Two Women Veterans bonded over fertility struggles after seeking Atlanta VA mental health care
“In my darkest days, Dr. Geisel pushed me,” said Climmie Cooper-Lewis, a 42-year-old U.S. Air Force Veteran who lives in Dallas, Georgia, who struggles with depression, anxiety, chronic pain, a back injury, and effects from digestive and reproductive surgeries.
“I wanted to give up so many times. I have chronic pain, but I have no choice but to keep living at this point. My husband is pushing me. My babies are relying on me. So, I have no choice but to trust everyone who is involved in my care, trust my therapist, and trust the journey.”
In 2020, after conceiving naturally and feeling like everything was going smoothly, she had an ultrasound that revealed her baby had no heartbeat.
“God, why do you keep doing this to me,” Cooper-Lewis would pray, leaning on the faith she’s relied on since childhood.
Cooper-Lewis soon drove herself to the Atlanta VA Women’s Clinic for a telehealth phone consultation with a psychiatrist at the Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta VA Medical Center in Decatur.
“Within a couple of hours, the VA gave me options and tools to use,” said Cooper-Lewis, who says at the time, she didn’t know all the many services available to her. Dr. Geisel connected her to a nutritionist, a Pregnancy and Infant Loss Group, maternity care coordinators, and a VA chaplain. “The women’s health service has been providing me with top-tier care.”
Cooper-Lewis has been a patient of Dr. Geisel for about five years. She has received individual and group therapy, and telehealth visits. If she needs anything, Dr. Debbie Geisel is always willing to be there for her or guide her in the right direction.
“Even after she became a clinical director, she still provided group therapy for these women, but most importantly, she still provided care for me,” said Cooper-Lewis. “I met one lady, a sister from another mister. My dear friend, Heather. It feels good to have someone understand you.”
“Heather and Climmie were exhausted and losing hope after suffering multiple perinatal losses,” said Dr. Debbie Geisel, Clinical Director-Primary Care and Mental Health Integration and the Atlanta VA Women’s Mental Health Champion. “With each week, they shared more openly and found support from other women who were grieving in silence and isolation.”
Heather Cramer and Cooper-Lewis bonded over their passion for the medical field and their tenacity to never give up on what they knew in their hearts was meant to be for them. Cramer served as a surgical technician in the Army and Cooper-Lewis served as an Aerospace Medical Service Technician.
Although hesitant, each of them agreed to participate in a virtual pregnancy loss group that started during the pandemic.
“I went to the group, and I felt older and out of place,” said Cooper-Lewis. “Within my household, we are a blended family with older children, but we had lost so much at that point. We didn’t want to give up on what we desired after all the surgeries, ectopic surgeries, pregnancy losses, joint replacements, twisted organs, removal of scar tissue, precancerous scares, and fertility issues.”
Cramer underwent her own trials after she survived the war in Afghanistan, coming back injured and then living through 36 surgeries and 19 pregnancy losses once home. But she wasn’t willing to give up.
“After all that death and destruction, I wanted to again experience life at its most basic and have another child,” said Cramer, thinking she had two children before deployment, why would it be a problem after coming home. “It was a problem.”
“Dr. Geisel saved me,” Cramer said. She stated that being a woman in the military meant you could show no weakness, and PTSD was a sign of weakness back then. Now, she says, the healing journey has changed for PTSD. “It’s messy, and when society wants to approach the issue with a pill or quick fix, it’s not going to work. It needs a comprehensive approach.”
It’s hard for our women Veterans to ask for help, there is so much stigma and so much pressure on them to be the “strong ones,” said Dr. Geisel. “Their willingness to share their grief brought them not only healing but a lifelong friendship.”
Cramer says there are many reasons why young women Veterans may not seek mental health care, even if it’s based on someone else's opinion.
“I asked for help many years ago when the trauma broke my brain, and I was told that ‘we as women have to be stronger than our male counterparts because we are expected to fail.’ I know personally the treatment has helped to heal a little more,” said Cramer. “I really wish that more women felt free enough to seek care at the VA because there are resources and providers who care.”
Cramer was able to finally have her third child 18 years later with the help of a surrogate. Through years of many pregnancy losses and fertility attempts, Cooper-Lewis was able to conceive and give birth to her two, twin rainbow babies earlier this year.
Upcoming Women Veterans Event
Join us for our Empower Her Health Fair on Thursday, December 5, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Solarium at Historic Scottish Rite, Home of the Community Center of South Decatur, located at 319 W Hill St, Decatur, GA 30030.
VA Atlanta will have information on the Women Veteran Program, Breast Health and Maternity Care, Suicide Prevention, PACT Act, Intimate Partner Violence and LGBTQ+ Care Coordination services, MST, Transition Care Management, Advance Directives, and Home-based Telehealth.
There will be break-out sessions on nutrition, stress management, suicide prevention, Menopause, Mammography, and the Whole health team.
Veterans can get blood pressure checks and flu shots, try yoga, and make jewelry together.
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