Just another day at the office

My morning started by meeting a veteran at his house to transport him to the hospital to have some bandages changed. We sat in his house as he smoked his last cigarette before walking out to my car. I sat down in the driver's seat and looked over at the passenger door as he opened it. Sadly I had a bird's eye view of his pants fly that was gaping open and he wasn't sporting any under garments. I got quite an eyefull and gently suggested to him that his zip up his pants before getting to the hospital. That is a horrible vision to have engrained in my memory and it will take years of therapy to move beyond it.

My next veteran wanted to go bra shopping. Not a big deal except that the veteran is a man. We went to a store and he said he needed a 46DD. Funny thing since I wouldn't have put him over a B cup...even with the estrogen patches he wears. (He is a bit mixed up sexually and that is the least of his problems.) Anyway, he purchases 4 bras and then tells me that they didn't have his size. I suggested he return them and said I would find him a place where they did have his size. He wasn't going for it and began to escalate. He started yelling at me that I didn't understand and that his testicles were hurting because his bras were all too tight. Then he pulls up his shirt and demands I look at his breast. I figured I had already seen the bottom half of one veteran, what was the difference in seeing the top half of another? Please note that he was not wearing a bra. I looked at his breast to tell him that yes, I did see it and yes, I'm sure it was terrible to be in such pain. After calming him down and helping him bring his groceries to his apartment, he told me that the bra he was wearing was uncomfortable and too small. I clarified that he was meaning the bra he was wearing at that exact moment and he said yes. He must have been meaning his invisible bra... Or he is crazy. I think the latter of the two...

This all happened yesterday but it must be the week of exposure because I had another veteran pull up his shirt to pinch his nipple during a home visit today. He said he was sure he had breast cancer due to a lump he found. I convinced him to 1) call his doctor and 2) put his shirt down.

Just another day at the office...