I would like to do a study on drug addiction within the medical community itself. I, myself being a medical professional ( EMT), am no stranger to this topic. After being injured in an ambulance accident in 1993, I began to get horrible migraines....and these became problematic, clustering and spanning longer and longer lengths of time, lasting perhaps maybe one or two weeks without any relief. I found out that I had minute fractures in my cervical spine and my spinal cord somehow became constricted or swelled at certain times, causing these migraines. I have tried every experimental drug on the market, and had several procedures done, and I wish I could report that they worked, but they haven't. I've been on pain meds for 17 years, my tolerance level is incredibly high. I acquired what one physician has termed, " A quasi-addiction".
Last year, 2009, was the worst year of my life. I lost my job as an EMT, and at the same time was thrown out of a pain management program because my Landlady, a "recovering" heroin addict of 25 years, found where I hid my medication and had a ball with it....and when I called to explain this to my physician he immediately discharged me. I was going through withdrawal, and my Landlady was kind enough to offer me a substitute for the morphine and percocet I had been on: Heroin. Six weeks later I found myself in jail. My life as a medical professional appears to be over....I mean, who wants to hire a Felon? I am still on pain meds, but I am attempting to keep them under control. I have no desire to use heroin and have been free of that particular drug since May of last year. You have no idea how I want my old life back.
I know there must be many medical professionals who are grappling with addiction, trying to keep their problem hidden, or are themselves in denial. Here's your chance to come on out and talk about it....not all drug addicts are deviants hiding in the shadows of burned-out buildings with a needle in their arm. They are you and me.
