Safe Zone

Guess it has been a while since my last post. It is difficult to sit down and write out what is happening when PTSD keeps you from doing many things. Just getting me out of the house is a problem and I have all kinds of excuses why I do not want to go somewhere. My wife is good at getting me mobile but it is a struggle. Veterans with PTSD need to stay within their safe zones and we avoid crowds at all cost. As one member said today, he needs to be warned ahead of time (like a day or two) if the wife wants to go somewhere. We have difficulty just spontaneously going somewhere. We need to get our minds ready to leave the safe zone.

Well…we are going camping this weekend and I have had a couple of weeks to get my mind prepared. It is a short trip to Amish country to relax and take in the sights and sounds. It is fun listening to the “clop clop” of the horses all over town. There are some nice antique shops and a great hardware store in town. Going to that hardware store is the most fun of the whole trip. This store has anything and everything you can imagine.

Health wise, the hip is slowing getting better but not fast enough for me. With PTSD, I have little or no patience and that seems to be common with others in our group. I want to be walking normally again and that is not happening the way I envisioned. We did camp at Little River Casino in Manistee, Michigan a couple of weeks ago and Joanne had a great time. She loves to play video poker so she got three days worth of it. I did gain ten pounds at the buffets in the three days but luckily lost it in two days. I lost the weight about as fast as I lost money at the slot machines.