Real Stories

My blogposts earlier this week, A Grandmother and her Fentanyl and Do you know an Opioid Addict?, obviously resonated with many people given the number of likes and comments that they prompted. As it turned out, I provided two sides of the story - appropriate and inappropriate use. I also received several comments directly that were highly personal. I'll keep them anonymous, but I thought they should be heard.

• "At 82 my mother was misdiagnosed with shingles in the area around her left eye. Her doctor wanted to give her OxyContin. I was mortified. We went through Neurontin and Lyrica before determining that something was terribly wrong.  After a brain MRI that was also misinterpreted as a small, benign tumor at the base of her skull, we finally found a  neurosurgeon who would listen.  6 months after the misdiagnosis of shingles, her brain biopsy confirmed central nervous system lymphoma. She died 2 months later. During those 2 months, her fight was brutal.... I gave her every pain medication available. Fentanyl was a gift and I was thankful to have it as an option to bring her comfort. Your article touched me. Great reminder...."
• "Just read your Grandmother and her Fentanyl story.  I can relate on so many levels – from the beginning of the conversation (just club soda, please) to the personal story (my mother-in-law and her broken pelvis).  Your point is spot on – drugs are good when needed and appropriate.  Our caution, and generally our messages are we need to be careful not to let that individual temporary situation become long-term, and that happens waaaay too easily, and too often in WC situations."
• "I gave a presentation yesterday to our nurses and claims handlers about the neurobiology of addiction. Of the approximately 100 people, 2 departed in tears, because as I found out later they had lost children to opioid/heroin addiction. This is a very personal problem. In the future, before I start this presentation, I’m going to give a disclaimer that the content may be too intense for people close to this epidemic."
• "I just had a soda Tuesday with a Friend, whom I had not seen in years but we kept in touch on Facebook.  I had responded to a post she had on addiction and come to find out it is her son. Now mind you my Daughter and he went to Gymboree together, 23 years ago and we have kept in distant touch.  Great Family, Catholic, 3 kids, want for little so addiction has many faces !  I am sharing this with her, as she wants to do more. He is currently in a residential facility in Florida and clean 5 months. She keeps his past suicide notes under her pillow and prays for his life."
• "I have a friend who recently lost her 29 yr old son to an accidental overdose from OPIOIDs. Started with a complex surgery, he had major adhesions and problems, many surgeries later he continued to have more and more pain and inability to function - severe abdominal pain and ultimately an accidental overdose...... He was on the drug due to his severe pain, after surgery it was appropriate for his pain, but in discussion with his mom – many, many conversations with the doctors got them no where on other alternatives, - it was easy to administer and move on…. There is always devastation left behind in these situations….."

My story? It goes back to my Dad's hospice in 2014 as Parkinsons ravaged his body. The hospice nurses gave him morphine (pain) and Ativan (anxiety). Because he couldn't swallow, they used a dropper for the gummy-type liquid to ooze down this throat. I remember, as I sat near his bed and saw the pain and anxiety melt away after administration of the drugs, how much more peaceful I was at that moment. Neither myself nor my Mom cared about the addictive properties of those drugs, nor the side effects, nor the long-term consequences. They did exactly what they were meant to do ... help my Dad die with dignity.

There are places for these drugs.

In the vast majority of long-term, non-cancer use of these drugs for chronic pain ... not appropriate. Because of the devastating results as evidenced above. For those already caught in addiction, we need to do everything in our power to help them get and stay sober. We also need to keep people from becoming addicted by having an opioid exit strategy - by empowered, educated patients working with their doctors - to less dangerous treatment. This is not someone else's problem - it's our problem.

If you have a personal story, please e-Mail it to me at [email protected].