on that a little bit? 216 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,440 Yeah, we have incredible training programs. 217 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:45,240 We have general dentistry residencies, we have specialty residencies in the VA. 218 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:51,160 We even have dental hygiene, we even have some dental assisting programs that come in 219 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:52,920 to our clinics. 220 00:15:52,920 --> 00:16:01,320 What's great about this is it becomes our program where people get to know about the 221 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:04,480 VA and then they want to come work for the VA. 222 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:09,640 When I go and post for positions, I've got folks who've come into my service who know 223 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:15,040 already about the veterans and our mission and want to be part of that. 224 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:23,320 I have to say when I was the chief, I think almost all of my dental staff had done a residency 225 00:16:23,320 --> 00:16:24,320 at a VA. 226 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:25,320 No, that's excellent. 227 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:33,800 Again, I think one of the great, unsung stories to the general public is how much the VA does 228 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:39,880 in research and training and that's a benefit to the whole community, not just the community 229 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:42,200 of veterans. 230 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:45,640 Let me ask about the challenge though. 231 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:52,960 I suspect like many VA services, there may be challenges about staffing and having enough 232 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:56,840 personnel and budget to meet the need. 233 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:58,960 Can you talk about the challenges? 234 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,000 Yeah, absolutely. 235 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:11,360 So last year, VA dental clinics, we provided 5.5 million procedures to more than 560,000 236 00:17:11,360 --> 00:17:16,440 veterans and that still didn't meet all of our need. 237 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:23,040 In addition to that, we spent $1 billion in the community because we needed to make sure 238 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:26,600 our veterans had access to care for the mission act. 239 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:29,320 I'm sure you're familiar with the mission act. 240 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:30,840 Those standards apply to dentistry. 241 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:32,360 Okay, I was going to ask that. 242 00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:33,360 That's good to know. 243 00:17:33,360 --> 00:17:34,360 Yeah. 244 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:35,360 Yeah. 245 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:39,560 So for example, when I talked about veterans in Vermont, we're not just letting veterans 246 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:42,400 in Vermont go without dental care. 247 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:47,800 We still serve them through community care and that would be one area where you would 248 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:48,800 see that. 249 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:53,640 So if we can't provide that care in-house, we will provide that care in the community 250 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:59,240 or if that veteran meets that drive time standard as well. 251 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:01,120 So that's the challenge. 252 00:18:01,120 --> 00:18:05,480 So the originally going back to your question, our challenge is, I would say our challenge 253 00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:11,000 is more having space, having dental treatment rooms is really the challenge we're facing 254 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:16,960 right now to get all of our eligible veterans in, especially in where we're seeing these 255 00:18:16,960 --> 00:18:19,920 areas of the country with large growth. 256 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:27,400 And that is a very complicated question because it takes congressional dollars to build out 257 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:33,040 all those rooms and add all that equipment before you can even get to the personnel issues, 258 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:34,040 isn't it? 259 00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:35,040 Right. 260 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:36,040 Exactly. 261 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:38,720 You know, that's exactly right. 262 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:44,440 You have to have that space to treat that veteran and then we're doing, you know, bringing 263 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:45,440 in folks. 264 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:51,640 I have to say because of those training programs we have and things like that, we've done fairly 265 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:55,000 well with being able to recruit dentists. 266 00:18:55,000 --> 00:19:01,080 The area right now, and this is true not just in VA but across all of dentistry. 267 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:05,400 The American Dental Association has spoke about it, but we're seeing a nationwide shortage 268 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:10,160 of dental assistants and dental hygienists. 269 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:12,440 Help the uneducated out like myself. 270 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,640 What's the difference between an assistant and a hygienist? 271 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:17,040 Sure, absolutely. 272 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:21,120 So a dental assistant is that person who you usually see helping the dentist when you're 273 00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:22,560 getting your treatment. 274 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:28,680 The dental hygienist is the person you see when you go in for your cleanings. 275 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:32,760 And those would be, you know, every six months when you go in for those cleanings in your 276 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:34,320 dental office. 277 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:36,480 Usually you see a dental hygienist. 278 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:38,400 Right, right. 279 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:45,640 So let me go on to another area that may become a challenge and there's been some articles 280 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:52,160 written on because of the 2022 promise to address Comprehensive Toxic Act, better known 281 00:19:52,160 --> 00:20:00,080 as the PACT Act, that we're going to see a lot more veterans qualifying for dental benefits. 282 00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:06,720 Is that something you're thinking about now in the office there? 283 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:09,720 Oh, absolutely. 284 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:16,520 We have absolutely, that's one of the areas, the strengths of our office is Dr. Trap who 285 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:20,560 I think you read about in that ADA article you mentioned at the beginning. 