Posted on 01/31/2017 12:46:34 PM PST by servo1969
Last week, my two stepsons' father, a man who loved life, killed himself.
I would like to tell you why.
Two years ago, a 62-year-old father of three named Bruce Graham was standing on an ladder, inspecting his roof for a leak, when it slipped out from under him. He landed on top of the ladder on his back, breaking several ribs, puncturing a lung and tearing his intestine, which wasn't detected until he went into septic shock. Following surgery, he lapsed into a two-week coma.
In retrospect, it's unfortunate that he awoke from that coma because for all intents and purposes, his life ended with that fall. Not because his mind was affected -- it was completely intact until the moment he took his life -- but because while modern medicine was adept enough to keep him alive, it was unable or unwilling to help him deal with the excruciating pain that he experienced over the next two years. And life in constant excruciating pain with no hope of ever alleviating it is not worth living.
As a result of the surgery, Bruce developed abdominal scar tissue structures known as adhesions. Adhesions can be horribly painful, but they are difficult to diagnose because they don't appear in imaging, and no surgery in America or in Mexico (where, out of desperation, he also sought treatment) could remove them permanently. Many doctors dismiss adhesions, regarding the patient's pain as psychosomatic.
The pain prevented him from getting adequate sleep. And he could not eat without the pain spiking for hours. By the time of his death, he had lost almost half his body weight.
Prescription painkillers -- opioids -- relieved much of his pain, or at least kept it to a tolerable level. But after the initial recuperation period, no doctor would prescribe one, despite the fact that this man had a well-documented injury and no record of addiction to any drug, including opioids. Doctors either wouldn't prescribe them on an ongoing basis due to the threat of losing their medical license or being held legally liable for addiction or overdose, or deemed Bruce a hypochondriac.
The federal government and states like California have made it extremely difficult for physicians to prescribe painkillers for an extended period of time. The medical establishment and government bureaucrats have decided that it is better to allow people to suffer terrible pain than to risk them becoming addicted to opioids.
They believe it is better to allow any number of innocent people to suffer hideous pain for the rest of their lives than to risk any patient getting addicted and potentially dying from an overdose.
Dr. Stephen Marmer, who teaches psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, told me that he treated children with terminal cancer when he was an intern, and even they were denied painkillers, lest they become addicted.
Pain management seems to be the Achilles' heel of modern medicine, for philosophical reasons as well as medical. Remarkably, Dr. Thomas Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine last year, "Whereas the benefits of opioids for chronic pain remain uncertain, the risks of addiction and overdose are clear."
To most of us, this is cruel. Isn't the chance of accidental death from overdose, while in the meantime allowing patients to have some level of comfort, preferable to a life of endless severe pain?
Though I oppose suicide on religious/moral grounds and because of the emotional toll it takes on loved ones, I make an exception for people with unremitting, terrible pain. If that pain could be alleviated by painkilling medicines, and law and/or physicians deny them those medicines, it is they, not the suicide, who are morally guilty.
Bruce was ultimately treated by the system as an addict, not worthy of compassion or dignity. On the last morning of his life, after what was surely a long, lonely, horrific night of sleeplessness and agony, Bruce made two calls, two final attempts to acquire the painkillers he needed to get through another day. Neither friend could help him. Desperate to end the pain, he picked up a gun, pressed it to his chest and pulled the trigger. In a final noble act, he did not shoot himself in the head, even though that is the more certain way of dying immediately. He had told a friend some weeks earlier that if he were to take his life, he wouldn't want loved ones to experience the trauma-inducing mess that shooting himself in the head would leave. Instead, he shot himself in the heart.
An autopsy confirmed the presence of abdominal adhesions, as well as significant arthritis in his spine.
May Bruce Graham rest in peace. Some of us, however, will not live in peace until physicians' attitudes and the laws change.
Just the way the progressives want it.
Frankel was not in continuous, excruciating pain. And yeah, I’ve read a couple of his books, including that one.
HMMMmmm...
I could have sworn it was yours...
|
To: Elsie
The Catholic Church. Do they justify Samson’s “suicide?” |
Who said anything about willing?
