Pay For Veteran's Caregiver -- His Sister -- Cut By VA

DENVER (CBS4) - Lynelle Graham says she believes she's ordained to care for her brother, but the government is making that difficult.

The certified nursing assistant has been providing care for her brother, Ron, since he became a quadriplegic nearly four years ago when a bookcase fell on him.

"God picked me," Graham says. "God chose me to do this job."

Dauenbaugh, a Vietnam veteran, is confined to a wheel chair and is dependent on his sister for care.

"He doesn't feed himself. He can't drink. You can see I am doing it," she says.

She left her job at a hospital to be paid by the VA to take care of her brother.

"I have not gone anywhere in one year. I have not left him, can't do it," she said.

But the VA has cut her pay by two-thirds, which means she can no longer afford to care for him full-time. He's asked the VA to restore funding.

"I served my country, could you help me out a little bit so I could go on my way to walk again," he says.

Graham and Dauenbaugh wonder why so much money is being spent for overruns on a new VA hospital when what they need is so little by comparison.

Seeing the funding cut this time of year is especially tough, they said.

"It's Christmastime," Graham said. "I got a big 8- to 9-foot tree with no presents under it. I want a van for Ron." The donated van they currently use doesn't meet his needs.

A spokesman for the VA told CBS4 that Graham's job typically pays $16 an hour for two hours daily for the type of bowel and bladder care being provided by the sister. But six hours was ordered by Dauenbaugh's doctor. Each case is reviewed annually.