Meeting...

Thank you all for your positive thoughts, prayers, encouragement.
The meeting with V (the alternative care co-ordinator) went really well today. D (my pastor) was a great support, and V was really kind. She hadn't managed to get hold of my notes (no real surprise there) so I did have to do some recapping, but only of recent stuff, there was no need to go into the old stuff, and she stressed that I didn't need to talk about anything I found difficult. She had ideas about loads of resources I could access, many of which would have been so helpful if I had known of their availability earlier. There are anxiety management courses, WRAP planning sessions, a day resource centre, a crisis management group - all things I did not know about and could have found very helpful, and some of which may still be of use. She offered to see me weekly (!) - quite a jump from being told there was no-one available to see me monthly in the previous team. She did a risk assessment for me and has said she will bring that and my care plan to our next meeting, which will be next week, and hopes to have my notes so that I can look at them too. The most amazing thing for me, possibly, was that she said she will be on holiday so she will arrange for someone else to be available in her absence and will send me their name so I can get in touch if I need to. I've never had that before.

I was really nervous, and crumbled a bit at a couple of points, but she was so gentle and so kind that it really helped, and with D there for support as well it never felt impossible. Such a change!