OxyContin - One Young Man's Story 
Tony Isaacs
17 y
4,860
R
† Cross †
Recently, it was reported here in CureZone that the maker of OxyContin was fined $644.5 Million for misleading the public. That is a steep fine, but when you look at this young man's story and think of all the other stories of struggle and heartache that are sure to be out there, the fine somehow does not seem adequate:
OxyContin - One Young Man's Story
Once there was a young man of 18 with a heart of gold who, like too many his age, enjoyed partying a bit more than he should, but was loved by one and all and had never committed a single criminal act, except for the partying.
One night, while his father was out of town, he became impatient waiting on friends who were supposed to give him a ride to a party and he "borrowed" his father's car, an Acura V6, and drove himself to the party. His friends showed up at the party later, stayed only briefly and then left and the young man found himself a stranger in the midst of some less than friendly guys from another neighborhood who began taunting him. Rather than getting into a fight, the young man left in anger and took some of his frustrations out on the car by driving too fast.
Several miles later, still storming down the highway, a drunk driver veered out of the adjacent lane of traffic and tapped the Acura's right rear hard enough to send it spinning out of control. The young man fought frantically for control as the car spun and then skidded across the grassy median and into oncoming traffic. Somehow he was able to avoid the oncoming traffic and gain enough control to bring the car out of the oncoming lanes and back into the median, where it lost traction in the grass and begin sliding swiftly back towards the other side of the highway as it approached an overpass.
Beneath the overpass was a guardrail cured by a number of large one foot by one foot wooden steel clad posts. The out of control car mowed through several posts like they were toothpicks, chewed up the guardrail like it was tin foil and continued it's left to right path across the pavement to the guardrail on the other side, where it destroyed a few more posts and a large portion of guardrail and finally came to a stop. The entire wreck lasted scant seconds but took half a mile from start to finish and impact was so great that the car's battery ended up another 150 yards down the highway.
Somehow the young man was alive and conscious and he managed to crawl out of the car, where he collapsed in a pool of blood and remained there until he was later careflighted to the hospital. Anyone who saw the photos of the mangled car would swear that no one lived through such a wreck, as the car looked for all the world like a smashed and crumpled aluminum can.
Although it was touch and go for awhile, the young man did live. For many months, the young man had to be carried back and forth from the bed or sofa to the bathroom, and it took three major operations, several minor ones, skin grafts and an ocean of love and tears before he was finally, almost a year to the day from the accident able to walk again unassisted.
Eventually, the young man was restored to 90 plus percent of his old self, albeit with enough titanium rods, pins, screws and plates to set off a major alarm at any airport checkpoint. He was a very strong and determined young man and he put everything he had into his physical rehabilitation - the same kind of effort he gave as a member of his state championship soccer team and as an accomplished martial arts competitor.
And so he won the physical battle. But sadly, there is another battle he has not been able to win - one that he still fights every day. While his long ordeal and painful efforts left him almost physically whole again, it also left him with a monkey on his back that he has not been able to shake: the addiction to OxyContin, the painkiller that was prescribed as being the best available for the intense pain he suffered. Much was said at the time about how wonderfully OxyContin relieved pain. Nothing was said about it being even more addictive than heroin.
After over 8 years and fully a dozen drug rehab programs, the no longer quite so young man, finally got caught up in the legal justice system and ended up in a state sponsored (prison) rehab program. Despite never committing robbery or any other non-drug related crime, no record of violence, etc., the young man ended up with a criminal record for drug possession and ended up losing years of his youth to the pain and desperation of a habit he could not beat. And it all started with a mistake in judgment that was compounded by OxyContin.
It has been eight months now since he last did any drugs. Only two weeks ago, he was given his freedom and once again is able to enjoy the freedoms you and I take for granted. Maybe, just maybe, this time he has finally gained the time and determination to get past his nemesis and get on with his life.
I certainly hope and pray that is true. The young man is my son.
With hope and tears,
DQ
(Note: I originally posted this in response to the post: OxyContin Maker fined $644.5 million for misleading the public http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=923057#i but I did not do so until the story was three days old and well down the page. After thinking about it, I decided that if I were going to share this story at all, I wanted to share it with as many as possible and so I am reposting it as a separate topic.)
