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There were times when the air quality was so bad that you would just drop to your knees and throw up, we made jokes at the time because we had no idea how serious it was.’ But Elesky says he found out when he returned home in 2005 and was told during a checkup that he had nearly 20 parasites in his body. More than a decade after his return, Elskey has suffered from myriad health issues, including plasmacytoma -- a condition where rare tumors attack soft tissue in the nasal cavity or bone marrow. He is grateful for the treatment he has received from the VA, but said the bureaucracy was difficult to deal with. Elesky said he was initially denied enrollment into the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs’ Burn Pit Registry -- which was created to research and examine the potential threats from burn pit exposure.