I was 29 years old and had a 2 year degree in the Printing Graphic Arts field and spend half of my life doing that kind of work. But then I was interested in the healthcare field. So I did a quick course and became a CNA. I spent a few years inbetween printing and did CNA work. I worked in Nursing homes, ACLF (Adult Congregant Living Facilities) as well as Private duty in peoples homes. The more I did this kind of work the more I realized my heart was more into that than the printing. I was struggling as a single parent as I was seperated from my husband and wanted to better my life for my son. I tried everything imaginable to get grants to go back to school and just could not. A friend of mine in the Navy suggested that I join the Army or Marines and they would pay for my college education under the GI Bill. So I was a very patriotic person as it was and figured it was worth laying my life down at the time. And if I survived, then I could better my life with the career path I had chosen. Little did I know that my own Government would poison me, or the life of my son. Nor did I realize that our Government would be sending chemical weapons or weapons of mass destruction to a Country that they considered the enemy. This was proven at the Presidential Advisory Committee hearings on Gulf War Illness one year when the paperwork was declassified. So at the age of 29 being completely healthy, I joined the Army. At the time I was forwarned that as a truck driver, I would be deployed overseas in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm. But was willing to do that in exchange of a education. Prior to all the shots I was given, I was able to run, do situps, pushups and all kinds of exercising as I did a lot of that before joining the Army. My son was just 9 years old. When we got done with training I was sent back to Fort Jackson, Carolina for pre-deployment shots and getting my legal affairs in order. My dad and son came up there as I was not allowed to leave the base. Me ad my kid would run around that whole base together. I think they spent 3-4 days there and then had to leave so I could finish my pre-deployment shot. Actually I was given shots while in training and within 15 minutes of the shot I had a fever of 104 and spent 4 days in the military hospital with no offical diganosis. Eventually I was deployed to Saudi Arabia in support of the war. I recieved more shots when I got there. Nerve Agent pills. Was given insecticide to spray over my body and uniform. Was exposed to oil well fires all the time. I was exposed to blown up ammunitions. And did grave detail, so was exposed to bodies with god knows what kind of chemicals on them. Sometimes we had to retrieve these bodies with no protection of gloves. Stayed in the same MOPP suit the whole time I was there. Found out later when I came home, that there was no filter in my gas mask. We were exposed to Depleted Uranium as well.
I did not come home the same emotionally as well as physically. I fell off a 5 ton truck and ended up with TBI. I am going to put in links to other things I have written up or had written up on me and you can get an ideal of all of my issues. But at one time I was on over 50 pills a day for all that was wrong with me. 15-19 of them were antidepressants. Not all of them are listed on my links as I never did update them. But if it were not for a good friend of mine taking the list to a pharmacist and them asking her if I was still alive, I would probably be dead today. Now everything with exception to Pain patches, is homeopathic. This is my second time around with cancer and I am terminal this time. I did not take chemo or radiation. I have chosen to do what I can the natural way. So below will be links I post and I hope you will read my stories and make an informed decision on your own health care as well. I do have Tanya Cummings Boozer to thank for helping me on this journey of health as well.http://www.agwva.org/Candy%20Lovett%20-%20Last%20living%20survivor%20of%20the%20Graves%20Registration%20Unit_files/Candy%20Lovett%20-%20Last%20living%20survivor%20of%20the%20Graves%20Registration%20Unit.htm http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/07/gulf-war-syndrome-veterans_n_2634838.html?1360255484http://www.commondreams.org/news2003/0311-06.htmhttp://www.essentialaction.org/spotlightiraq/veterans.htmlhttp://scottbeveridge.blogspot.com/2011/10/clown-fbi-agents-and-other-newsmakers.htmlhttp://books.google.com/books?id=zCAJdFTYExgC&pg=PA164&lpg=PA164&dq=Candy+Sweet+Lovett&source=bl&ots=S0y7q3AvZE&sig=PaO8siONgJjxw6BBdF7nhsNSZog&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FWMPUdjLBoXaygGv14CIBw&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=Candy%20Sweet%20Lovett&f=falsehttp://www.gulflink.osd.mil/gwvi/1019gulf.htmlhttp://www.precioustimeradio.com/kawajajbs1.htmlThis guys has the rights to a small book I wrote and you can contact him for info on how to get the