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... lajoanna
17 y
3,520
This is a reply to # 925,614My prayers are with you my friend! I tear with you...my mother is addicted to prescription drugs...OxyContin being her favorite...I hope the best for your son. It is a rollercoaster that I wouldn't wish upon anyone.
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... b2reflect
17 y
3,378
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... Karlin
17 y
3,522
This is a reply to # 925,642One thing is for sure - that young man is lucky to have you for his father, a father who cares enough to understand his son's addiction...
"Nothing was said about it being even more addictive than heroin." - same for me when I was prescribed morphine for pain.
My body was also smashed and broken by a drunk driver - I was on a motorcycle going through a GREEN light. Metal in my legs, hospitals for many months, a year before I could walk without assistance.
And now, almost 15 years later, my whole existence is about morphine. I tried quitting a few times, but there is still pain and other problems that show up once the morphine is stopped ["unmasking"]
The real crime is that your son did nothing to deserve JAIL!!! Thats the War on Drugs creating its criminals, and then offering the solution of prison.
We [your son and I] were both given our drugs by doctors, and then the doctors stopped prescribing or didn't increase doseages and we had to go looking on the streets for our medicines. This is on orders from the medical colleges who are demanding that only cancer patients get opiates [so the pharma-giants can sell more pills with patents and bigger profits] [yes, I do believe that is true] [I have heard it from high sources]. Where I live, the med colleges have actually posted these guidlines, complete with how to uncover evidence of using needles [which is the best way these drugs are taken] so that there is a legal reason to stop their prescriptions. Then crimes may or may not happen, depending on the financial resources of the addict.
Sorry to add complications to your grief Dad, but it is a very unfair situation your son and I are in. Things could change to make it more humane for people in pain.
K
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... Tony Isaacs
17 y
3,558
This is a reply to # 925,732For the past year, I worked as a barely paid volunteer for NFL Legend Isiah Robertson - which meant for the past six months I got a place to stay in a wood frame house filled with "recovering addicts", a whopping $50 a week spending money and all the food that $150 in food stamps and visits to food pantries would provide. Prior to that I was the 24/7 supervisor of one of Isiah's House of Isaiah residential treatment centers in Mabank, Texas.
Besides serving as facility supervisor an nutrition consultant (just like in other areas of health, mental health and addiction recovery are greatly enhanced by proper nutrition and greatly retarded by the lack thereof), I also helped with grantwriting and helped put together programs and websites for Isiah, himself a recovered addict:
The House of Isaiah http://www.houseofisaiah.org
Athletes for a Drug Free America http://www.athletesforadrugfreeamerica.org
Isiah Robertson's Personal Website http://www.isiahrobertson.com
I know very well the pain, heartache and struggle of addiction - the toll it takes on young lives (and old ones too), families and communities. And I know how very hard it is to break the dependence on painkillers and other drugs and how truly powerless those who are caught up in that dark web become.
Another former addict turned counselor, Thomas Hollywood Henderson, former Dallas Cowboy great, once said "The first time someone uses drugs, Shame on them! After that first time, pity them!"
Whether by bad decisions or by happenstance, those who enter into the darkness of addiction are victims more than anything else. And it serves no one nor our society to make them into criminals.
DQ
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... Tony Isaacs
17 y
3,558
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... Karlin
17 y
3,522
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... LuellaMay
17 y
3,508
This is a reply to # 925,614Thank you for sharing your heart with us. Hopefully your son will be able to leave the past behind and go on to a bright and wonderful future.
It is a shame that despite having to suffer so physically, he has also had to suffer the ravages of addiction. No, it is not a shame. It is a crime. As you stated, we don't know how many are out there with the same problem. The unsuspecting patient is trusting the doctor and the medicine to help him, to heal him. They have no idea that from this moment on their life will turn to pure hell with drug addiction, rehab, prison, and a record. This is not at all fair.
Although OxyContin was fined that large sum of money it does not fix the lives they have ruined. Unfortunately, there are other drugs out there also ruining lives.