286 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:30,320 We have a dental resource model that is a data-driven model along with geospatial information 287 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:36,440 that looks at and predicts where our veterans be, where do we need to build our clinics 288 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:37,800 for that. 289 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:43,400 In addition to that, we are looking at, one of the wonderful things the PACT Act did was 290 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:47,120 give us these different authorities to expand. 291 00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:53,960 And so we've gone into agreements with, or lease agreements with the Department of Defense. 292 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:58,800 We're seeing more and more joint DOD VA clinics. 293 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:04,920 We're looking at leases in private, a dental office that maybe is vacant. 294 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:09,700 Can we lease that space and use it as well as traditional expansion. 295 00:21:09,700 --> 00:21:12,360 So all of those things are being put into place. 296 00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:16,760 Well, that's one of the things that I think, again, the VA does a pretty good job of it, 297 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:21,960 which is trying to think ahead about where is this going, what do I need to be doing, 298 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:30,640 I meaning VA, what does VA need to be doing to address these future set of complexities. 299 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:35,640 There is another benefit I wanted to talk about with you and that is the VA Dental Insurance 300 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:36,760 Program. 301 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:41,720 I'm sure that if I had 100 veterans in the room now, okay, I'll say one of them might 302 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:43,440 have ever heard of this. 303 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:45,680 I'm not even sure if one has. 304 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,280 Can you talk to us about this? 305 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:50,320 Yes, absolutely. 306 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:56,440 So the VA Dental Insurance Program, if a veteran does not qualify for VA dental care, or maybe 307 00:21:56,440 --> 00:22:01,800 they only get limited care and they're enrolled in VA healthcare, they have the option to 308 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:06,240 enroll in a Veterans Affairs Dental Insurance Program. 309 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:15,360 And what that is that's administered by Delta Dental and MetLife, and you can, it's similar 310 00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:21,680 to what I as a VA employee can choose for my own personal dental insurance. 311 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:26,960 And you can, there's different programs, different levels, different geography. 312 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:33,200 So for example, you can do a veteran only program plan with maybe, you know, it gives 313 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:41,120 you your traditional cleaning exams, and then would cover maybe some work at 50% for maybe 314 00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:43,120 $20 a month. 315 00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:49,160 And it also can offer extensive programs where it covers more extensive procedures, maybe 316 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,920 those root canals and crowns you were talking about. 317 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:58,360 And you can also sign up with a veteran and spouse, and that could maybe be about $60 318 00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:04,960 a month for that more extensive plan, depending of course on your geographic location, it 319 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:06,240 varies. 320 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,840 And this is available because I have my veteran status. 321 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:16,880 I don't have to be a member of a union or part of this company or that company. 322 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,160 I can sign up for this because I'm a veteran. 323 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:24,400 That's correct, but you do have to be enrolled in VA healthcare. 324 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:25,400 Yes, absolutely. 325 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:32,840 We remind everybody that even if you aren't entitled to healthcare under any of these 326 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:38,080 various circumstances, you should still be enrolled in VA healthcare for the, when that 327 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,000 day comes that maybe you need it. 328 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:41,000 So we... 329 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:42,000 Exactly. 330 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:43,000 Exactly. 331 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:48,320 I have this argument with my father. 332 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:53,240 And that's one of the great things that PACTAC did was I actually got him to sign up for 333 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:59,480 VA healthcare when the PACTAC came out and I used, you know, look at during COVID, he 334 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:03,040 could have access to different services. 335 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:07,280 The VA was at the forefront of offering if he'd been in part of healthcare. 336 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:08,280 Signed up. 337 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:14,760 And as I say, the dental benefits aren't really widely known and the dental healthcare insurance. 338 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:18,480 Boy, that was a first for me. 339 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:23,160 Before we close up here, I want to give you the chance to cover anything that I've not 340 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,480 mentioned where you go, well, people don't know about this either. 341 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,000 That's why he can't ask. 342 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:33,320 What did I not cover that you think I want to get out to the wider veteran audience? 343 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:34,320 Yeah. 344 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:36,400 No, thank you for doing that. 345 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:43,080 You know, I think that VA dentistry is, I mean, we're here for the veterans oral health. 346 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:45,200 That's why we're here. 347 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:50,240 And our providers, we have a dental patient satisfaction survey. 348 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:57,280 And people who come in and see our dental providers are nine times out of 10 most of the time, 349 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:01,360 they're rating our providers in the care they received very highly. 