The Teeter Totter Journey

Tears of a Warrior



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Teeter Totter Journey

Posted: 23 Sep 2009 08:15 AM PDT

by Janet Seahorn



Ever think of life as a “teeter totter journey”? Sometimes you’re up, sometimes your down, and when everything is in perfect balance, you are somewhere in-between.

The biggest challenge on a teeter totter is keeping that perfect balance. The certainty of teeter tottering is that equilibrium doesn’t last very long. As soon as the tiniest shift occurs on either side, the mechanism moves.

When you were a child playing on the teeter totter, the fun wasn’t keeping the slab of wood in balance; it was the fast ups and downs as you tried to give your partner a very exciting ride.

Life is a bit like that teeter totter. Some days we are up, some days down, and, every so often, we are within the perfect balance. If we really examined it, however, we would notice that most of our time is spent in the process of moving between the ups and the downs.

This is not good or bad. It just is. Post-Traumatic Stress can be life’s ultimate teeter totter. The ride is faster, quicker, and more unpredictable than the average, and those times of stability may seem shorter. Those individuals on the PTSD cycle are there for good reason; they have experienced life at some of its highest highs, and it very lowest lows. The speed of change, therefore, tends to be faster, more unpredictable. At times it can make one queasy from experience.

Playing on a teeter totter requires at least two people; you can’t get up without someone on the other end helping you there. It’s a push, pull, and bumps boogie.

Those living with Post-Traumatic Stress and family members who become part of the journey often experience the same unpredictable, sudden change in highs and lows. Yet, perhaps, the most important message in this blog is simply this: if either rider decides to abandon the wooden slab, the remaining rider can be at peril, depending on where they sit.

And herein lies both the gift and the tragedy. Those of us who live with the after effects of combat trauma (or any trauma causation) make a choice every single day to continue the journey together.

Yep, life is a teeter totter journey.

A New Beginning

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A New Beginning

Posted: 08 Sep 2009 05:00 AM PDT

-by Janet Seahorn



In a previous blog we wrote about the Wilderness and Healing. Before that we talked about how PTSD + Joy = Peace, Maybe — can move us toward wellbeing.

This week’s focus is a continuation of both ideas, an extension of how we can heal, can move forward and grow healthier. What every suffering person is searching for is a GENISUS - a new beginning, new start, a sort of rebirth.

So this is the big question, “what will be our new beginning after a trauma experience?” Trauma does not have to be the end of living, but a start of living life in a new way. It begins with the seeds we are now and grows into the people we want to become.

Imagine that person, vision it with all the bright pictures, melodies, and glory we can see, hear, and feel in our hearts. New beginnings ask us to examine what we learned from our combat/trauma experience, to go beyond the pain and terrible memories, and to rise above them.

To accomplish this mission will require that we put ourselves fully into the human arena. Isolation is not an option. We cannot lock ourselves away physically or emotionally; that means drugs, alcohol, over-working… are simply not possible choices.

The world is too rich, too interesting, too special to isolate ourselves. Yes, there are horrible things that occur. There is violence, greed, and cruel acts. And for every act of brutality, I believe there are many more acts of kindness, beauty, and love. We must not forget to notice these during our times of darkness. We must attempt to appreciate the goodness in the world. It is present. Just look.

An old saying states, “What we focus on persists”. What do we want to persist? We can focus on those things. Write them up. Put them on our refrigerators, nightstands, even our mirrors. The new us begins today. We choose. By no means will it be easy. The new us will not be perfect, but it will be real.

Like the Velveteen Rabbit, he became worn, torn, and aged only through the experience of being touched, loved, and used. And by going through all of his living, he became real. He developed into being alive, for being alive required a multitude of life events both magnificent and sad.

I am sure that if one were to inspect the experiences of the rabbit, he may have been diagnosed with PTSD. And, I am equally sure, that at the end of his days, he would not have traded these experiences for something easier and less physically or emotionally demanding.

He chose life, and so will we!

