Hi Everyone-

I would appreciate your input about this and maybe I just need to write it down. I'm a Vet. Was in the Army during Vietnam but did not go overseas.
They are giving me a pension and all my meds and health care are free.
I have advocates that are trying to get me service connected (which means more money). I was doing great-got promoted right out of basic and made high scores in all my classes. Then one night I was raped by two drunken soilders. I only told one person, my Sargeant, and she said that if I reported it she would throw me down a flight of stairs.

Went downhill very fast after that. Tried suicide twice. There was no counseling offered and no hearing. They just told me to pack my things and I would be going home the next day. The gave me a general under honorable discharge.

Now I have some great people taking care of me. But the VA center is on the other side of the next town over and I have to take three buses and it takes an hour and a half each way. There is a lot of walking and I have to use a cane because of the arthritis in my knees. Then I pay for it with two or three days of extra pain.

There is a big VA hospital about fifty miles away and it would be much easier for me to get there. One ten minute bus ride, then take the VA van to the hospital. It would actually take less time and there wouldn't be all that walking.

It's really a no brainer but I've grown very close to the Suicide Coordinator and she wants me to participate in a peer group at the center that would involve the long, painful trip. And right now I am only interested in the advocates who are trying to get me more money.

I know what I need to do. I just don't want to hurt her feelings or make her feel like she has wasted time on me.

What do you think?

[pegasus]

Hello there!

What an awful thing to have gone through and then have you pack your bags and leave! That's totally disgusting but then things were different back then.

So you have a special relationship with the suicide coordinator, can you talk to her and say what you have said here in this post. There must be some way of accommodating you or finding a way to make the journey easier for you.

Hugs

[healingme4me]

Be honest with her, sounds like she hardly wasted any time. Display gratitude, and emphasize your physical pain. Perhaps offer, to help with peer services or to stay in communication.
Nothing like being shamed and silenced. You're a survivor.
Hope you can make good connections at next hospital.

Sent from my LG-MS910 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks Pegasus and healing4me-

I spoke to my therapist and she said we could continue our sessions over the phone. She said she understands and will start thigs off for me on Monday.

It turns out my Suicide Coordinator is at the big VA Hospital, so I'll actually get to see her more often.

I am still learning that I have to stand up for myself and do what is best for me. I think when we have some of the problems that haunt us, we want to please everyone, but sometimes that just isn't possible.

Yeah, me!