350 00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:03,920 And that's very important to us. 351 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:06,880 And like you said, you're not a huge fan of the dentist. 352 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:10,800 The best way to make sure you don't have to come in is through prevention. 353 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:11,800 Absolutely. 354 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:12,800 Absolutely. 355 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:13,800 Yeah. 356 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,640 Even though you don't want to see us, see us before you have to. 357 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:18,640 Absolutely. 358 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:23,480 And we want to thank Dr. Christine Lamar, assistant under secretary for health for dentistry at 359 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:29,480 the VA for coming in and talking to us today to spread the word about the services that 360 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:37,520 are available, the amazing work that the dentists do both in terms of training and research, 361 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:41,480 and help get the word out on something that maybe people didn't know about, which is the 362 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:43,120 VA dental insurance program. 363 00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:46,960 Dr. Lamar, thank you for your time today. 364 00:25:46,960 --> 00:25:52,200 Thank you for inviting me on and letting me get the word out to veterans about VA dentistry. 365 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:54,520 Okay, let's admit it. 366 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:59,040 You didn't know anything about VA dental before you heard this program. 367 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:02,000 That's why we do veterans radio. 368 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:07,520 We want to get information out to our veterans, to their friends and family about benefits 369 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:11,400 that veterans have already earned because of their service. 370 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:16,520 And really the wide range of things that may be available from the VA that gosh, you just 371 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:20,400 didn't even know we're there and may make your life a lot easier. 372 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:25,920 And as I said during the discussion, I had never heard of VA dental insurance. 373 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:32,720 So even that, that you have access, your family has access to an insurance program, government 374 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:39,480 designed for dental insurance because you're a veteran. 375 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:45,120 Pretty cool stuff and I'd encourage people to look into that if that's an item that they're 376 00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:48,440 missing from their healthcare portfolio. 377 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,640 So stick around, we're going to have a few words from our sponsors. 378 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:56,880 And then we're going to have a discussion about really a dreadful disease Parkinson's 379 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:58,520 disease. 380 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:03,480 But again, one of those things that you have to know about, you have to know how it relates 381 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:10,120 to veterans and maybe your service and how there are services, there are national providers 382 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:12,840 available to ease this process. 383 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:19,160 I actually just this week had an opportunity to mention this, you know, to a family that's 384 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:21,200 struggling with a recent diagnosis. 385 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,200 So listen in. 386 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:53,400 veterans affairs. 387 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:57,280 If you have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans Appeals, contact Legal Help for 388 00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:01,520 Veterans at 1-800-693-4800. 389 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:05,520 They're experts in handling cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. 390 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:22,000 Their number again, 1-800-693-4800. 391 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:45,460 So sing a little of the songs of the Vietnam War Prozent was during the unter Long Island 392 00:28:45,460 --> 00:28:51,180 and sleeping there. 393 00:28:51,180 --> 00:29:20,640 So we're doing a little shout out and love to the West Point to the Army. 394 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:27,520 This is football season and us guys in the water whether you be Navy, Coast Guard, NOAA, 395 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:36,560 Merchant Marine, you know we got to look to the Navy football team to represent but let's 396 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,480 face it this year it's Army. 397 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:44,340 Armies whooped out everybody they continue the season I think they got the Commander's 398 00:29:44,340 --> 00:29:52,400 Cup well in hand but enjoy football while it lasts it is November and soon we'll be 399 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:56,920 I guess moving over to hockey but we got a month or two here of playoffs it ought to 400 00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:03,840 be fun but that's why we did the Army song and now we're going to talk with folks on 401 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:10,440 this as I say really horrible disease Parkinson's but there is hope and there is support. 402 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:15,400 We want to welcome to Veterans Radio today a couple of gentlemen we're going to talk 403 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:22,760 about Parkinson's disease and its involvement in relationship with veterans in your service 404 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:25,520 we're going to talk to Mark Kelm. 405 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:27,200 Mark welcome to Veterans Radio. 406 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,840 Well thank you very much Jim. 407 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:34,760 Mark we'll talk about his military service here shortly but we also have on the line 408 00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:37,880 John Lair who's the CEO of the Parkinson's Foundation. 409 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:39,680 John welcome to Veterans Radio. 410 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:42,760 Thank you so much Jim it's a pleasure to be here. 411 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:48,600 Mark let's start with you a nice kid like you from Minnesota you joined the Army Reserves 412 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:53,560 in 1989 you serve on active duty for a few years you spend some time in the National 413 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:58,200 Guard you held a role as a military chaplain. 414 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:02,200 Flesh that out a little bit tell us some more about your military service. 