NEVER APART

Tears of a Warrior

www.tearsofawarrior.com


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a small, black & white, furry 5-pound bundle of emotional and physical relief. His name was Petie, the keeper of an adult warrior, Purple Heart, Vietnam Veteran.

We met them both at the Purple Heart National Convention.

The vet trained him as his first alert. An important task. Petie knew when his master needed to take his medications. He would wakeup Dennis at various times in the middle of the night so that specific pills were administered at the most critical time in order to keep the Post Traumatic Stress under control.

Dennis trained Petie especially for this purpose. They are best friends and constant companions, never apart. This small, furry medic is essential, not just for the vet’s physical well-being, but even more important, his emotional/mental stability.

Petie alerts Dennis when there is danger in the surroundings. He watches intently everything that goes on with his owner and around his owner. If Petie isn’t comfortable his master knows to pay closer attention to his current environment. If Petie doesn’t like you, more than likely Dennis isn’t going to become too friendly either.

They coexist, two different species, one functioning entity.

There are numerous organizations that train service dogs. Dogs that serve the deaf, blind, and epileptic individual. Dogs that act as the arms and legs of those who no longer have capacity to move on their own. Now, some of these groups are training dogs to do something even more challenging, knowing when their owner may go into a PTSD anxiety attack.

The dog must sense when such attacks may occur before they actually manifest themselves. They know even before the person that something is coming on - giving their owner an opportunity to breathe, use relaxation techniques, and take medication if necessary. They provide a sense of security and well-being in a world filled with unpredictability and potential stressors.

One such training organization is NEADS - Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans.

They are conducting an in-depth study of nine-ten Iraq vets who has severe PTSD. The study’s focus is to evaluate the most effective canine training methods that serve the sensitive needs of a veteran suffering from combat stress.

This is a very expensive and challenging research project because it must take into account the behaviors of two very different organisms: human and canine.

It will be a critical piece of information given the increasing number of individuals returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters and those that have served in past wars such as Vietnam and the Gulf War.

THE WISDOM OF WARRIORS PAST

Tears of a Warrior
www.tearsofawarrior.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Even in the most devastating and pain-filled moments, we have an opportunity to learn something about ourselves, our world, and the human spirit.

Attending the Purple Heart National Convention in Rogers, Arkansas provided an enormous volume of proof supporting this statement. The group was a moving, living sea of purple where great amounts of blood was given in service to our country. Veterans from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and a few from the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan attended.

It is the Vietnam veteran, however, who have provided evidence of how to do things differently when welcoming a warrior home from combat. These vets had no “welcome home”. Their experience of returning from combat was often met with verbal and sometimes physical abuse. Crowds of protesters were waiting to hurl insults and thoughtlessly displayed signs/banners with obscene language and incredibly cruel remarks and pictures.

What Vietnam vets taught Americans through their touching stories were how badly they were injured - not just by the enemy in a foreign land, but by their own country men. The wound to the soldier was deeper, more personal. It bled into the heart and soul of the veteran and couldn’t heal. Healing requires exposure to the light, the outside air. The Vietnam vets were forced to suppress not only their sacrifice, but their woundedness.

With our present battles in Iraq and Afghanistan, veterans have rallied for a new mission, a promise that never again would our military personnel return home unwelcome. Today there are a multitude of individuals and organizations who support, care and offer hope to serving military members as well as their families. At the Purple Heart Convention we met a few. The “Soldier’s Angels” were there to ensure every military person serving in a combat zone receives care packages, cards, and letters from their fellow Americans. “Quilting for Valor” is another group who painstakingly create beautiful hand-crafted quilts to send to hospitals both in-country and overseas. These quilts cover and comfort the wounded warrior during his/her hospitalization.

And there were others with their own caring mission.

Vietnam veterans taught Americans how words can wound deeper than guns. How lack of support impairs the ability to move forward. And most of all, how to forgive - their country’s leaders, their country men/women, and sometimes even their own families - because they understand that forgiveness heals.

The significant lesson these past warriors, in their aging wisdom learned, then modeled, was the power of absolution, which granted freedom from their emotional woundedness. Then, through such forgiveness, they have and continue to work tirelessly with the American people and the military to meet the needs of the new combat wounded.

