The addiction Epidemic

I had thought to title this, "Opioid vs Heroin Epidemic", but in doing a little research, I changed my mind. 

This is a long fought battle between legitimate chronic pain sufferers and what the medical community labels "drug seekers".  

In presenting this argument, I'm going to draw off my own experience, and "statistics" aka propaganda.  (believe what you want if it makes you feel better) 

I watched a documentary last night on NetFlix. Dr. Feelgood. "The reason a Doctor is a Doctor is to make people feel better". William Elliot Hurwitz.  In 2003 he was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was vilified in the press, and called the Doctor of Death. 

Interesting enough, I was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder in 2001. Retro peritoneal Fybrosis  (You guys can look this one up. I'm not doing all the legwork for you)  By 2002, after having been told I would die if I did not follow the treatment my care team prescribed, I was raising 4 children, 5 and under. 

I was taking Tamoxifin, which is oral chemotherapy, dilaudid 4mg every 4 hours, morphine ER 15mg every 12 hours, Sublingual morphine 20mg every 1/2 hour, Vicodin 1500mg, 2 every 4 hours. At one point, my Doctor had also prescribed 80mg oxycontin, although that did nothing for me...I took it back to him, and he laughed. "Do you know the street value of this stuff?"  I did not, so he told me. A buck a milligram. That's 80.00 a pill. "Most people would kill to have this amount prescribed", He said. 

Anyway, Quite the cocktail I was on. 

By 2003, I had decided that I was tired of the medicines and stopped them all. Oh boy was my Doctor mad! You could have killed yourself he said.  I saw nothing wrong with what I had done. I was long past the date they said I would die, and even though I was still dealing with pain, I just didn't feel the need for such high doses. I wanted quality time with my kids, but I also wanted to go back to work. After about 5 weeks of having no pain meds, I went back to my Doctor, and requested pain management. After taking the required test to prove I was not an addict, I had my Doctor put me on 15mg ER morphine, 1 every 12 hours, and up to 3 Vicodin's 500mg  a day for breakthrough as needed. Over the years, I would go on this management plan for 3 to 6 months, and then go off for 6 months to a year. . I never built a tolerance to require more. But, in saying this, according to FDA standards, I'm a potential addict. 

Now we come to 

stattistics; https://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/Transparency/Basics/ucm269834.htm https://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/Transparency/Basics/ucm269834.htm 

You'll find in the link above that there is a standard protocol that the FDA uses to show the public the "dangers of potential addiction". 

If you read how this is done, it does nothing less than boggle the mind. Anyone with any level of intelligence is left with more questions than answers. 

For instance; we know that addiction is inherited. We know the science of that and have an understanding of the pitfalls if there is addiction in the family. So why are we testing lab rats, and then moving on to humans? Speaking of that, how many humans are we testing to throw a blanket number at the population and then say that this is what's going to happen? 

So it is said, that one in 7 people suffer addiction. 1 in 3 suffer chronic pain. This according to FDA and other data that has been collected in the last 10 years. 

In 2014, I started experiencing very extreme stomach pain. At the worst it would double me over. I went through a surgery and it went away for about a month. Then it came back. I kept returning to my Doctor and finally went back in for pain management. I was back on a low dose again, but it was barely touching the pain. I was working, but missing work frequently. I had not been on pain management since the mid 2000's. Then my insurance changed, and in the midst of that happening, we had the government regulating the prescription drug industry in a huge way. This was impacting everyone. I had several conversations with my Doctor about treatment, however, we really did not have a diagnosis to treat. He was scared, so it left me hanging, and in pain. By January 2017, my stomach pain had increased again. I was schedules for a biopsy. 

Here is the interesting thing. When I was being prepped, and getting ready for surgery. My surgeon came in, and said, "hey, did you know that it was reported in the New York Times, that they had just discovered that the Mesentery was a separate organ.  Coincidentally, the organ they were doing a biopsy on. I looked at him, and said, "Did you not take biology in med school?" "You guys just figured this out?" "What about bisecting cadavers?" "Wow". The whole time I am thinking, great, this idiot does not even know what hes doing.  Post op, I was treated for pain the 1st 7 days. 