I wish the best for you son, DQ, he is in my prayers. I know what you are going through as his dad. Our hearts break when our children suffer.- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... Tony Isaacs
17 y
3,543
This is a reply to # 925,739It is a sad commentary that no fewer than three of the medications that have been prescribed for my son are now the subjects of class action lawsuits.
DQ- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... LuellaMay
17 y
3,511
MoreThis is a reply to # 925,749DQ this is terrible. What other route can be taken? Nobody deserves this and yet there are too many out there suffering.
Luella - Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... jurplesman
17 y
3,340
This is a reply to # 925,749I wonder whether I could be of some assistance in helping people with chronic pain by steering them to some possible alternatives.
Management of Chronic Pain at:
http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/articles/pain_management.html
I am sure you would have tried them too.
_______________________________________________
Jurriaan Plesman BA (Psych) Post Grad Dip Clin Nutr
Editor of
The Hypoglycemic Health Association of Australia.
Author of "Getting off the Hook"
Freely available at Google Book Search
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... jurplesman
17 y
3,341
MoreThis is a reply to # 925,749What a tragic story about your son. I wonder whether I could be of some assistance in helping people with chronic pain by steering them to some possible alternatives.
Management of Chronic Pain at:
http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/articles/pain_management.html
I am sure you would have tried them too.
_______________________________________________
Jurriaan Plesman BA (Psych) Post Grad Dip Clin Nutr
Editor of
The Hypoglycemic Health Association of Australia.
Author of "Getting off the Hook"
Freely available at Google Book Search
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... LuellaMay
17 y
3,511
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... Tony Isaacs
17 y
3,543
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... Raynbo
17 y
3,678
This is a reply to # 925,614There is very little I can say that others have not already said, but I agree that you son is very fortunate to have a father that not only understands addiction, but knows how to bring people back to health.
I feel a little shy as recommending things,as I am sure you know more about natural healing then I do, and I know that young men are sometimes a bit headstrong...and it may not be a like-father-like-son situation. I also have gotten the impression that you are on the conservative side when it comes to fasting, but...
As far keeping him clean and helping him to feel better, I can only pass on that The Master Cleanse has done so much for me and it is recommended for helping people with addictions. When those lemons and Cayenne get in there they can dissolve just about anything...
and Holosync ...have you ever heard of it?
http://www.holistichealthtools.com/holosync.html
It is a wee bit expensive, but it really works. I learned about this from Owen, a long standing curezoner.... By simply listening to these tapes (CDs...my age is showing)for a 1/2 hour to an hour a day, they can take you to advanced states of meditation in record time...without he gurus and spiritual rituals that such things are known for, and when that happens old patterns melt away. Enlightenment need not be your goal...and since you do it on your own, you are not inundated with other people's belief systems. In fact, once you get past the beginners introduction, you put your own choice of subliminal affirmations on the CD in your own voice....so you can work on anythng you want to.
Just a thought.
Iris
PS: Who put that bowl of brains on my post? I hate it... - Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... been there done that
17 y
3,434
This is a reply to # 925,614Dquixote1217,
Congratulations to your son for having a father like you. My brother died 23 years ago trying to deal with life after growing up on drugs. He had spent the last ten yrs. of his life in rehab 3000 miles away in San Fransisco while taking small jobs as a roofing contractor (he had to tie himself onto the roof to avoid rolling off when he blacked out). He could have been a great artist and expressed his dreams very well on paper (he rivaled Peter Max). He had many interests in life (the measure of a person), but I think the worst part about drugs is that it demoralizes even a strong person and overrides (competes with) their dreams.
It must have been devastating for your son to lose his dream of soccer.
When I was a teen (10 months younger than my brother), chess was my dream,...the most intense, self-realizing, and joyous activity of my life, but I was a loner, and after my chess partners all moved away, I simply gave up on life.
It's not simply "time and determination to get past his nemesis" that will help him salvage his life, it is the ability to pursue a dream. Chess is intensely self-indulgent and requires the "martial arts" of the MIND.
For the last eight years, you glorified God in the way that you helped him, but in order for him to enjoy life, he has to pursue a new dream and exercise his sportsmanship.
(I always compared the strategies of martial arts and chess,...the wisdom to use the strength and tactics of your opponent to your benefit).
