NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- They put their lives on the line for this country and thought they could turn to the Veterans Administration for medical care after they left the service.
Earlier this year, after it came to light that veterans were facing long waits to see a doctor, the VA's top brass promised to fix the problem.
But NewsChannel 5 Investigates found vets who said that it's not gotten any easier and they believe the VA is putting their lives at risk.
Dallas Brown served on the front lines in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I was with Delta 175, Cav," he explained.
Melvin Oliver joined the Army shortly after the end of the Vietnam War.
"I was in the Alpha 2nd 320th Field Artillery," Oliver stated.
But despite their service, both men said the troubled VA Health system has let them down.
Oliver said that annual x-rays several years ago showed shading on one of his lungs. He said his doctors told him it was nothing to worry about.
But then earlier this year, Oliver began suffering dizziness and "unbearable" headaches. He regularly lost his balance, and his nose just wouldn't stop running.
"It was like a water faucet," Oliver said.
Doctors at both the VA clinic near his home in Hopkinsville and the VA Hospital in Nashville told him he had sinusitis and prescribed antibiotics and antihistamines.
But Linda Jones said her brother's health went from bad to worse.
"Finally, when he got so sick, I told him, 'Melvin, you don't have sinusitis.' I said, 'Something bad is wrong with you. And the VA is not the one you need to diagnose you.,'" Jones recalled.
Jones finally convinced Oliver to go outside the VA system to Jennie Stuart Medical Center in Hopkinsville where doctors told him it wasn't sinusitis making him so sick.
It was a brain tumor.
"Needless to say, I was floored. I was just in shock. Kind of hits you like a ton of bricks," Oliver toldNewsChannel 5 Investigates.
And then his new doctors delivered another bombshell.
That shading in his lung was really another tumor, and that cancer had spread to his brain.
"I think they didn't do their job. I think they should have done further testing," Jones added.
Since his brain surgery, Oliver has continued to have vision problems. Yet, the VA said it will be four months before he can get an appointment.
"They have done him so wrong - so wrong. And I'm sure he's not the only one," Jones said.
Meanwhile, Kim Brown said her husband -- Fort Campbell soldier Dallas Brown -- is another example of what's wrong with the VA healthcare system.
"Are they (the VA) doing enough to help your husband?" NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked Kim Brown.
"No, no, no," she replied emphatically.
Dallas Brown suffered a traumatic brain injury and multiple broken bones while fighting in Afghanistan which led to a medical discharge last year.
But, getting medical care for him from the VA, Kim said, has been one challenge after another.
"They had to cancel two of his doctors' appointments cause there was no doctor," she said.
The VA, she said, then made her husband wait five months to see a doctor after he essentially stopped urinating.
"By the time we finally got in to them, they tell me, 'Oh well, your left kidney's dead and we're not going to worry about it and just come back in six months and we'll see how you're doing,'" Dallas Brown recalled.
But the Browns said that Dallas began gaining weight, suffering extreme dizziness, loss of balance and nausea while his blood pressure rose significantly.
"And I told them I wanted something done. I said, 'Y'all have run no tests. You've done nothing to figure out why he cannot go to the bathroom,'" Kim Brown told NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
The doctor, she said, agreed.
"And he said, 'Yeah, we need to do a bladder scan ASAP.' They scheduled it for December."
"So 9 months?" we asked. "You have to wait 9 months for this test that you need ASAP?"
"Yes," the Browns answered.
While the VA recently promised to make it easier for veterans to get care outside the VA, for the Browns, it's not been easy.
"His primary doctor and myself have had to call Vanderbilt three times to try to get an appointment because the VA has not sent over the paperwork."
For Dallas Brown, fighting on the front lines in the War on Terror was tough.
But, in his struggle to get medical care, he said, the VA is proving to be even tougher.
Fighting back tears, Brown said, "Honestly, I'm afraid. I'm afraid I'm going to end up having a stroke."
And, in this battle, his wife said, even she is afraid that he may not win.
"I almost lost him in Afghanistan and now I'm going to lose him because of the VA," Kim Brown added.
Monday afternoon, Juan Morales, the VA's Health System Director for the Tennessee Valley, said in a statement:
"We take these matters just as seriously and determine what we can do to appropriately and accurately provide care, not only for Mr. Brown and Mr. Oliver, but for every veteran that reaches out to us. These concerns will not go unnoticed or unaddressed. I understand their frustration and as a veteran myself, I want only the best for my fellow veterans. We continue to work tirelessly to address the issues of access and accelerate care as quickly and clinically appropriate as possible."
Right now, Melvin Oliver is undergoing chemo and radiation and is trying to remain optimistic.
Dallas Brown wound up in the hospital for several days shortly after our interview after his kidney levels spiked.
He is back home now, but his wife tells NewsChannel 5 Investigates that even while he was in the hospital, the VA still didn't run that bladder scan that his doctor said back in March was needed asap to help determine what is wrong.