415 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:09,320 Sure from 1989 until 1996 I was enlisted guy I served in the 205th Arctic Light Infantry 416 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:13,920 in the Army Reserves and then transferred over to the 34th Infantry Division with the 417 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:19,880 Minnesota Army National Guard in 1996 I was commissioned in Osir a second lieutenant and 418 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:24,560 I served in the New York Army National Guard and had active duty time on after that so 419 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:30,320 it's kind of a career that went from 1989 to 2006 and I loved almost every moment of 420 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:31,320 it. 421 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:36,840 Oh yeah nobody believes it if you say you loved 100% because we all had those situations 422 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:40,760 like what the heck did I volunteer for? 423 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:46,000 Exactly but proud to serve and actually found a lot of the people who served along with 424 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:50,600 me are some of my lifelong friends that I know I could call up at any moment and they'd 425 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:55,040 be here for me and they certainly have during my trials and tribulations living with young 426 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:56,760 onset Parkinson's disease. 427 00:31:56,760 --> 00:32:01,760 Well let's start there a little bit too because that's what we're focusing on is explain to 428 00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:05,160 people what the Parkinson's disease is about. 429 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:10,760 Yeah so Parkinson's disease can be caused either by genetics or environmental factors 430 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:13,120 or a combination of both. 431 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:19,440 It actually is the cells within your basal ganglia that create dopamine are dying or 432 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:24,280 collapsing in on themselves and so when you don't have dopamine it's like a car engine 433 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:26,360 that doesn't have oil. 434 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:27,640 It's going to seize up. 435 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:30,400 When it seizes up it causes certain symptoms. 436 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:34,640 Some of the cardinal symptoms of Parkinson's is the tremor that you might find often you'll 437 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:38,240 see it in someone's hand visibly it could be in their leg. 438 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:40,160 They could have an internal tremor. 439 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:47,080 You'll notice slowness of movement, rigidity within your muscles, balance can become an 440 00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:49,480 issue with people with Parkinson's. 441 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:55,560 So there's a constellation of things that Parkinson's can have and not everyone has 442 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:57,440 all of the symptoms. 443 00:32:57,440 --> 00:33:01,720 Some people have worsening of their tremor. 444 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:05,960 Other people their tremor is well controlled with levodopa, the medicine that we take but 445 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:06,960 their balance isn't helped. 446 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:12,560 So you never really know exactly how it's going to affect you compared to everyone else. 447 00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:14,920 And John let me bring you in on this. 448 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:22,320 Maybe you want to expand a little bit about the longevity of this disease process and 449 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:24,840 what folks experience over time. 450 00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:33,080 Yeah, so I'll just say Parkinson's disease affects 1 million Americans and we have a 451 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:38,120 new study that shows that each year 90,000 individuals are nearly diagnosed with the 452 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:42,760 disease which is a 50% increase over prior estimates. 453 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:48,200 What we always say about Parkinson's is it is primarily a disease of aging. 454 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:53,160 That is the number one risk factor for Parkinson's is age. 455 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:59,480 So the older you get the greater the likelihood that you may develop Parkinson's. 456 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:05,800 But again it's a relatively rare disease, not a rare disease but relatively rare disease. 457 00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:14,880 And as I said people will develop it say in their early 60s and may live a full and long 458 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:15,880 life. 459 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:19,920 They may have a fairly benign course of disease. 460 00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:25,360 Some people have a much more aggressive course of disease and may not live as long as you 461 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:27,360 would hope. 462 00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:32,960 And then about 4 to 5% of people are classified as young onset Parkinson's disease. 463 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:37,440 Those are people who are diagnosed before the age of 50. 464 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:44,720 For people with young onset Parkinson's we see them living fairly for many, many years. 465 00:34:44,720 --> 00:34:48,160 But we say at the Parkinson's Foundation and you'll hear this throughout the community 466 00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:50,840 that no two people will have the same course of disease. 467 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:54,320 It's a very idiosyncratic disease. 468 00:34:54,320 --> 00:35:00,240 So somebody with a lot of symptoms and a lot of restrictions on their lives may be living 469 00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:07,240 next door to somebody who's living relatively without a lot of complications from Parkinson's. 470 00:35:07,240 --> 00:35:08,520 But it is a tough disease. 471 00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:09,520 It's progressive. 472 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:11,920 It's degenerative. 473 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:16,800 Every day is going to be a little bit, maybe not measurable but a little bit harder than 474 00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:18,320 the day before. 475 00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:20,960 I think most folks have some understanding of it. 476 00:35:20,960 --> 00:35:25,960 They've probably seen Michael J. Fox on TV talking about the disease and the work that 477 00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:30,760 he does in this area and the fundraising and volunteer work. 478 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:36,240 One of the things that you've done, Mark, is sort of taken your experience as you've 479 00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:41,520 now gotten out of the military and had to stop working full time because of Parkinson's 480 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:46,920 and you've really put that energy into volunteering in the Parkinson's community. 