PTSD Patrol: Win the battle side by side

"What is behind you, is not as strong as who is beside you."
PTSD Patrol
Kathie Costos
March 18, 2018

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day.

"The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was rosed, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same. I prayed in the woods and on the mountain, even before dawn. I felt no hurt from the snow or ice or rain."

Patrick's captivity lasted until he was twenty, when he escaped after having a dream from God in which he was told to leave Ireland by going to the coast. There he found some sailors who took him back to Britain and was reunited with his family. (from Catholic.org)

Many do not understand that the day they say everyone becomes Irish, is a celebration of a victory. Patrick defeated doubt. He escaped his captors and went on to greatness.

You can escape PTSD holding you as a prisoner by defeating doubt too. Stop telling yourself that this life you are living is all you get. Stop telling yourself that getting numb is coping with PTSD. 

You defeated the thing that sent PTSD into you. Why let it win now?

I love this memorial because it shows two soldier side-by-side, walking forward, ready to face the enemy.

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Did You Know Lake Baldwin VA Closed?

Bad reporting right here in my own state!  

First Lake Baldwin VA was not closed. It has been open all along. 

The state of Florida did not take it over. 

The Dom, the place where homeless veterans were taken care of was moved to Lake Nona and that is what reopened.

Ok, so here is the article. Will come as a big shock to the Central Florida veterans among 400,000 who have been going to Lake Baldwin all along. 

VA clinic reopens in Orlando WESH 2 News Robert Lowe August 4, 2016

ORLANDO, Fla. —Two years ago, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs came under heavy scrutiny for poor service across America.

Long lines meant a number of veterans died while they waited for treatment. Since that time, the agency underwent major changes.

On Thursday, the Lake Baldwin facility, now run by the state, reopened its domiciliary.

"Today is a very special day for Central Florida veterans," said U.S. Rep. John Mica.

Mica spent the past two years working to reopen the facility. It closed after the opening of the new Orlando VA Center in Lake Nona. But, with approximately 400,000 veterans throughout Central Florida, Mica said there was a great need to reopen.read more here

Winter Park Commissioners Support Veterans Clinic

Winter Park commissioners voice support for VA Medical Center at Lake Baldwin
Orlando Sentinel
Michael W. Freeman
Winter Park Forum Editor
July 31, 2014

WINTER PARK
The Winter Park City Commission has thrown its support behind efforts to save the Veterans Administration Medical Clinic at Baldwin Park, which initially seemed to be at risk of shutting down once the federal government completes construction of a new Veterans Medical Center in Lake Nona.

On Monday, commissioners approved a non-binding resolution making clear the city’s support for the continued use and management of the VA medical clinic at Lake Baldwin, which as Mayor Kenneth Bradley noted is considerably closer for veterans who live in Winter Park than a new clinic at Lake Nona will be.

“It directly impacts the veterans of Winter Park,” Bradley said. “Some of them have moved here because we are so close to that veterans center.”

A day later, Congressman John Mica, R-Winter Park, announced that he had received a letter from the U.S. Secretary for Veterans Affairs, Sloan Gibson, who announced that the Lake Baldwin VA Medical Clinic would remain open and would continue to serve local veterans.

The possible closing of the Lake Baldwin facility had been directly tied to the opening of the Veterans Administration Hospital at Lake Nona, which is opening in phases, with a likely completion date in 2015. A nursing facility there opened last December, followed by the domiciliary in February.
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Lake Baldwin VA Clinic to stay open!

This is the monument right across the street from Lake Baldwin VA.

This is what we've been waiting for since the groundbreaking October 2008 when I was handed a shovel to remember the day........No need to say more.

In 'victory,' Lake Baldwin VA clinic will stay open
Orlando Sentinel
By Marni Jameson
July 29, 2014

After being threatened with a closure that would have inconvenienced thousands of area veterans, the Lake Baldwin VA Outpatient Clinic will remain open, U.S. Rep. John Mica announced Friday.

"The Baldwin Park Clinic will remain open and the medical facilities there will continue to be used to serve our veterans," Mica said at a news conference. "This is a great victory for our veterans."

Mica, R-Winter Park, said he received the news in a letter from acting U.S. Secretary for Veterans Affairs Sloan Gibson.

Jerry Pierce, veteran and former chairman of the Central Florida Veterans Memorial Park Foundation, said he was "ecstatic" to learn the news.

"We have 2,600 veterans visiting that clinic every day. And that number is rising," Pierce said. "We needed it to stay open. Our congressional leaders worked really hard for this."

The long-awaited Orlando VA Medical Center in Lake Nona is expected to start seeing patients in summer 2015. VA officials considered closing the Baldwin Park clinic and transitioning its outpatient medical services to Lake Nona. That would have meant a long drive for many veterans seeking care.

However, a VA analysis found that the medical needs of the veteran population were growing and that the "current workload already exceeds the projected workload" that was projected for 2023, according to Gibson's letter.

The VA "substantiated that we have the veteran population through 2023 and beyond to support both the new Lake Nona VA Hospital and the Baldwin Park Clinic," said Mica, who is among those who have strongly advocated for keeping the Lake Baldwin VA facility open.
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Florida Reps Want Lake Baldwin VA Clinic to Stay Open

We needed a new hospital considering Lake Baldwin, while huge, is just a clinic. We're getting a new one, (Lord only knows when it will open) but it should be used with the clinic considering how many veterans are in Central Florida. Lawmakers are pushing to keep it open and so are veterans.

Mica: Keep VA clinic open
Orlando Sentinel
April 14, 2014

U.S. Rep. John Mica, with support from other Central Florida congressmen, is pushing to keep open the Veterans Affairs clinic and two veterans housing centers on Lake Baldwin, even though those services are being moved to the new Veterans Affairs hospital in Lake Nona.

On Monday, Mica sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs urging the department to keep the Lake Baldwin facilities open to serve the increasing number of veterans needing health care. The letter also was signed by U.S. Reps. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden; Alan Grayson, D-Orlando; and Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville.

Besides the Lake Baldwin Outpatient Clinic, which has served an average of 96,000 veterans a year with virtually all medical services except in-patient hospitalization, the Lake Baldwin campus includes a 120-bed nursing center and a 60-bed domiciliary, which provided residential services to homeless veterans.

"We want action," Mica said. "We will get it."

Mica is a Winter Park Republican whose district includes the Lake Baldwin area.

The new 134-bed Orlando VA Hospital, part of a $665 million, million-square-foot Veterans Affairs complex at Lake Nona, is set to be completed late this year and likely will open next spring. Portions of the complex already have opened, and services are being transferred from Lake Baldwin.

The Lake Baldwin VA complex has about 400,000 square feet and costs about $8 million a year to operate, said Mike Strickler, spokesman for the Orlando VA Medical Center.
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