Oh?
Where is this fact written down?
Yes...
1. Did Samson MURDER himself when the walls came down?
2. Did Samson MURDER all them other folks in the building when the walls came down?
According to Catholic teaching; of course.
Now THIS is a new One!
As valueless as mine.
What does your chosen religion teach?
And THIS is why I do NOT want to eat one of them dogs, as they MAY have been spinning for 6 weeks!
I’ve had adhesions which were treated by cauterization. Since then, I’ve had little problem with them.
I am very afraid of developing any condition that causes severe chronic pain. Opioids do not work for me. They cause all of the side effects, without any perceptible effect on the pain. In addition, the last time I took one, I had a piercing headache for four days.
The best I ever got from narcotics (opioids) is to feel loopy after taking them, which distracts attention from the pain but does not decrease it. There is undeniable value in being distracted from the pain, but distraction can be achieved without drugs.
It would be nice if there were some effective medications (other than anesthetics) that really addressed pain, that actually could block it.
Depends on how steep it is.
While CHOICE killed around a million future AMEERICANS.
Again; where is the data?
Correction. Your statement contained a presumption I was.not willing to concede. While the question itself was mine, the premise was yours.
What is left out is the 1.33 Million Chronic Pain patients with incurable diseases and botched surgeries or degenerative spines. Opioids are their only way to be productive or want to live.
Suicide rates have climbed due to the drastic cut back in prescription opioids. Each patient has to be accessed for need. And why should we who use our meds responsibly be responsible for those who don’t? Or mix them with illegal street drugs or booze.
They are just driving up our suicide rates as we get no pain control or so little it is useless. Drs. are scared to prescribe for us. Lyrica, Neurotin, Cymbalta are WAY MORE ADDICTIVE and have MORE HORRID SIDE EFFECTS, and Lyrica and Neurotin are on the DEA list.
Did you read this post? Thank you, Dennis, for addressing this. When I worked in oncology, I remember several of my patients being refused appropriate pain management by their physicians. When the families discussed this with me and sought my help, my inquiries with their physicians was met with an all too familiar explanation. The doctors are simply afraid for their careers. The DEA monitors how much narcotics and other painkillers each doctor prescribes. If it appears a physician is prescribing a large amount, it can trigger an audit of his practice. This can be devastating to a doctor’s career, and is not deserved. While I believe in harsh punishments for doctors who enable drug addicts, these DEA regulations are yet another area of government regulation that defies common sense and needs overhauling or simply eliminating. Let law enforcement worry about catching the criminals, and let doctors care for their patient’s needs, including their pain management.
I will never forget, even after over 30 years, the poor husband and father, writhing in so much agony from terminal brain cancer, that the nurses were forced to tie him to his bed with restraints.
I’m not an advocate of euthanasia, but we treat our pets better than this. When the patient is terminal or incurable, possible drug addiction shouldn’t even be on the radar.
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I’ve been through 9 Peripheral Neuropathy drugs due to a degenerative spine and collapsed discs, to find 1 that works with out the horrid side effects. Take it away and I’ll need a wheel chair. And that does not count the OA/OP/Gastropresis/or Fibromyalgia, even my Hypothyroidism causes pain. Try living in pain 24/7/365. I am not responsible for those who OD on their meds, they are many have underlying mental health issues.
My friend’s son took a shot gun and took his life because of mental health issues.
