303 Days

July 19, 2009 marks 303 days that Pat has been "in captivity" as he says. And there has been no one - no one there to help him. 303 days of this phenomenal man's life have been wasted. He deserves so much better.

For 303 days Pat has not seen the sun come up or set. He has not seen the moon or the stars. He has not smelled the fresh air after a nice shower. He has not slept in the comfort of his own bed. He has not enjoyed his favorite foods.

One cannot punish the unintentional wrongdoing of another ~ without intentionally committing a wrongdoing himself.

What is happening to Pat Lamoureux is a grave wrongdoing. At the time this incident occurred, there should have been a different course of action that immediately occurred.

The VA should have been deeply involved and instead of being detained in a county jail for 303 days, Pat should have been receiving treatment for 303 days.

But the VA actually failed Pat in July last year. If his mental health provider had talked to me that day, instead of making me wait in the lobby because there were students visiting that day - this incident would never have happened. It is interesting to read how she documented that visit. Instead of seeing the red flag in her face, she told him to go home and take his medication - you know, that one that causes amnesia.

I wonder how many times in the last 303 days she has looked at Pat's records, especially that visit, and realized that she failed in her responsibilities as his mental health provider.

And before some "anonymous" person attacks me for not doing something - all I can say is:
1) You don't live with someone who has combat related PTSD.
2) You do not understand the mindset of that person.
3) Me telling Pat I thought he needed to go for in-patient treatment would not have been well received.

Those recommendations needed to come from the professional who was responsible for his mental well being, and who should have understood what he told her that day.

I know, people will say – well then you should have done more if you felt what happened at that visit was wrong. It is certainly easy for me to sit here and agree with you now. But you have to understand that I had become too accepting of “this is the way life is going to be from now on”. You don’t understand what living with PTSD does to your own mind.

When his provider did not seem to find the information alarming at the time, I thought to myself, “I am obviously over-reacting. I mean after all, she is the trained professional. So what I thought was bad – must not have been that bad……accept it Sue, that’s the way life is now.”

For 303 days Pat has been left all alone to sort this all out. Can you even begin to imagine the hell he has been living in for the past 303 days?

When he has needed help the most, he has received none.

This is how we say thank you for your service to our country Pat Lamoureux....

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