481 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:50,360 Tell us some about your work in that space. 482 00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:56,240 Yeah, for me, living with early onset or young onset Parkinson's disease has encouraged 483 00:35:56,240 --> 00:35:58,080 me to say I don't want to stop living. 484 00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:00,520 I want to get off the bench and be in the game. 485 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:04,880 And so I started in annual Parkinson's Awareness Day at Target Field in partnership with the 486 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:06,760 Minnesota Twins. 487 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:12,160 I've organized events such as Trivia Fundraiser Night to raise funds for the Minneapolis Space 488 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:15,320 Struthers Parkinson's Center, which is the center of excellence for the Parkinson's 489 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:16,320 Foundation. 490 00:36:16,320 --> 00:36:20,120 I've got the American Legion heavily involved here, Chesterburg American Legion in Golden 491 00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:23,800 Valley, Minnesota, to raise funds for Parkinson's as well. 492 00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:28,040 I've taken on the role of National Chair of the Parkinson's Foundation, People at the 493 00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:32,120 Parkinson's Council, which ensures that the perspective of people living with Parkinson's 494 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:36,800 is integrated into the Foundation's programs, development and priority settings. 495 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:41,280 I volunteer on the U.S. Department of Defense's Congressionally Directed Medical Research 496 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:42,280 Program. 497 00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:46,480 Parkinson's Research Program is a consumer advocate participating in the evaluation of 498 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:48,560 research applications. 499 00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:51,240 And I also participate in Moving Day Twin Cities. 500 00:36:51,240 --> 00:36:55,960 And my youngest daughter took over for my oldest daughter serving on the Twin Cities 501 00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:59,800 Chapter Board for Moving Day. 502 00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:05,840 Let's make a little more connection here between veteran status and service and the possibility 503 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:06,840 of Parkinson's. 504 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:14,200 I've read that there's about 110,000 veterans with Parkinson's disease who received care 505 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:17,960 through the VA hospital. 506 00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:26,000 And there is such a connection and a kind of empirical studies that the VA recognizes 507 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:32,560 Parkinson's disease as a presumptive illness from exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides 508 00:37:32,560 --> 00:37:35,760 that one gets exposed to during military service. 509 00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:38,800 And you're on DOD committees. 510 00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:44,520 Talk to us about what veterans ought to be thinking about as it relates to, did I get 511 00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:48,880 exposed to, is Parkinson's related and why that's important. 512 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:50,000 Sure. 513 00:37:50,000 --> 00:37:56,720 As you mentioned for our Vietnam era veterans who experienced Agent Orange, 50% of the active 514 00:37:56,720 --> 00:38:02,560 ingredient Agent Orange is a chemical known as 2,4-D, which, amongst causing things like 515 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:06,160 cancer, it also can cause Parkinson's later on in life. 516 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:08,360 And that's something that became presumptive. 517 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:14,440 So if you have Parkinson's, you served in country in Vietnam, you can end up having 518 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:18,640 a service connection between the two and get the help that you need from the VA. 519 00:38:18,640 --> 00:38:24,400 I'm one of 110,000 veterans who works with the VA on healthcare, and they've done a great 520 00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:27,440 job for me and for my family. 521 00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:34,120 It's not just the Vietnam era though with Agent Orange, it's also Desert Storm people, 522 00:38:34,120 --> 00:38:39,640 people in training in the military who received traumatic brain injuries during their service. 523 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:46,760 If you have in your medical history a TBI that was considered moderate or above, you 524 00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:52,960 actually can be service connected with your Parkinson's disease if you have that diagnosis. 525 00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:56,400 Chemical exposures go way beyond Agent Orange in Vietnam. 526 00:38:56,400 --> 00:39:01,720 We know with Iraq and Afghanistan that the burn pits that were there, we're seeing Parkinson's 527 00:39:01,720 --> 00:39:08,680 come out from troops who were living nearby or working in and through those burn pits. 528 00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:16,640 And so there's different ways that the military community can end up having experiences 529 00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:22,840 such as traumatic brain injuries from IEDs during training incidents, during combat, 530 00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:30,160 along with chemical exposure that is seeing a rise amongst the veteran community compared 531 00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:32,320 to the civilian community. 532 00:39:32,320 --> 00:39:36,360 And so we're trying to raise awareness saying, hey, if you have any of these cardinal symptoms 533 00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:40,000 of Parkinson's, go in and get checked out. 534 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:46,120 And it's important because the things key, medical science and VA's understanding of 535 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:50,280 the things keep evolving, just like they've, they said, okay, well, we used Agent Orange 536 00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:51,280 in Vietnam. 537 00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:53,160 Okay, we'll admit we used it in Korea. 538 00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:57,120 The PACDAC now says, oh yeah, well, we used it in Thailand and Guam and there's some places 539 00:39:57,120 --> 00:39:58,320 in the US. 540 00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:01,960 So there's sort of an evolving exposure opportunities. 