36 why you lost your babies. Your water was contaminated at Camp Lejeune.” I waited a few years before I tried to have children again, because I really didn’t think I could. I found out I was pregnant again the night I was going to receive my paralegal degree. This time, however, I went to a specialist. At about seven months, I gave birth to twins. I went on to have a third child. I was extremely exhausted all the time. I kept relating my exhaustion to raising children, but it became progressively worse through the years. What I found out thanks to Dr. Nancy Klimas (director of NSU’s Institute for Neuro- Immune Medicine within the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine) is that I actually have chronic fatigue syndrome, the Epstein-Barr virus, and fibromyalgia. Had I been referred initially to somebody like Dr. Klimas and the experts at NSU, it’s very likely I wouldn’t have had to seriously suffer every day for many years. I am a veteran marine. I was stationed in Iwakuni, Japan; Camp Pendleton, California; and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. My first experience with childbirth occurred when I was entering my fifth month of pregnancy. Suddenly, something just wasn’t right, so I was taken to the base hospital at Camp Lejeune. The only thing I was told initially was that I could go back to work the next day. Then I was told, “I’m sorry, but the child wasn’t formed correctly, so we had to take it.” I was devastated. I survived the ordeal and remained in the Marine Corps. Then, it happened again. I was in and out of consciousness for about 26 hours of childbirth labor before I passed out. When I awoke, a priest by my bedside said, “I’m sorry, we were waiting for you to wake up. Here’s a picture of your baby, who died.” I became aware of the Camp Lejeune water contamination in 2001–2002. My mother called me and said, “Are you watching the news? I believe I know Meet a Grateful Patient PAULA TWITTY BUSHMAN, M.B.A. U.S. Marine Veteran Patient, NSU Health | NSU Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine NSU HEALTH | NSU INSTITUTE FOR NEURO-IMMUNE MEDICINE Shark Encounters Editorial Note In 2016, NSU filmed and edited a video testimonial for Paula Twitty Bushman, now a military veteran, to submit to Congress. The traumas and challenges experienced by as many as one million military and civilian staff members and their families were acknowledged by the U.S. government in 2022 with the passage of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act. The act aims to provide compensatory damages to people who were perpetually exposed to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Above is a link to the NSUfilmed testimonial Bushman first submitted to Congress. She recently submitted it to the lawyer helping her petition her case under the 2022 Camp Lejeune Justice Act. [Excerpts from 2016 testimonial] YouTube video
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