Teresa McKenzie:  

After graduating I went straight into college where I obtained a (BSN) in nursing. I had always wanted to be a doctor but it wasn't in the cards. The day I graduated from IUPUI I was sworn into the US Army. I was wanting to become a nurse anesthetist, again I fell short. So I became a Surgical ICU Nurse. I served at Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio TX, BAMC for short. I was married and became Mrs. James H. McKenzie. I then served at Hayley Army Medical Base in Indianapolis, Indiana. I left the army with an honorable discharge, after giving birth to our first son. I was afraid that I would have to go abroad because of the war and leave my child. I am a veteran of the brief Panama conflict and Desert Storm. I gave birth to my second son and unfortunately got a divorce. I obtained full custody of our children since I had a stable career. I raised my children, James and Justin mostly by myself. Over the years ex-husband and I tried on an off to rekindle what was lost. I never remarried, I dated here and there when they started high school. I did not want my children subjected to different men. When left the military I worked at Methodist recovery room (PACU) for 9 years in Indianapolis. I worked in a couple of hospitals,in different settings. I love being a nurse. Before I left the military I became ill. They did not know what was wrong but they had an idea. The years past and I became ill and was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus. I was stable until I 1999. Stress played a big part of my problems. I became very ill and had to stop working. The VA recognized the fact that I had an inflammatory disease that was documented in my file so t...Expand for more