Posted on 08/03/2016 6:32:01 PM PDT by pboyington
For the last five years, I have been taking part in a terrible battle. I have been on the front lines of a war that I did not sign up for. I was drafted against my own will to fight. Or, so I thought.
Five years ago somebody wreaked havoc on the life of my Mother. Somebody who was suppose to take care of her and protect her. This someone was a doctor. She approached this doctor seeking help for serious back pain that was keeping her from doing her job. He was an ally and someone she thought that she could rely on.
Unfortunately, he was to be found as a traitor. He continued filling a prescription of Oxycontin at a high dosage, knowing that she had become dependent and addicted to the dangerous opioid. He didn't care. It was money in his pocket.
Not long after the addiction began, my mom lost her job, sequentially losing her health insurance. Panic began to set in as her opioid bottle sat empty. She knew she needed to find a new ally. Somebody who had her in their best interest. Somebody who could get her what she needed. She turned to a street dealer. Once more, my now terribly ill mother fell into a trap of the enemy. For her, on the surface things were better. Although she was paying a hefty price, her dealer always came through. No pain, but also, no job and no money. She couldn't afford to pay for the relief any longer, but she knew who could.
My mother called upon family to support her in this battle. At the time, we didn't know what we were getting drafted to do. We didn't know what kind of war we would be fighting. But she knew what she was doing and her scheme worked. For four straight years, my mom thought up every lie and excuse in the book to keep us on her side and give her the money she needed. My car broke down. I need gas for the week. I have an unexpected bill to pay. The list went on and on. She always had a side job or worked part time, but she never seemed to have money. When I would approach her about constructing a strategy to get back to work as a computer technician, she claimed that it was too difficult. She was older and places were hiring kids right out of college. She would apply for jobs and even get interviews, but for one reason or another, it always fell through.
I knew something wasn't right. Her weight dropped significantly. She was always on the go, but never had money to do anything. She would mention the names of people she was now hanging out with that I never heard of before. The suspicion was there, but the proof wasn't. I felt as if I was on the front lines of a battle, but I couldn't see the enemy.
Last week, after five years of supporting my mother. After five years of battling an invisible enemy, the enemy finally came into sight.
I was at work and I got a call from my mom. She asked if I could meet her at home with one hundred dollars. This was a large sum of money, being that she typically would only ask me for ten or twenty for gas. I told her I couldn't leave work and that she'd have to wait until that evening. You would have thought I told her it was the end of the world. She immediately began crying and begging for me to meet her with the money. I was scared and new something was very wrong. At this point I had lost all concentration to continue working, so I grabbed my things, jumped in the car and headed home. I knew I needed to get to the bottom of this madness.
Once home, my mom was still perpetually crying and shaking. I got her in the car and told her we were just going for a ride to calm her nerves. She begged for me to give her the money. She went on about owing someone and that they were after her. I told her that I didn't have the money to give. She began throwing herself around like a child. She grabbed my purse that was sitting at her feet and dumped everything out onto her lap, sifting through my belongings like a raccoon in a garbage can. I watched calmly in disbelief. This wasn't my mother. I had never seen this woman before. I didn't know this woman.
After the initial shock of realizing what was taking place in my passenger seat, I screamed at her to stop. This was the very first time in five years that I could see the enemy. I was finally face to face with it. As I drove with my hysterical mother in the passenger seat, I realized that I am an enabler. For so long, I was standing on the front lines of a battle that wasn't mine to fight. I felt like America in Vietnam. What was I doing here? At this very moment I threw up the white flag. I surrendered.
The enemy wasn't my mom's lack of a job. The enemy wasn't my mother. The enemy was her addiction, which meant that this was HER battle, NOT mine.
After backing away from the front lines, I was able to view the battle more clearly. She was very sick and this battle was a lot worse than I could have ever imagined. Not only was my mother battling an addiction to prescription pills, but she was now battling an addiction to heroin. How could she have let it come to this? How did I not see the signs sooner?
That day, in the car, I handed my mother the very last one hundred dollars she would receive from me. I was no longer supporting a war that she wasn't ready to give up on.
My mom is still standing at the front lines of that war. She is still giving into the evil addiction that has consumed every aspect of her life. She knows that I am watching from afar. And she knows that whenever she is ready to retreat and throw up that white flag, I will be there to support her and get her the help she needs to recover. But, until she is ready to start fighting the good war, there is nothing I can do. All I can do is pray that she doesn't get herself killed in the battle. If you, a friend, or family member is struggling with an addiction. Don't wait until it's too late. Get help today! Visit American Addition Centers right here.
