Hello Sir,
I don’t know if you remember me, we spoke awhile back about someone whose was having issues getting her pain meds. You helped me navigate things and in the end we got her what she needed. Thank you again for your time with that. Since then I have been doing my best to advocate for Kratom as well as pain patients and today I’m sad to say that the war on chronic pain sufferers has his a new low. I’m docimenting this horrific journey with video and pictures, so there will be more. However I wanted to share with you as I’m seeing it more and more.
Laying on my couch right now is my dear friend Nikki. She introduced me to Kratom years ago, I owe my life to her as the path she set me on was what prompted me to stop taking 17 medications and go the alternative route. She is a fierce fighter who was dx with breast cancer three years ago. For many that can be a death sentance as you know. Not for Nikki, see she didn’t have time for any of that. She opted for a double mastectomy and chemo, followed by radiation. I watched in awe as this woman drove herself to her appointments, I watched as she got her chemo that she was allergic to, a team standing near in case the steroids and Benadryl weren’t enough. I watched her rock her wigs and never once, not one single time, let the thought she wasn’t going to make it cross her mind. If it did she refused to give it life. She is an inspiration and I remember watching her go through all of that and thinking I’d be lucky if I had even a fraction of her will and strength. At her lowest when she couldn’t make it to the bathroom, when she was void of all dignity, when those around her were at a loss for words. It was her who told us, it would be okay. Slowly but surely she recovered and for a year she did well.
Then she started having stomach issues. 15 ER visits and almost two years later she got a dx of ILC it’s all over her stomach… she is down to a weight we would be concerned of if in a dog. She can no longer eat as her stomach violently seizes. Weekly we make trips to the ER to get fluid drained from her stomach. This time is different than the last, she is still fighting but this time, she needs help with her fight. If there is a chance for her, she needs all the help she can get, and yet instead of fighting for her life. My sweet friend is fighting for her right to Pain meds.
Her refill date came and we made the call to her oncologist who sent it over to the pharmacy. However when we went to pick it up, she was given half of what she was previously being given. Her original scripts were for 10 fentanyl patches and 180 norco she was to wear a patch at all times and take the norco as needed up to 4 times a day. I can attest to the fact even at those doses I have sat by her as she screamed in pain, gasping for air, begging God to let it stop. Even for a moment. So it was quite horrifying when I called her oncologist to see why she had been cut back, and I was told it was not what the doctor wanted to do. She was being forced to cut all her patients down to a 90mg morphine or equiviant a day. I heard the pain in this doctors voice and I felt for her. She said the pressure to do this though not law, might as well be. Her frustration in with this situation was clear as she was quite candid about her feelings about being forced to do this.
I’m not writing you for help this time Sir. I have finally learned enough that I knew the next steps and we have signed her up with hospice and found a pain management doctor willing to go through the steps to get authorization to give her more meds etc etc My reason for writing you is to share her story. One thing that has never changed during this ridiculous crackdown on rx Pain meds has been the statement that cancer patients are exempt from all these cutbacks. The general consensus is that only addicts are being cut back, pill mills shut down, but true chronic pain patients in the end will have their access and as far as cancer, they wouldn’t encounter ANY issues. This is simply not true. I did a poll in a Pain group and within 45 Minutes over 30 cancer patients had clicked the option that said “have medication cut in half” some clicked the option for having their meds STOPPED.
The rage I feel right now is nothing I’ve ever felt before and as I record her, and document this horrifying journey for her in hopes this madness stops, all I can think of is standing in front of the powers that be with a video of her screaming while her body tightens ands her face turns red as she begs for relief. Justify this. No, matter where one stands in this fight, I dare anyone to argue that this is okay. That this is an acceptable side effect of this war. If Nikki were a dog she would get relief in fact a human could face legal ramifications if they allowed a dog to suffer the way she is suffering. I don’t want to live in a world where this is unacceptable for animals but perfectly fine for humans.
I’ve included a picture of Nikki with her permission. This is the face of someone who was supposed to be exempt from these new guidelines, this is her when the pain isn’t so bad. This is her reality and this is unacceptable. As time passes and we see more and more of this and the powers that be tell us that it’s all to address a greater problem. Please remember my friend. The only hope I can offer her at the moment is we won’t let her suffering be for nothing.
Thank you for reading
Filed under: General Problems
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