book. Monies made from sale of book go towards helping those seeking drug or alcohol addiction.www.swflcompassionministries.org/images/BW%20Flyer.pdfhttp://www2.lymenet.org/domino/flash.nsf/8178b1c14b1e9b6b8525624f0062fe9f/597c5b799e910ef1852568b40047cdca?OpenDocumentThis was just a partial list of what I was on back in 2000....I was on more stuff afterwards.....From: TRISH Date: 01-Apr-2000 at 08:04 AM ESTHost: 1Cust159.tnt1.conshohocken.pa.da.uu.net /Document Title: Kathryn... Maybe this may help you... This lady was in a military base in SC. Please read. Deepest respect-TRISHGWV's story and more from Peter Kawaja -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following is a letter from Gulf War Vet, Candy Lovett, her story is a real tear jerker. The URL listed takes you to Candy's homepage (where this letter is posted). At the bottom of her homepage, you will find a link to eight "Peter Kawaja" documents. (I'm still trying to find a website for him)www.geocities.com/Pentago...enter.html Hello all, My name is Candy Sweet Lovett and I am a DS vet. Prior to my acceptance in the military, I had 93 college credits in the printing/graphics arts field. I was also a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). I was involved in many social activities in which my son participated in also. We fed the homeless people in the streets of miami (most were disabled veterans). My son & I would visit foster homes where he had friends from school in them. We would visit the homes of the mentally challenged, both for kids and adults, as I wanted him to see that they did grow up and function in society as adults. I worked real hard to bring myself out of poverty to give my son the best kind of life I could. I was on welfare only one time and that was for 3 short months. I wrote poetry and songs. And I played the guitar. I loved to play in the nursing homes, and to try to brighten their day. When we fed the homeless, we made it a personal thing. We got to know each of the people by their first name. We not only gave them f ood, but we provided them with clothes and blankets. With a few, we were successful in getting them in an apartment and getting them jobs. I had lots of friends in which I communicated with either by phone or through letters. I enjoyed the life that I had worked hard to get. No, it was not all perfect, as I believe their is no such thing as a perfect family. But like I said, I worked hard to bring myself out of the struggles of my life and make something of it. I was the only one in my family that had a high school diploma, let alone college credits. My own father only had a 6th grade education. I loved my son and did everything I could to make life as good for him as I could. And that is the reason I joined the military. I wanted to go back to college and and further my nursing career. And the only way I could see doing that was to go in the military and get a GI bill for school. In October of 1990 I was sent to Ft. Jackson, SC to do basic training. Then I was sent to Ft. Leonard wood, Missouri for my AIT (Advanced Individual Training). That is where I learned my MOS (Military Occupation Specialty) I became a truck driver. After graduation, I went back to Ft. Jackson, SC to get all my shots and get orders to deploy to Saudi. My father and my son came up there to see me. I was not allowed to leave the base. But I had a wonderful time with my family. I only cried once when my 9 year old son said "mommy I don't want you to go". The pain in his eyes and the hurt I could see in him, tore me up. But I told him that I would come back and I would be ok. I was then deployed to Saudi Arabia. When I first got to the unit I was assigned to, my platoon sergeant said to me "If you take care of me, I will take care of you". I asked him what he meant by this. he said "When you go into town and get supplies, bring me back cases of sodas and ciggs, and I will see to it none of the guys in your tent bother with you". I was the only female in a tent with 15-17 guys. Of course I did as he said as I was in the middle of no where and it was a war time and I was scared. Eventually we were sent in a convoy into Iraq. Six of us from my unit was put with ten others from another unit. We were told we were going in to recover bodies of the Americans and bury bodies of the iraqis. There was six of us driving with 2 people in three trucks. One truck was refrigerator truck for american bodies. The other two trucks were 5 ton trucks. I was one driving in a 5 ton truck. We went into Iraq via the Eurphrates river. What we ended up doing was digging mass graves and burying the bodies in those graves. Most of the time we had no gloves as we ran out. We wore the same mopp suit that we had since coming to the desert. We were given shots that were not recorded in our shot records. We were made to take pills without anyone keeping track of how many we took. We used the deet insecticide over the