A Positive Message for Veterans

A few days ago one of my patients called me “Dr. Pollyanna.”  He told me this was a reference to the fact that I would not validate that his pain, from old injuries, would be lifelong and without useful treatment.  This is what his primary doctor had told him. “Dr. Pollyanna” was not wrong; but maybe, not quite subtle enough.  I try to sneak ever so gently into patient’s thought patterns and convince them there is a way out of their problems.  There always is, especially since I have been dishing out marijuana permissions.

Alive Day, for wounded veterans, is kind of like this – mind over matter and a way to stay emotionally healthy and on the path to recovery.  In the words of one wounded veteran, “You can choose to move forward with grace. Or you can choose to succumb to negativity.”  Negative mindsets are easy to get into, hard to get out of, and really not productive.  They make people stop looking for solutions.  I still believe in thanking veterans for their service.  The person I knew who most propagated this practice was a female therapist who was on the staff of a Midwestern VA hospital and had no military service to her credit.  She used it as a way to get veterans to talk.  She really did care, but she was stereotyped by patients through no fault of her own as an attractive blonde female. Just the sight of her made veterans want to think about something other than their military service.  She was not stupid and actually seemed to me to be doing a better than average job.

Me, in the office, I thank veterans first.  Then, sooner or later, I tell them I am the former Captain Goldstein of the U.S. Army medical corps attached to the 82nd Airborne at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.  I can count on one hand those who have thanked me for my service. The usual response is something like “well, then maybe you can understand.” If I see a stranger in a public place wearing a cap that identifies someone as a veteran, that person is usually pretty surprised. My husband watched from our table as a man who ambulated with some difficulty responded, “I’m just glad I’m alive.”  His honesty touched me.  I really think most living combat veterans feel like that. That is why the “Alive Day” cited above, a wild injection of positivity into what it means to be a veteran, is such a great idea.  The veteran with the swimming performance — permanently blind from an exploding object — is wonderful and inspiring.

Regular folks are happy to be alive, too.  Of the many combat experiences I have talked about with veterans, one of the most traumatic is checking into the military and being issued “dog tags.”  I guess this is tough for anyone, especially younger folks who have not directly confronted the idea of mortality. “Pollyanna” thinking has its place, but is always tough to promote.  Simple survival of a veteran is plenty to celebrate.  “Alive Day” is something I would like to see catch on like wildfire.