This is the beginning of a new week, and I am beginning to understand how things work at FMC Lexington – Camp Atwood.
I was informed by my roommates that this isn’t like a County Jail or “real” prison, and have heard many stories of how things are at various levels of prisons and jails. Hearing their stories does make me grateful that the BOP assigned me here, not only because of the fact there are no “fences” at this camp, but it is only 1 1/2 hours from home, and hopefully I will be able to see the ones I love here from time to time.
Today, I had a visit with the doctor, an EKG and will be having an X-Ray at noon. Everyone who comes to this camp sees the Nurse Practitioner, the doctor, and dentist, and has lab work and x-rays done as a baseline. Those with heart problems, like me, also get an EKG for a baseline. I will be scheduled with the lab sometime this week as well as a cardiologist here. I am tracking my diet, and starting to walk around the track outside. Will be getting in the gym this week as well, since they have some classes, treadmills, stationary bike and weights.
You don’t want to get sick here. I developed a cold Friday night, and Saturday I was miserable. There is no sick call on the weekend, so my roommate gave me some Vic’s, and another person gave me some tea. I slept a lot Sunday, and feel much better today. I still am really congested, so I will be buying medicine at the Commissary tomorrow. The costs of everything is 30% more than what their cost is, so everything is really expensive here. If you don’t have $200 your first week, you won’t be able to get basic toiletries, a towel, detergent, etc. Also, the shoes here are pretty bad, and they don’t have any less than a size 7, so I had to order some, again at a high mark up.
I only was able to get 2 tshirts, and one pair of pants, and one pair of socks, which is rough, and so I was grateful someone who is leaving later this week gave me a couple more. I also ordered a sweatshirt, a bra, and some long johns since it’s so cold here. I have thinking back to how easy it was to get the things I needed when I was home, and how different it is here to get basic necessities. Makes me feel grateful for my life at home. I can also appreciate the patients I have served over the years who are houseless, and don’t have the basic necessities they need to survive. I will definitely be continuing that work when I leave here, now having a first harnd experience not having the basics.
I learned that your transcripts for school may not always make it here, so I will be asking my husband to get my high school transcript for me if they question my education. I have my Master’s degree, and don’t want to have to take the GED class. I learned that I could also be considered to be a tutor here once I am done with A/O (Orientation); and I expressed an interest in helping in that way as well.
There is a dog program here, and they get dogs from the shelter and train them to be ready for adoption. Mostly boston terriers and french bulldogs, some labs and golden doodles. I met a boston terrier this morning who was realy skittish, and I could completely understand how she felt, after being in a kennel for so long and ending up in a new strange environment.
I take the time to listen to people’s stories. There are so many women here for PPP loan fraud, which I found interesting, because even our own elected officials don’t get penalized for that. Others, for embezzlement, or drug usage. The ones here on drug charges are what breaks my heart the most, because I truly don’t believe they should be in prison. One woman here, who is 72 years old, filed for a compassionate release back in July. She had a heart attack while in prison, and has a bad hip. I really hope she is released soon. She has been in prison for years. Additionally, there is a large group of women here that were transferred from the Dublin, OH facility. They were abused there sexually, and had other issues, and just last week they saw some movement on their class action lawsuit. Hearing their stories makes me so sad for them. No one deserves to be treated the way they were.
The lessons of humanity are not lost on me in here. I heard so many stories over the past three years serving the homeless and persons with SUD while at Americorps, but hearing these stories, I can see the parallels between the humanity I see inside and outside of these walls. I am developing the final parts of my strategic plan for release from here, and also writing a book, so between that and my books, I can keep myself pretty busy. If you don’t take the time to make some sort of schedule for yourself, you could get really sad here. And that, is what I am trying to stave off. I am truly looking forward to the day I am home again.
