The Welcome Home Informational Fair will provide resources from the Department of Veterans Affairs and other local and regional organizations in an effort to help veterans learn about benefits and services which are often overlooked or underused. Often, veterans are unaware of health care benefits available to them.
The fair will also present information regarding educational opportunities available through the Post-9/11 GI Bill, as well as employment and other services. Information for female veterans, a fast-growing subgroup of the total veteran population, will also be featured.
Part of the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System, the Fort Myers VA Outpatient Clinic plans to hold the fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and issued over 800 invitations to veterans who recently returned to the Fort Myers area, following deployment. The fair will also offer free food and children’s activities, and turnout is expected to be about 200 to 500 people.
Florida has one of the highest concentrations of veterans in the nation. The Fort Myers clinic, located at 3033 Winkler Ave., offers a wide range of care, including primary and mental health care services, lab work, dermatology, eye care, and same-day procedures, as well as some radiology services. The clinic refers patients to Bay Pines Hospital in St. Petersburg for complicated cases or diagnoses, and for services it does not provide. The clinic has treated more than 26,000 veterans since it opened. Construction of a new, 200,000-square-foot outpatient clinic with expanded facilities is expected to begin this year, so that the facility will be able to serve even more returning veterans and their families.
One of the most serious health conditions experienced by veterans is mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer that attacks the mesothelium, a double-layer membrane that surrounds the body’s internal organs. Mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos, and veterans have historically been at risk for high levels of exposure to this dangerous mineral.
Prior to the mid-1980s, naval shipyard workers were regularly exposed to asbestos, which was commonly used in special anti-corrosive coatings, heat shields, fireproofing, machine room coatings, and other supplies used by the U.S. Navy in ship construction facilities.
Today’s veterans are frequently exposed to asbestos particles when they are deployed overseas, where the material is still widely used.
Because asbestos fibers are so lightweight and so tiny, they can be easily inhaled or ingested. Once in the body, they lodge in healthy tissues, and over time cause the abnormal growth and replication of otherwise normal cells. Typical mesothelioma symptoms include chest or abdominal pain or swelling, persistent cough, and difficulty in breathing. Symptoms may not become apparent until decades after exposure, and may be initially mistaken for the flu or other respiratory illnesses.
Veterans are not the only individuals at risk for exposure. Asbestos was used in the manufacture of literally thousands of products, including equipment and products used in construction, automobiles, and heating and ventilation equipment. Most homes and other buildings constructed prior to the 1980s contain some levels of asbestos. Left undisturbed, asbestos is harmless; but over time, the fibers become friable, and can be easily released into the surrounding air where they may be inhaled or ingested.
Currently, there is no cure for mesothelioma. In general, mesothelioma treatment revolves around palliative care that can relieve or reduce symptoms and improve the quality of life for those who suffer from the condition. Surgical options, as well as radiation or chemotherapy, are among the leading treatments, and multiple clinical studies are under way to determine the efficacy of experimental treatments designed to control or prevent the spread of the condition.