541 00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:05,760 You might have known you were exposed, although they don't recognize it yet or they're just 542 00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:07,680 beginning to recognize it. 543 00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:13,160 So this is not something that you just say, well, they said, no, so I walk away. 544 00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:18,440 And it's important, isn't it, because it gives the veteran and may give them disability 545 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:24,160 benefits, but more importantly also gives you some healthcare benefits that take a lot 546 00:40:24,160 --> 00:40:26,800 of pressure off the family, I suppose. 547 00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:28,600 Absolutely, Jim. 548 00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:32,480 You know, from the military training, we're taught, never give up, never surrender, adapt 549 00:40:32,480 --> 00:40:33,960 and overcome, right? 550 00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:37,520 And so even if the VA says no, it doesn't mean you need to quit. 551 00:40:37,520 --> 00:40:41,000 We now know like Camp Lejeune, the drinking water in Camp Lejeune. 552 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:42,640 Excellent point, yeah. 553 00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:43,640 Yeah, right. 554 00:40:43,640 --> 00:40:49,920 So those troops who served now over 30 days, 30 days and over in Camp Lejeune and we're 555 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:54,480 drinking the water and they have Parkinson's disease diagnosis can be service connected 556 00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:59,120 now where for decades, the VA said no, now there's a service connection that's going 557 00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:00,800 to be automatic for them. 558 00:41:00,800 --> 00:41:03,800 And so even if you've been head no, don't give up the fight. 559 00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:09,640 Well, the other thing, and I'll jump back over to in a moment here to John, but Mark, 560 00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:14,040 one of the things you and I were talking about before we got started was that, you know, 561 00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:18,800 a private medical physician is going to look at a veteran a certain way whereas a VA doctor 562 00:41:18,800 --> 00:41:22,840 who knows what you went through is going to look at you a little bit different and you've 563 00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:25,520 kind of experienced that, I suspect. 564 00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:26,520 Absolutely. 565 00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:29,320 You know, there is a difference. 566 00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:36,280 A lot of times civilian doctors and neurologists don't even ask us about our military experience. 567 00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:40,280 It's not in the forefront of their mind when they're thinking of what the diagnosis might 568 00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:41,280 be. 569 00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:47,280 There currently isn't a test that's widespread that's used right now to detect Parkinson's. 570 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:52,680 It's really the neurologist looking at you and excluding everything else first. 571 00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:56,880 So we really want to make sure that if you serve in the military, you had chemical exposure, 572 00:41:56,880 --> 00:42:01,240 you had traumatic brain injuries, that you make sure you say something to your doctor 573 00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:03,480 because they can start connecting the dots then. 574 00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:07,760 And the VA doctors within neurology, some of them the best, I work with Scott Lewis 575 00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:12,800 out of the Minneapolis VA, he is absolutely outstanding where he does take the time to 576 00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:19,160 read through a person's military file, your 201 file, to find out what experiences you 577 00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:24,160 had and what that could do in relation to your health. 578 00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:29,240 John isn't one of the frustrating things for patients and Mark just referenced it. 579 00:42:29,240 --> 00:42:34,000 So they exclude everything else that you must have Parkinson's. 580 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:42,000 Talk to us about how that diagnosis comes about and what resources does the Parkinson's 581 00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:47,480 Foundation have for those who might be thinking, I don't know if I'm asking the right questions 582 00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:48,480 here. 583 00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:50,080 Yeah, it's a really great question. 584 00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:56,240 So one of the biggest challenges in the Parkinson's space is that a diagnosis of Parkinson's 585 00:42:56,240 --> 00:42:58,720 is done clinically. 586 00:42:58,720 --> 00:43:08,000 I have type 2 diabetes and you can get a blood test and an A1C test to say, look, your blood 587 00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:11,960 sugar is too high, whether it's on a daily basis or over a longer term period. 588 00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:18,560 But in Parkinson's there is no clear and widely used biomarker. 589 00:43:18,560 --> 00:43:23,320 So clinical diagnosis happens when you go in, you start to suspect yourself of having 590 00:43:23,320 --> 00:43:25,120 something that's not quite right. 591 00:43:25,120 --> 00:43:29,800 So you go in often to your primary care physician and they start to look at you and if they 592 00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:36,720 see the resting tremor or they see some challenges with your gait or your stability or your walking, 593 00:43:36,720 --> 00:43:43,040 then they'll probably refer you to a neurologist who will make the clinical diagnosis. 594 00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:47,760 One of the interesting breakthroughs that's happening right now is there are, we're in 595 00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:53,920 the hunt for good biomarkers and about a year ago there was a study that came out that 596 00:43:53,920 --> 00:44:00,040 said you could see alpha-synuclein aggregation in spinal fluid. 597 00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:06,200 So alpha-synuclein, Mark was talking earlier about what Parkinson's is within the basal 598 00:44:06,200 --> 00:44:07,200 ganglia. 599 00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:12,120 But essentially what happens is you get this aggregation of alpha-synuclein which kills 600 00:44:12,120 --> 00:44:14,800 off your dopamine neurons. 601 00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:20,080 And so if you can find that aggregation in spinal fluid early on, that means you could 602 00:44:20,080 --> 00:44:24,960 be diagnosed much earlier and get on a treatment regimen earlier, start exercising and doing 603 00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:27,800 all the things that you need to do to take care of yourself. 604 00:44:27,800 --> 00:44:34,680 But more recently there's a study that's come out showing that you can find alpha-synuclein 605 00:44:34,680 --> 00:44:41,960 aggregation in skin biopsies, a much less demanding way to get biomarkers than a spinal 606 00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:43,320 tap for sure. 607 00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:48,560 So there's a lot of progress being made on including the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease 608 00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:52,960 and essentially setting the clock backward a little bit or forward whatever the right 609 00:44:52,960 --> 00:45:01,360 way to do it is so that you can get diagnosed earlier with more definitiveness. 