By February, I had a diagnosis. Mesenteric Panniculitus. Originally named the screaming disease https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/mesenteric-panniculitis/

So, did I get treatment options? uh huh, yep. Tamoxifin, or, wait for it... Azothioprine. I wanted neither. I do not have a spleen, and no, I never had a spleen-ectomy. Azathioprine is an auto immune suppressant, which if I took, puts me in a higher risk group because of not having a spleen, and of course we already know what Tamoxifin is by my earlier diagnosis. Pain meds? OUT OF THE QUESTION! Why? Because Uncle Sam has decided he knows whats best for us. Shouldn't it be my choice what my treatments are? Why would I stay on a medicine that would have to be taken for the rest of my life, and put my self at higher risk for more disease and more infection, rather than taking a low dose pain management, to allow me a decent quality of life, which we already know by history works for me, when in the end, either the disease kills me, or the long term use of ANY medicine would kill me. Why has the government taken away MY choice at a better life?

We have a heroin epidemic in this country. Why? Well, the government would have you believe that it stems from the over prescribed opioids. So let me ask you this; Where does heroin come from? It's not from here. Its shipped in. It's not made here, and there is no medical use for it. We do know that morphine sets off the same nuero transmitters in the brain that respond to heroin. It's called dopamine. Dopamine is the chemical that makes you feel good. Is it the same as heroin? Of course not, or everyone in America would be an addict. We also know addiction is a gene. Then begs the question, is it just the gene, or is it social or economic back ground that contributes to the addiction. 

So what is addiction? What is considered the epidemic? Opioids or Heroin? What came 1st, the chicken or the egg? All of these things the government tells us is the Doctors fault, or the pharmaceutical company's fault. That is like me saying, I'm an alcoholic and it's your fault. I call bullshit. This country needs to stop being mamby pamby babies and start taking responsibility for themselves, and time for the government to get the hell out of our bedrooms and do their jobs by bringing down the cartels. 

Now we have this, http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/22/health/cvs-prescription-restrictions-opioids-bn/index.html

My question again, is why are we allowing the government to dictate what is best for us? 

Parenting 101 (I think hostage negotiation would be less stressful)

So, I was asked to write a blog on parenting. I literally thought the guy was messing with me, I am not the greatest parent and I have one child (not a child, she's grown now)  who considers me a devil mom.  

Before I write this, I'll add this caveat. I did not raise my oldest daughter, but I raised her 1st child. So Parenting, or good parenting is in the eye's of the child. 

There is no book on this. I was raised by wonderful parents, but did not think so until I was older. I swore to god, I would not give my children the rules that they gave me. (this sworn oath lasted all of 10 seconds, if that.) I took one look at my child and thought, oh no; there are bad people out there. I must protect them at all costs. 

I have 4 Children, my youngest being almost 16 now. Like I said, I did not raise my oldest, but raised her oldest. I have 3 boys of my own and my granddaughter. 

I was married twice. My oldest son's dad and I divorced when he was 2, and I married my other 2 boy's dad by the time he was 2 and a 1/2. 

I wanted my children to have the same advantages I had. A home, 2 parents, love, roots, and a rich up-bringing. (Not specifically meaning money) No child is the same. I know many parents that treat their children equally and that to me, is one of the biggest mistakes a parent can make. The 2nd biggest is thinking they are exactly like you. They are not. They may carry similar traits and even similar dreams, but that is not the same. 

One of my rules as my children were growing up was, "I meet the parents of friends". They hated this, but what I learned with that rule, is, kids need guidance. This was one of my parents rules. Even though my kids hated this, they did follow it, or they were stuck home. I had several smaller rules also, make your beds, pick up your toys, bring your laundry to the laundry room; ect. Again, all rules they hated, and took their time doing. That was OK. The idea was, they do it. Not in my time, but that it was done; period. 

Teaching my kids, responsibilities, integrity, honesty and humor was my main goal. I'll say too, humor is the number one advantage you will have getting through raising children. No matter what, they needed to learn these to become responsible productive adults. There were many trials and errors, as with anything in life, "shit" happens. Making mistakes is part of learning, for you and the child. They are not the mistake, and neither are you. 

Being a parent means having an address book full of names like "Lindsey, Ella's mom, it means on-line shopping because kids are jerks in a store, it means endless sleepless nights with sick children. It means, broken bones, emergency rooms, and Christmas mornings with family. It means having the beginning of every horror story start with, "So, I stepped away for like 3 seconds".  It means, panic, stress and fear. It also means joy and happiness,   Being a parent can be one of the most rewarding things you have ever done, just keep it in perspective. There is no right way or wrong way to do this. 

I am by no means the perfect parent, but I gave it the "ole" college try. My kids have grown up beautifully and all have dreams and goals that they are working towards. 

I guess the best advice I could give as a parent, is to let your child be who they want to be. It is their life, not yours, and they have to live it. Support them 100%, even if you do not agree with how or what they may be doing. Build their self-esteem, tell them you love them, and let them fly. They will. 

And don't worry. It all works out in the end.