NO CONNECTION TO PAIN MEDS
ADDICTION https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2015/6/12/there-is-no-epidemic-of-painkiller-overdoses
DEA shortage of pain meds
http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/4/13166594/dea-opioid-epidemic-manufacturer-2017-substance-
AAPM Facts and Figures on Pain
http://www.painmed.org/patientcenter/facts_on_pain.aspx
Chronic Pain Patient Abandoned by Doctor Dies
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2016/12/22/chronic-pain-patient-abandoned-by-doctor-dies
http://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=18350
Chronic health conditions
http://www.nationalhealthcouncil.org/sites/default/files/NHC_Files/Pdf_Files/AboutChronicDisease.pdf
Doctors are cutting opioids, even if it harms patients
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/01/02/doctors-curtail-opioids-but-many-see-harm-pain-patients/z4Ci68TePafcD9AcORs04J/story.html
The War on Drugs has become insane. This is not normal: http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2013/jan/22/pregnant_oklahoma_woman_seeks_me
“Patients in Legitimate Chronic Pain are Paying the Price”: http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2013/01/cost-blaming-doctors-prescription-drug- abuse.html
On Assisted Suicide, Going Beyond ‘Do No Harm’
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/05/opinion/on-assisted-suicide-going-beyond-do-no-harm.html?_r=0
DEA WAR ON Docs
http://www.federaljack.com/is-the-%E2%80%9Cwar-on-drugs%E2%80%9D-as-phony-as-the-%E2%80%9Cwar-on-terror%E2%80%9D/
“How the war on drugs victimizes Rx pain patients”: http://www.sagaciousnewsnetwork.com/how-the-war-on-rx-drugs-victimizes-pain -patients/
Chronic pain epidemiology and its clinical relevance
http://bja.oxfordjournals.org/content/111/1/13.long
On Assisted Suicide, Going Beyond ‘Do No Harm’
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/05/opinion/on-assisted-suicide-going-beyond-do-no-harm.html?_r=0
Chronic health conditions
http://www.nationalhealthcouncil.org/sites/default/files/NHC_Files/Pdf_Files/AboutChronicDisease.pdf
Are CDC Opioid Guidelines Causing More Suicides?
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2016/5/27/are-cdcs-opioid-guidelines-causing-more-suicides
NASCAR Legend’s Chronic Pain Led to Suicide
http://nationalpainreport.com/nascar-legends-chronic-pain-led-to-suicide-8819960.html
Opioid Malfeasance At The CDC- Guess Who Is Getting Hurt?
http://www.acsh.org/news/2016/12/05/opioid-malfeasance-cdc-guess-who-getting-hurt-10531
Chronic Pain and the Death of a New York Times Journalist
The CDC reports there are 44 deaths per day that involve opioids, but there are more than 105 deaths per day from suicide. An undoubtedly significant (but uncertain) number of those suicides can be attributed to people with severe pain.
http://thepainfultruthbook.com/2016/03/chronic-pain-and-the-death-of-a-new-york-times-journalist/
The Connection Between Chronic Pain and Suicide
http://www.spine-health.com/blog/connection-between-chronic-pain-and-suicide
Chronic Pain and the Risk of Suicide | Psychology Today
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/nation-in-pain/201511/chronic-pain-and-the-risk-suicide
One in 10 suicides linked to chronic illness, study finds
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/aug/23/suicide-chronic-illness-study
Chronic Pain Patient Abandoned by Doctor Dies
https://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2016/12/22/chronic-pain-patient-abandoned-by-doctor-dies
http://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=18350
The Stress Of Severe Pain: 11% Of Americans Suffer From Chronic Pain,
http://www.medicaldaily.com/stress-severe-pain-11-americans-suffer-chronic-pain-nih-states-347292
All I know is what I read and doctors have to realize opiates are not a long term solution. In fact there may not be one.
Nearly every woman who has had C Sections or Hysterectomy develop Adhesion’s, they are very debilitating to the point you can’t get out of bed, they use laparotomy surgery to burn them off, but they only come back a few months or years later. Been there. Then with a Hysterectomy your risk a fallen bladder or bowel again very painful, and those meshes they use as slings are under lawsuits for the damage they cause. Same goes for a hernia.
We are going backwards instead of forward in medicine.
"Data" is not a Christian argument.
Murder is a sin. God says so via at least two ways: Decalogue and Natural Law.
Doesn't make any difference whether the victim is yourself or somebody else, because you do not own your own life. God alone is the Lord and Giver of Life, and we are not to defy His sovereignty.
Who is the Master of Life? You, or God?
WHo told you to "Choose life"? Data?
This is so fundamental and obvious I'm mildly flabbergasted by the ongoing push-back.
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