parts of our body that were exposed. Like our face and hands. Sometimes because of the intense heat, we would only wear our PT (Physical Training) shorts and our brown army tee shirt underneath our mopp suit. And the black coal or whatever it is in the mop suit would get embedded in the pores of our skin. I was exposed to burning oil well fires. Our sergeant sent my driver and I back into saudi to pick up two guys from another unit and bring them back into Iraq. On the way back into Saudi, my driver raped me. The two guys we picked up from the other unit knew something was wrong with me. I finally opened up to one of them and told the m what happened. He told me to drive with him. When we got back into Iraq, that soldier told my sergeant. Nothing was done about it with the exception they took a complaint from me. They still made me drive back into saudi with the same driver. I was physically sick on our two day drive back into Saudi and they had to stop several times for me to throw up. I had a rash on me and I had a vaginal discharge that was burning me. When we got back into Saudi, as we were trying to set up our tents, my sergeant came up to me and said "I want you to go to the emergency room and get yourself checked". I said "for what sarge"? He said "for that problem you had the other day". I said "it is no big deal, I am ok now, besides they don't want to see me in ER for a yeast infection when they are dealing with casualties. If it is real important of you to I will go on regular sick call in the morning." He said "ok" and then he left. As I was getting the stuff in my tent and preparing to finally get some much needed sleep after being awake for two days, I was called into the commander's tent. I was told I was being brought up on charges of refusing a direct order. I said fine, then I am charging the sergeant with blackmail and you have my charges on the soldier who raped me. And I left and went back to my tent. They sent a female specialist to my tent and she told me if I would drop the charges on the guy who raped me and drop the charges on the ser geant, and go to the hospital, they would drop the charges on me. I had no choice but to do that, as I did not want to come back from a war to be brought up on charges for something I was a victim of. And I did not want my son to be ashamed of me. When I got to the hospital in Saudi (15th Evac hospital) I fell off the 5 ton truck and fractured my right radial head in my right arm, and got a concussion to my head from the fall. Three days later I was taken back to 15th Evac hospital to be admitted and medivaced back to the states. I was transferred to the KKMC hospital in Saudi and then on to Germany. Then finally to the states where I was placed on 30 days convalescent leave. As time went on I continued to have problems with my arm and other illnesses. In Jan of 1992 I finally had surgery on the arm and the radial head was removed. Eventually I was medically discharged from the army with the diagnosis of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and arthritis to the right radial head. Finally in 1995 I was diagnosed with mycoplasma fermentas (incognitus strain). This is the same virus found in people with aids. My compensation and pension medical records state this mycoplasma is a germ war agent. With the help of my American Legion Representative, I was aw arded 100% service connected disability. In 1994 I was treated for this illness at the Tri-City hospital by Dr. William Rea. I left that hospital in 3 1/2 weeks walking on my own two feet. The VA hospital in 1996 also used a similar procedure on me that Dr. William Rea used on me. They also put a catheter in my heart and treated me with IV antibiotics. Unfortunately, it did not work well as I was not put in the same environmental controls as those of Dr. Rea's. But I do have an agreement with my primary doctor to stay on antibiotics as long as they are my doctor. I have been diagnosed with: mycoplasma, two heart murmurs, fibromyalgia, elhers danlos syndrome type Ill, arthritis, parkinson's disease (drug induced from psychiatric drugs), PTSD, toxic encepolophy, seizures, constricted blood flow in left side of brain (spec scan of brain) lesions on left side of brain, I was tested positive for epstein barr virus, I have rashes and sores all over my body, my nasal passages are always clogged, I get thrush all the time, I have a spastic bladder, (I wear depends for incontinence, and other times have to catherize myself as I retain), I also have problems with the bowels, (constipation or diarrhea), I get migraines, I have blood in urine, stools and have nose bleeds, fevers, uncontrollable chemical induced rages, chronic fatigue, muscle spasms, I pass out easily, I have short term and long term memory loss, asthma, bronchitis, I walk with arm crutches and a wheel chair. I have numerous other conditions. Here is a list of the medications I am presently