I got back a little while ago and poked around this site answering a few Qs before getting back to you. And that is when I saw your Vet question. I noticed in the beginning the thread went off topic but Berserker later admitted she misunderstood and thought Veteran was for veteran Fluther person. She is from Canada. RagingL is from Germany. So they would have no reason to think of US Veterans Day. It’s like the kids joke/brain teaser: Do other countries have July 4th? Most of the kids will say “no”, They are smart enough to equate it with US Independence day while not realizing it is a calendar date and every country has it.
Anyway after that mixup the tread was really thought provoking and interesting! Thank you for starting it. And thank you for your service!

And how about Reddeer’s response! Jesus!!! No wonder he is screwed up. That must be on his mind all the time. I wonder if this is the first time he has vented and said it out loud.
You did a great thing there.

Either I never knew or just I forgot that you were in the service.
Before I joined healingwell I imagined the VA would be very helpful and supportive for vets in need. Then I heard some of the horror stories. It is so budget driven they try to avoid treatments at every turn. One guy was complaining of lower back pain for years. He was sent away with physical therapy and muscle relaxants time after time. It turns out he had prostate cancer that had metastasized and spread to his kidneys, lower back, spine. Ugh… He did not last long after diagnosis.

You didn’t mention the area you live so I figure you want to keep that private. Don’t worry I won’t ask again If you were concerned that your info might not be private here you can always email me at lucky dot guy at dr dot com and we can converse over there. I don’t check it every day so give me a heads up.

You mentioned being on a short calendar. There are a few guys in my group in that position. One of them at age 64 and a widower, decided he would go out with guns blazing. He took a road trip all around the country where he visited people from the site and posted the story and pictures on FB. It was amazing! He spent a week at my house.
He placed an honest profile on one of the match sites just to see what would happen. He met a widow of about the same age who lost her husband to prostate cancer and both of them decided life was too short. They got married and both are still smiling.
I don’t know what I would do if I were in the same situation and I am not suggesting that for you. I’m just passing that along as an interesting story.
Being in constant pain does limit one’s zest for life.
Like a typical engineer I’m trying to think how i can help. if you were local I’d offer to mow your lawn, or clean your rain gutters or snowplow your driveway.
In the meantime I will offer to help you get your HW account running if you want. Or you can just make a new one and write down your info. :-) That would certainly be more private.
(((U))) hugs
Jeff

November 14th, 2017

Thank you for your very detailed suggestions!

July 29th, 2017

Congrats on reaching 5k, again!

April 27th, 2017

Thanks Patty_Melt.
I appreciate that because I like fluther.
People here give thoughtful answers and I’ve found that there are really insightful people here who are understanding and caring.
I’ve tried fluther a few times over the years when my marriage wasn’t going well and I am surprised at how smart and accurate some of the advice I received here was.
I genuinely come here to read the thoughts of others and hopefully learn from their experiences.
Thanks for the warm welcome.
: )

March 25th, 2017