-
Thanks to Everyone Tony Isaacs
17 y
3,503
This is a reply to # 925,614I just wanted to say 'thanks" to everyone for their good wishes, advice and understanding.
One thing you can be sure of - I will never give up on my son. I love him more than life itself. When I'm not wanting to strangle him, that is.
Sean on the soccer field at age 8
Sean, years later with step-daughter Karma foraging for food in the middle of the night at our campsite at Lake Whitney (the scar on his left arm is where they put in one of the titanium rods from the auto accident)
- Re: Thanks to Everyone Raynbo
17 y
3,413
- Thanks Raynbo Tony Isaacs
17 y
3,389
This is a reply to # 926,562Awwwwww
Thanks!
Say, you were commenting on your avatar earlier - why not change it? Need help?
How about, say
or maybe
DQ
- Re: Thanks Raynbo Raynbo
17 y
3,412
This is a reply to # 926,637My avatar? Oh...that thing. I just figured out it was my URL and THEN figured out how to change it to a flower...but wow...that is sooooo much better.
Of course, I would have no idea how to make it little and get it up there.
- Re: Thanks Raynbo Raynbo
17 y
3,412
-
- Re: Thanks to Everyone Raynbo
17 y
3,413
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... addictions free
17 y
3,649
This is a reply to # 925,614
Thank you, Dquixote1217 for sharing your story and, to CureZone for offering a great place to share.
I have read through the entire thread and I agree with everyone... your son is very blessed to have a Dad that understands him and his addiction. "Keep up the Good Fight" I think you have alot of people cheering for both of you.
I lost my Father due to alcohol
My mother due to perscription drugs
and my brother due to smoking.
I believe all three would of had a greater chance of being alive today, had I of known then what I know now.
I remember frantically searching for alternative ways to help them, knowing deep inside that the care they were receiving was only making them worse. I so badly wanted to help them. When I would come across something that might be benificial... I would run in to two mayjor "road blocks" they were either too afraid to try something new or didn't have enough background info to believe it could work, and the other "road block" that kills me the most was, money. They in know way could afford the alternatve treatment. I paid for as much as I could knowing there was so much more they could of benifited from.
Since their passing I continued with my informal studies in hopes to help my son who was ADD. I tried a myriad of different nutritional approaches to help him and had some successes but nothing that was substantial, so I began formal studies involving brain chemistry, biocemical balancing, amino acid therapy and the addicted brain. My son has shown amazing results...using only natural treatments....no drugs. "hooray!!!"
Your story offers hope and is very incouraging. I remember many times losing all hope and really needed to hear a succes story to keep me going.
Thanks for posting!!!!!!
LK
ps. You mentioned in your post that you worked as a nutritional coach??? Is this what helped your son? if so what nutrients did you find most benificial? or was it a combination of things?
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... #66414
17 y
3,416
This is a reply to # 925,614Damn straight they mislead the public.
Oxycontin and similar semisynthetic opioids were originally marketed as NON ADDICTIVE analgesics that could be safely used in patients with a history of substance abuse.
Oxycontin is formulated as an extended release product, but on the streets is usually crushed and snorted. (Not only the streets; this stuff affects people from all walks of life). So you are basically getting a day's worth of drug in seconds.
As more powerful drugs come out for the treatment of pain and WHATEVER, more and more people will develop dependence on them.
It has NOTHING to do with will power or character.
These drugs are more powerful than you or me. ANYONE can become "addicted". (I put "addicted" in quotes because that term is really not used medically. We say "psychologically" and/or "physically" dependent.)
It is heartbreaking how vibrant productive people can be transformed into junkies from this stuff. To me, the stigma attached is also heartbreaking. How people are judged for their addictions by people who could be in the same place under similar circumstances...how sometimes their own family gives up on them and doesn't see why they just can't stop and go to rehab for God's sake!
It is not that easy...
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... LuellaMay
17 y
3,156
This is a reply to # 1,054,272
Thank you for your wonderful post. These people are victims, and having people look down on them for their misfortune is a crime.
Hugs,
Luella
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... LuellaMay
17 y
3,156
- Re: OxyContin - One Young Man's Stor... lajoanna
17 y
3,520
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