taking. Depakote 250 mg four times a day for seizures Promethazine 25 mg tabs for nausea and vomiting, take as needed Famotidine 20 mg tabs for stomach, take one tab twice a day Sulindac 200 mg tabs for swelling in feet, take one tab twice a day Baclofen 10 mg tabs for muscle spasms, take three tabs three times a day Butalbital 50 mg tabs for migraines, take as needed Methadone 5 mg tabs for pain, take 2 tabs three times a day (Don't take this much as I now get trigger pint injection shots in my back) Doxepin 25 mg capsules for fibromyalgia, take 7 capsules at bedtime Levothroxine 0.025 mg tab for hypothroidism, take one tab a day Ciprofloxacin 500 mg tabs for the mycoplasma fermentes (incognitus strain), take two tabs twice a day Diphenhydramine 25 mg tabs for itching, take as needed Tylenol #3 with codeine, take as needed for pain Cetirizine HCL 5 mg tabs, take one tab once a day for allergies Medicated shampoo(Sulfer 2%, SAL Acid 2%, SUSP 120 ml, for dandruff, (that is what they call it) Fluoxetine HCL (prozac) 20 mg caps, take 2 caps twice a day for depression Clotrimazole 10 mg troche for the thrush, take 1 tablet 5 times a day Nitrostat 0.4 mg for heart, take as needed for attacks Genasal decongestant for nose bleeds and allergies Neomycin and Polymyxin B Sulfates and Hydrocortisone for sores and bleeding in my ears Hydrocortisone cream for rashes Intal & Ventolin for asthma & bronchitis Vancanase for nose I also wear depends for incontinence and use catheters to catherize myself when I retain Now that I am through with that, let me share this. I have lost all my friends and family as a result of this illness. My son ran away over a year ago but is now coming home. I have only one true friend who just came down to visit me two weeks ago. And now she has returned home. I cannot get any help for me in my home as the VA has said it is more cost effective to put me in a nursing home and take my disability away and my home, than to send me any help. I cannot even get the local churches to offer me a helping hand. Sometimes I am not able to attend church for months because of my illness (especially the summer), and no one even calls me or offers to come by and help me. I survive off of mostly sandwiches as I cannot cook. I am stuck in this situation with the house right now as I was frauduently sold this home and am going through a lawyer. This may take time. I have over three thousand dollars worth of electrical work that needs to be done, not to mention other repairs. I have so much stress from my illn ess, my memories of the war, loss of family and friends, and other everyday life stresses. I also have to screen my calls as I get death threats all the time. I have determined that I won't let them take my life, neither will I die in a nursing home. I won't let the government take everything away from me. In a way they already have. I have fought the good fight the best I can. I have heard the stories of over 50,000 veterans who have died. I have heard and seen some of the kids that wore born with defects as a result of this illness. I have seen three people close to me contact this illness from me. I have watched as the government both VA and military, and the government controlled press lie to the american people. The only ones honest about our illness is a few private doctors and the Nicolsons. I owe a great deal of gratitude to the Nicolsons, Dr. William Rea & Dr. Grace Ziem for their efforts and help with my illness. I owe my gratitude to Peter Kawaja for his efforts in exposing the truth. I will post his documents on this site one at a time as they are lengthy. I am sick of the so called Desert Storm Support groups that are out there giving disinformation and hiding the real truth and making money off the sick veterans. Like Peter Kawaja and I have heard others say about other stuff, "PUT UP OR SHUT UP"! I went in the military at the age of 29 and was in great shape. I am now 36 and sometimes don't know the day, date of the year. I am tired of people saying this is in our heads and to stop whining. I have lost everything because of my stupidity of thinking serving my country, they would take care of me. I am not proud to be an american let alone a human being right now. I have lost all faith in our system and the people of this country. My only hope is to finally die and die with dignity. I have bought my urn and am putting all my affairs in order. I am also doing a video tape for my son, so he will understand why I choose to do what I did. I want to thank you for your interest in my story. I can tell you that it is not a pretty picture, but the ending will be great, as I will finally know real freedom. May God save us all, Candy.... Sign My Guestbook View My Guestbook Please take the time to fill out this Mycoplasma Registry. Your Identity will be kept confidential. What the government does not want you to know!!!
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