America’s new Purple Hearts hopefully feel only the love, support, and generosity of an America who will never again allow our sons and daughters to return home from combat unwelcome.

ANGELS OF STEEL

On May 15, the National Veterans Awareness Ride participants visited the VA Hospital in Cheyenne. The ride begins in California and culminates in Washington DC on Memorial Day in remembrance of all MIAs, POWs, and Veterans who have served their country. Tony & Jan Seahorn were honored as guest speakers. Following is a poem that Jan wrote and dedicated to the riders of the special occasion:



ANGELS OF STEEL



The angels cry when warriors die,

In distant lands where troubles lie.

Where sadness grows with each new day

and sorrow is not far away.



We fly on planes to reach this place

where death abides within its space.

There is no choice where I may fight

I only trust that it be right.



Each day I wake and say a prayer

to keep us safe and in God’s care.

Yet, knowing well some will not live

and others may not soon forgive.



The wop, wop, wop of copter blades

will drop their cargo, then they fade.

Into the distant sky they fly

with lifeless bags inside do lie.



Like steel angels from above

they bring supplies, our families’ love.

And carry wounded from the field

to places where they may be healed.



So many lost, did not return,

Their final end we’ve never learned.

For years we looked without success,

perhaps today they are at rest.



The scars remain within my soul

that haunts my mind and leaves a hole.

Where once the innocence of youth

was buried by the wrath of Zeus.



The bloody battles the heart must bear,

the mind cannot forget the terror.

But life goes on and must exist

for strength and honor to persist.



Across our country warriors ride

on bikes of steel with humbled pride,

To honor those who gave so much

and not forget the world they’ve touched.



The flag of glory they carry high

Through miles and miles of endless sky,

Reminding all of freedom’s costs,

this hallowed message must not be lost.



And angels cry when warriors die,

In distant lands where troubles lie.

They hold the hope that peace will be

through freedom and democracy.



Janet J. Seahorn, Ph.D

www.tearsofawarrior.com

Tears of a Warrior

"Tears of a Warrior" Offers Hope and Healing to Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(www.tearsofawarrior.com)
Returning war veterans may face a multitude of physical and mental challenges. Veterans' families are often unprepared to deal with a family member who may experience nightmares, feelings of detachment, irritability, trouble concentrating, and sleeplessness. These are some of the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Experts estimate that between 25% and 30% of Vietnam veterans who fought in combat have symptoms of PTSD, and it's been recently estimated that 30% of combat soldiers returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan are experiencing similar trauma.

"Tears of a Warrior: A Family's Story of Combat and Living with PTSD" is a patriotic book written about soldiers who are called to duty in service of their country. It is a story of courage, valor, and life-long sacrifice. Long after the cries of battle have ended, many warriors return home to face a multitude of physical and mental challenges. Author Tony Seahorn writes from his experience as a young army officer in Vietnam who served with the Black Lions of the First Infantry Division, which fought in some of the bloodiest battles of the war. He was wounded in action and continues to recover from the physical and emotional scars of combat.

Tony returned from the war decorated for heroism. Some of his most honored medals include two Bronze Stars, two Purple Hearts, an Air Medal for Valor in flight, the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross, and a Presidential Unit Citation.

Janet Seahorn, Tony's wife and co-author, writes from both the perspective of a wife who has lived for thirty years with a veteran with PTSD, and as a professional in human development and neuroscience. Dr. Seahorn's research has focused on the effects PTSD has on the brain, body, and spirit.

"Tears of a Warrior" was written to educate families and veterans about the symptoms of PTSD and to offer strategies for living with the disorder. The book includes over 50 photos integrated into the text which provide the reader with a visual picture of the sequence of events as the storyline moves from the realities of combat, to returning home, to the ultimate impact on family and friends. Families and society in general will better understand the long-term effects of combat. Veterans from all wars, regardless of service branch, will benefit by the authors' experiences and their message of hope.

"If we send them, then we must mend them."


www.tearsofawarrior.com

"The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten"

-Calvin Coolidge