610 00:45:01,360 --> 00:45:05,560 Hey, John Laird, who's the CEO of the Parkinson's Foundation. 611 00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:11,240 If people want to find more about what the foundation has available in terms of resources, 612 00:45:11,240 --> 00:45:12,240 where would they go? 613 00:45:12,240 --> 00:45:20,840 Yeah, the best place to go is to our website which is Parkinson.org. 614 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:26,040 I can tell you, Jim, we're pleased to report within the last week that we had 7 million 615 00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:31,480 unique visits to our website this year, which is a record for us. 616 00:45:31,480 --> 00:45:36,800 And that means a lot of people are going to our website multiple times to get the information 617 00:45:36,800 --> 00:45:38,600 they need. 618 00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:47,120 But we also have a helpline which is 800-4, the number 4, P, as in Parkinson's, D, disease, 619 00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:48,120 info, INFO. 620 00:45:48,120 --> 00:45:51,920 So that's 800-4-PD-INFO. 621 00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:56,000 And so our helpline is staffed by medical professionals who are experts in Parkinson's 622 00:45:56,000 --> 00:46:01,400 care and we field about 25,000 calls a year. 623 00:46:01,400 --> 00:46:04,240 A lot of times people are just asking, what is Parkinson's? 624 00:46:04,240 --> 00:46:05,760 Where might I get treatment? 625 00:46:05,760 --> 00:46:07,800 What are these signs or symptoms about? 626 00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:09,320 A lot of referrals. 627 00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:14,880 But our people will be on the phone with people for maybe as short as a minute, but as long 628 00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:16,760 as an hour or so. 629 00:46:16,760 --> 00:46:18,880 So that's another resource for people. 630 00:46:18,880 --> 00:46:25,720 And if a military veteran calls in, John and says, hey, I was in the service, is that 631 00:46:25,720 --> 00:46:29,920 something your folks are attuned to? 632 00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:30,920 Absolutely. 633 00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:37,160 And as we mentioned at the top of the call, there are 110,000 individuals in the United 634 00:46:37,160 --> 00:46:40,080 States who are veterans who live with Parkinson's disease. 635 00:46:40,080 --> 00:46:42,280 That's 10% of the overall population. 636 00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:44,480 So we offer a lot of things. 637 00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:50,160 We have a whole guide, Frequently Asked Questions Guide, which is specifically developed for 638 00:46:50,160 --> 00:46:55,080 people with, for veterans living with Parkinson's disease. 639 00:46:55,080 --> 00:46:58,000 We also offer a Veterans and PD webinar series. 640 00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:03,960 So it covers all topics that are important to veterans around planning for the future, 641 00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:07,400 general exposure, managing mental health issues. 642 00:47:07,400 --> 00:47:11,080 And as I said, we have our website which says General Information and then our Helpline. 643 00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:12,480 They can get much more specific. 644 00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:17,600 And those people on our Helpline, they speak to a lot of veterans and they are very good 645 00:47:17,600 --> 00:47:19,920 at addressing veteran issues. 646 00:47:19,920 --> 00:47:25,360 Well as we know, it's not just the patient, it's the whole family that has to address 647 00:47:25,360 --> 00:47:28,160 these issues. 648 00:47:28,160 --> 00:47:32,520 Mark, you're particularly lucky in your faith and in your family. 649 00:47:32,520 --> 00:47:37,720 Your wife in particular, you want to talk a little bit about the importance of those 650 00:47:37,720 --> 00:47:38,720 issues? 651 00:47:38,720 --> 00:47:39,720 Absolutely. 652 00:47:39,720 --> 00:47:46,080 I happen to have three kids, a 22-year-old, a 20-year-old, and a 16-year-old, a wife of 653 00:47:46,080 --> 00:47:47,320 23 years. 654 00:47:47,320 --> 00:47:50,080 And I've been absolutely blessed by that. 655 00:47:50,080 --> 00:47:55,200 They are my support network that helps me live well with Parkinson's. 656 00:47:55,200 --> 00:48:00,200 A lot of times people, when they find out that I have Parkinson's, will say, I'm sorry. 657 00:48:00,200 --> 00:48:01,760 And I'm like, nothing to be sorry for. 658 00:48:01,760 --> 00:48:05,480 I'm living well with Parkinson's. 659 00:48:05,480 --> 00:48:08,760 Getting the diagnosis for me was not a death sentence. 660 00:48:08,760 --> 00:48:09,760 It was information. 661 00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:15,720 It was information about what was going wrong with my body and how I could work with the 662 00:48:15,720 --> 00:48:20,360 Parkinson's Foundation to learn to live the best quality of life that I can. 663 00:48:20,360 --> 00:48:25,440 And also for my family to understand how they can support me better in living a quality 664 00:48:25,440 --> 00:48:26,440 life. 665 00:48:26,440 --> 00:48:30,000 And one of the things I want to tie back to veterans and why, if you're a veteran or 666 00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:36,680 a family member or friend, you want to think about this connection, if your Parkinson's 667 00:48:36,680 --> 00:48:42,920 is connected to your military service, the VA has a lot of programs for caregivers as 668 00:48:42,920 --> 00:48:43,920 well. 669 00:48:43,920 --> 00:48:50,120 And I don't know if you've used any of those yet, Mark, or if you've had to go ahead and 670 00:48:50,120 --> 00:48:54,560 talk a little bit about the support that VA gives to its caregivers. 671 00:48:54,560 --> 00:49:01,200 Yeah, so the caregivers themselves have classes where they meet together once a month. 672 00:49:01,200 --> 00:49:03,360 My wife has been part of this. 673 00:49:03,360 --> 00:49:05,880 Part of it is just a social time, right? 674 00:49:05,880 --> 00:49:10,280 For spouses and partners, significant others, caregivers in our life, there's even children 675 00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:13,440 who are caregivers who will end up logging on. 676 00:49:13,440 --> 00:49:16,040 And half time is spent socializing, supporting one another. 677 00:49:16,040 --> 00:49:18,560 And the other half of the time is getting information. 678 00:49:18,560 --> 00:49:24,440 They'll have doctors speak, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, 679 00:49:24,440 --> 00:49:28,960 each giving information to caregivers to help them better understand what's happening 680 00:49:28,960 --> 00:49:33,480 during the progression of the disease and how they can assist their loved one. 681 00:49:33,480 --> 00:49:39,280 For veterans, the Parkinson's Foundation also has a specific spot on our website that you 682 00:49:39,280 --> 00:49:42,200 can go to and get great information. 683 00:49:42,200 --> 00:49:50,560 As our CEO, John Laird, said, go to Parkinson.org, T-A-R-K-I-N-S-O-N, dot, O-R-G, and then add 684 00:49:50,560 --> 00:49:57,720 slash veterans, Parkinson.org slash veterans, V-E-T-E-R-A-N-S. 685 00:49:57,720 --> 00:50:02,160 And there's an amazing amount of resources there to help the veteran community. 