There are many ways to get clean and sober
I hope this junkie gets that moment of clarity that is life changing ng
Addiction is a weakness. Fight it or die. No excuses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcMVXkZY_rI&list=PLWYDibLy5z0SKbs6YP_z7-IPNTkbXgoT5&index=15
My grandson started with weed when he was 12. He is now 25. He has been in jail 3 times; considers weed and heroin the love of his life. Has never had a girl friend. Has never had a checking account or written a check. Has never psid rent. Has never possessed more then $100 at one time. Here is a fact that all of us who are drug free must take to heart: “a person who is drug free “cannot” live with a person who is addicted to drugs”, period. You are doing the right thing by watching from afar. Only the person addicted to drugs has the power to rescue himself from the hell that he is living in and that rarely happens.
If instead someone is chasing a high, and nodding out, and drooling on themselves, and going far beyond managing their pain, then she needs to get treatment for that.
The whole problem, as stated, seems to be that the treatment stopped for some reason. There's no big deal about being dependent on that medication if the legal supply can be maintained.
So, IMHO, part of the problem here is the additional turmoil created by the phony Drug War.
As such, it causes this "battle" to be waged in an artificial manner. Being forced into a black market, it becomes financially impossible to maintain her supply of medicine.
While it's obviously not ideal to be dependent on any medication, what is relevant is the quality of life that this person can enjoy under an environment of Liberty.
And make no mistake: living a life of constant pain and inability to move is NO alternative to managing her pain.
And be aware also that things like opioid withdrawal can kill older people whose bodies are not in any condition to withstand the physical stresses involved.
It's certainly the case that long term pain management is a totally viable alternative for many people, and it remains to be seen whether removing that alternative is any kind of net positive.
Sad to say, I see this situation as being clearly exacerbated by the Prohibitionist framework within which it functions.
If the woman wants to end her opioid dependence and potentially live her remaining life in constant pain, then let her. Similarly, if she thinks her quality of life can be made better by instead maintaining a regimen of legal, affordable medication, then she has every right to pursue that, without being forced into black markets, illegality, and financial ruin.
It's her choice, and IMHO as a free individual she can make that determination for herself.
Obviously, maintaining treatment in the face of the additional, artificial obstacles that are imposed by a Tyrannical state, has led to the "worst of both worlds" situation in which she and her family find herself.
Personally, I have nothing but contempt for a system which forces individuals into a choice between having a certain quality of life or being a broke criminal.
So ideally, this woman's "addiction" should be dependent on her choice as to whether it raises her quality of life, even though practically speaking, she's wandered into a Hell which is categorically not of her own creation, and she's being shortchanged by both her family AND the government.
Just my 2 cents' worth...
It's orwellian to say that dependence on a non-nutritional chemical is "Liberty".
This is why everyone here should investigate medical energy devices for pain control and healing.
Cold laser therapy and PEMF devices are excellent for dealing with both acute and chronic pain and many conditions ranging from wound healing, neurological problems, nerve pain, arthritis, frozen shoulder, fracture healing, and more.
They are well known to be effective in the medical community.
They do not require prescriptions. You cannot get addicted to them. They actually stimulate the body’s repair mechanisms unlike paun meds that just mask pain.
Like everything, some are better than others. Research must be done, and prices vary for different degrees of power models.
They are excellent. They put you in the drivers seat of dealing with your own medical problems.
I'm talking about the individual being at Liberty to decide whether they want to be dependent on the medicine, while maintaining the ability to move around freely and have a decent quality of life, as contrasted with having no adequate medication, and therefore being unable to move around, being bedridden, and having an even worse quality of life
That is the individual's choice to make, not the doctor's, not the government's, and not the family's. I'm certainly not qualified to dictate to an individual what I think gives them thee best "quality of life". Only the individual can make that choice, hopefully after being fully apprised of the trade-offs involved.
Consequently, I utterly reject the notion that any person should be forced to languish in excruciating pain for the remainder of their life, simply because of someone else's prejudices. If constant pain isn't an issue, that's one thing. But if it is, then that can't be ignored or dismissed, nor should a person be criticized or criminalized simply because they choose the option which they feel gives them the best quality of life.
The situation described in the article obviously exceeds those ideal parameters, and it does so, IMHO, due to no fault of the patient, and therefore the exacerbating factors lie elsewhere.
Vote Trump!
Mad props to your respectful and well-considered explanation for your stance on this issue.
However, I’m just not confident that your best-case scenario is achievable in this world.
You make it seem that removing all interference between those in pain and those who produce and distribute the means to a ‘quality life’ will produce shangri la.
The article already indicates what will go wrong: those in pain will be taken advantage of by those who have the means to give them the quality of life.
The inbalance in the relationship is staggering, to the disadvantage of the sufferer.
The sufferer will still not be free.
As an aside, Vote Trump!
Have you tried any of these devices?
I totally agree as long as they are able to handle this without the buzz and High, life deals some hard things sometimes and as long as done legally I too have no problem with it.
Yes. First investigated to help my older animals. Works on animals and people. Several different kinds, and generally have found the more powerful devices are more helpful for chronic problems which tend to require more power to reach through body structures.
It’s orwellian to say that dependence on a non-nutritional chemical is “Liberty”.
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