Comment of the day: Military docs, do better dealing with my lost testicles

In case you
didn't see this
last week, from "LeftmylegsinAfghanistan":

I'm an infantry PL that lost both legs
above the knees and both testicles while chasing ghosts in the Arghandab.

I've spent just about three years
undergoing rehab and training with prosthetics and I will be the first to
applaud the level of care that I've received from the Army and from Walter
Reed, but I will also be the first to tell you that WR's great care comes to an
abrupt halt with regard to genital wounds and reproductive issues. While my
limbs have received a tremendous level of attention, my infertility has never
once been addressed. Early in my recovery a urologist prescribed me a testosterone
replacement medication, but no one even brought up the fact that the urologist
was woefully ill-equipped to deal with what is mostly an endocrinologist's
issue.

In my experience, no one in the
military's medical system wants to address this issue. Some of our guys have
testicles, or pieces of their testicles, that make it back to the CSH at Bagram
or KAF, but there is no procedure for harvesting and freezing sperm or tissue
that could be used for fertility treatments in the future. There are methods
for this (utilized most commonly prior to chemotherapy treatments), but as the
article mentioned, the military medical system will not even cover IVF for
couples that cannot conceive as a result of a service member's combat injuries.

There is no effort to improve this
situation. I applaud David
Wood for bringing this issue to the surface, but I'm afraid that the
attention this generates, as almost always, will be brief.