686 00:50:02,160 --> 00:50:08,520 Well, I mentioned this too in setting up this interview with John Laird, CEO of Parkinson's 687 00:50:08,520 --> 00:50:18,080 Foundation and Army and National Guard veteran, Mark Kilm, that I have some family involvement 688 00:50:18,080 --> 00:50:22,640 here, and actually I'm kind of dedicating this interview to my uncle John Roy, who is 689 00:50:22,640 --> 00:50:28,960 an Air Force veteran, because he was a caregiver for probably 30 years to my aunt Joanne, who 690 00:50:28,960 --> 00:50:33,080 had Parkinson's and ultimately succumbed to it last year. 691 00:50:33,080 --> 00:50:37,680 You don't die from Parkinson's, you die from all the other stuff that kind of goes along 692 00:50:37,680 --> 00:50:40,120 with it. 693 00:50:40,120 --> 00:50:45,040 And I think it's important that we get out and have these kind of discussions, and people 694 00:50:45,040 --> 00:50:51,120 aren't either super afraid of the disease or think, as Mark you mentioned, it's not 695 00:50:51,120 --> 00:50:55,320 a death sentence, you just have to, I think I like your language, you have to learn to 696 00:50:55,320 --> 00:51:00,920 live well with the disease, and I think that's the great spirit and the fighting spirit that 697 00:51:00,920 --> 00:51:07,200 I'd expect somebody from the Army to give me. 698 00:51:07,200 --> 00:51:09,360 Any final words here, Mark? 699 00:51:09,360 --> 00:51:12,600 Don't be afraid to ask for support. 700 00:51:12,600 --> 00:51:17,840 I've asked for and received support from my friends, family, medical team, and faith community. 701 00:51:17,840 --> 00:51:21,760 You don't have to do this alone, you're not a one man Army. 702 00:51:21,760 --> 00:51:25,960 John, any final words for our veteran radio listeners? 703 00:51:25,960 --> 00:51:33,480 Yeah, well just first to thank you, Jim, for putting a spotlight on veterans who are living 704 00:51:33,480 --> 00:51:38,440 with Parkinson's disease, and to thank Mark Kilm, who also serves as our chair of our 705 00:51:38,440 --> 00:51:44,560 Parkinson's Policy Advisory Council, and does an outstanding job on that, keeps us well 706 00:51:44,560 --> 00:51:47,840 advised on all the issues related to living with this disease. 707 00:51:47,840 --> 00:51:53,480 We're really grateful for the opportunity, and just to thank all the veterans who served, 708 00:51:53,480 --> 00:51:59,600 and then all the veterans who unfortunately have come down with this difficult disease. 709 00:51:59,600 --> 00:52:02,040 We're here to help in any way we possibly can. 710 00:52:02,040 --> 00:52:08,640 Well, I want to thank both of you for helping get this information out, and again we had 711 00:52:08,640 --> 00:52:12,320 kind of adjust schedules, and I really appreciate everybody being available. 712 00:52:12,320 --> 00:52:13,320 Thank you. 713 00:52:13,320 --> 00:52:14,320 Thank you, Jim. 714 00:52:14,320 --> 00:52:15,320 Appreciate it. 715 00:52:15,320 --> 00:52:19,320 As I said at the outset, these are stories you're not else. 716 00:52:19,320 --> 00:52:26,760 You didn't hear about VA dental care anywhere else, and this relationship between military 717 00:52:26,760 --> 00:52:32,360 service in Parkinson's, and then what life is like with Parkinson's, and what resources 718 00:52:32,360 --> 00:52:33,860 are available. 719 00:52:33,860 --> 00:52:35,360 That's what we do on Veterans Radio. 720 00:52:35,360 --> 00:52:39,520 We bring you stories that we know you should hear. 721 00:52:39,520 --> 00:52:45,200 With information about maybe stuff you didn't know, so it's an important project, if you 722 00:52:45,200 --> 00:52:48,520 will, that veteransradio.org is all about. 723 00:52:48,520 --> 00:52:52,760 We've been on the air now in 21, 22 years. 724 00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:55,480 We can't do it without our sponsors. 725 00:52:55,480 --> 00:53:03,240 Those sponsors include NVBDC.org, the nationally recognized leader in veteran owned business 726 00:53:03,240 --> 00:53:13,920 certification, the VA Ann Arbor health care system, the Vietnam Veterans of America National, 727 00:53:13,920 --> 00:53:21,520 the VVA Charles S. Kettles chapter 310 in Ann Arbor, the VFW Graffle Herald Post 423 728 00:53:21,520 --> 00:53:27,320 in the American Legion, Prescorne Post 46 in Ann Arbor, and recently we've added on 729 00:53:27,320 --> 00:53:34,200 the sponsor PuroClean, which is focused on disaster relief. 730 00:53:34,200 --> 00:53:38,520 It's owned and run by veterans. 731 00:53:38,520 --> 00:53:42,320 They have a veteran discount for gaining a franchise. 732 00:53:42,320 --> 00:53:49,620 They love the work ethic of veterans, but look up PuroClean.com for more information. 733 00:53:49,620 --> 00:53:54,680 We bring you these stories every week, actually twice a week. 734 00:53:54,680 --> 00:53:59,640 We have our Sunday program, Monday program that you're listening to presently, but we 735 00:53:59,640 --> 00:54:05,120 also every Tuesday post on our podcast. 736 00:54:05,120 --> 00:54:13,840 So you can find those on all the platforms, whether you're iTunes or Google, YouTube 737 00:54:13,840 --> 00:54:23,040 now, Spotify, all the platforms carry veteransradio.org, get it, find it, subscribe to it, and 738 00:54:23,040 --> 00:54:29,480 you'll get our weekly Tuesday 11am podcast, which again will tell a different story, probably 739 00:54:29,480 --> 00:54:33,320 not one that's going to make it to the air, but maybe it will at a later date. 740 00:54:33,320 --> 00:54:39,560 So it's really a combination of things that we do to try to keep people informed. 741 00:54:39,560 --> 00:54:42,960 And as I say, you can't do this without the listeners. 742 00:54:42,960 --> 00:54:49,320 So if you have questions, send them in to dale at veteransradio.org or Jim at veteransradio.org. 743 00:54:49,320 --> 00:54:56,960 If you have benefit questions, what's VA doing, maybe some questions about what the military 744 00:54:56,960 --> 00:54:58,200 is doing. 745 00:54:58,200 --> 00:55:04,120 We're trying to answer all of those in a way that helps get the information out to others. 746 00:55:04,120 --> 00:55:08,640 If it's a question you've got, it's a question somebody else in the audience has. 747 00:55:08,640 --> 00:55:13,320 So don't be shy about it, send us emails, we love that as well. 748 00:55:13,320 --> 00:55:19,600 It is a process that takes a lot of time, it's a labor of love by all of us. 749 00:55:19,600 --> 00:55:25,000 And we often have what I would consider cutting edge discussions, maybe before it hits the 750 00:55:25,000 --> 00:55:26,480 general press. 751 00:55:26,480 --> 00:55:32,760 You certainly see that in many of our conversations with thought leaders. 752 00:55:32,760 --> 00:55:38,240 It hasn't quite yet made it to the general press and then it finally breaks its way through. 753 00:55:38,240 --> 00:55:45,080 We have stories on PFAS contamination that is a good example of that or what happened 754 00:55:45,080 --> 00:55:50,680 to those who went to K2 in Uzbekistan as part of the Afghan war. 755 00:55:50,680 --> 00:55:57,320 So listen in, you'll be ahead of the curve, you'll know more of what's going on than others. 756 00:55:57,320 --> 00:56:02,040 And we really appreciate you listening in. 757 00:56:02,040 --> 00:56:06,440 We're going to go out with the Marine Corps song in light of their upcoming birthday here 758 00:56:06,440 --> 00:56:12,440 on November 10th, created in 1775. 759 00:56:36,440 --> 00:56:50,440 Music 760 00:56:50,440 --> 00:56:58,440 From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Refori 761 00:56:58,440 --> 00:57:05,240 And our country's battle on the land and on the sea. 762 00:57:05,240 --> 00:57:09,040 First you fight for right and freedom, 763 00:57:09,040 --> 00:57:12,840 And to keep our honor clean. 764 00:57:12,840 --> 00:57:20,840 We are proud to claim the title of United States Marine. 765 00:57:20,840 --> 00:57:30,840 And we are proud to claim the title of United States Marine. 766 00:57:30,840 --> 00:57:40,840 We are proud to claim the title of United States Marine. 767 00:57:40,840 --> 00:58:05,840 We are proud to claim the title of United States Marine.