My story is like many others stories of addiction perhaps with a slightly different ending. I became addicted in 1996 to prescription painkillers following a motorcycle accident in which I injured my back. I was started on Vicodin but quickly advanced to Oxycontin or Roxicodone. However, as my tolerance grew so did my desperation. Prescriptions only lasted a few days so I resorted to buying them.
I began snorting & injecting also. My job afforded me the luxury of always having clean needles.. All the while I was covering on the job, as well as, sneaking what I could from work.. Stealing came later but it came all the same. Shocking what you will do to stop the pain of withdrawal. Eventually, pressure from work become too much so I quit & quietly entered an inpatient rehabilitation program at an out of town hospital. Needless to say the program didn't work. Several rehabs, divorces, a few trips to jail & 10 years later I found Methadone! Nobody had much faith it would work. Most of all me. However, I had just been diagnosed with Hepatitis C oddly enough from a needle stick while working as a nurse instead of drugs. To make matters worse I was on the street with my son. I had to do something & this was the only thing I had not tried.
After one week it was as if my drug use had been a dream! I wasn't high. I wasn't sick. I was normal! My family had the person back that they had missed for so long. One Year & 6mo. later I am still clean. Unfortunately, my HCV has advanced to liver cancer. Nevertheless, that has not prevented me from continuing with my program. I decided to make this video because I was so tired of defending a program & a medication that has saved thousands. My life may be shortened but it won't be because of drugs! That is a comfort I cannot explain. As I say in my video....Methadone is not the ONLY way but it was the ONLY way for me. If this video can help one addict find a normal life through MMT then it will be worth all the hard work I put into making it! Have A Blessed Day!
I am very sad to announce that on 2/28/09, Kristina lost a long battle with Hepatitis C and liver cancer. She will be missed. Here is her obit from the Daily independent News...
Kristina Phelps - 1973-2009
Kristina Leigh Phelps, 35, of Louisa, died Saturday in St. Mary’s Medical Center in Huntington, W.Va.
She was born May 1, 1973, in Louisa.
A graveside service will be at 2 p.m. today at Setser Cemetery in Fallsburg.
There is no visitation.
Young Funeral Home in Louisa is in charge of arrangements.
PROBLEMS IN NEPAL
Hello, fellow advocates - We need you! I have been contacted by a wonderful organization in the Kingdom of Nepal...asking for our help, suggestions. Nepal is a country inbetween India and China, as best I understand it....geography was never my forte.
Nepal is on the verge of starting Methadone Program with the Support from
UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) and the Nepal Government, however they are a few so called abstinent pundits who have started writing hate-mails to government, donors and users activists. They did try to have meetings and consultation with them and most of the ex-users are convinced that this program is much needed. However there are few remaining extremists who still are writing hate mail to them.
They have tried writing them back with scientific
evidence but they are so closed minded that they insist they are
doing it for the sake of dollars.
If anyone could share ideas on tackling this issue it would be very much appreciated! They fear that if this continues, the government might get influenced and decide to cancel their plans for the methadone program.
"Dear Carol -
Finally we did it!
The MMT program has been launched in Nepal from 30th October 2007.
Thanks to you that you provided us with moral support and guidance."
I really am so excited to open this new area of the website! We started with a little advocacy section on our info/news page, but have now outgrown that and couldn't be happier!
If you have a project that you are working on....something that you might have done in the past...something that you would like to do...or ANYTHING/ANYONE you would like to see added to this page, simply drop me a line!
We'd love to hear from you!
Carol Sholiton - Methadone Support Org. (MSO)
This article has been a lonnng time coming! Hoss Kitts is a Super Advocate and someone I am PROUD to call "friend". We are all grateful for and aware of the wonderful support that he gives everyone on his We Speak Methadone forums...or his "baby", lol. However....that is just part of what Hoss does. He was also NAMA's Chapter Director for the entire state of Virginia and in that capacity has been there for patients needing bigtime help......as in going to court etc. At present he is now chapter director of Southwest Va/Southern WV. So it's no surprise that Hoss received the award for NAMA's Advocate of the Year for 2004....that was presented to him at the AATOD conference that year. (see photo at top)
Recently I got to watch as he helped clear up a miscommunication with a clinic in West Virginia that a patient was having a hard time with. He did it quickly and without going into all the gory details.... all's well that end's well! He has an understanding of MMT....education of the drug itself and the rules and regs that go along with it....and the compassion and heart to deal with the patients that are scared for whatever reason. I've said numerous times that we need to clone Hoss for ALL the states!
All of this from a little 5th grader who started playing saxophone and who's dream was always to be a professional musician. Hoss went through high school, made All County Band 4 years in a row, from his freshman year, made All District Band in his junior year, and ALL STATE Band in his senior year. Well, Hoss.....you may not have ended up with the musical career you dreamt of....but you are definitely one of MY heroes!
The Recovery Talk Network (RTN) was formed to reduce the stigma of the disease of addiction by providing listeners with a wide array of people who share their recovery or how they help others recover.
Guests include authors, doctors, as well as members of 12 Step anonymous programs and others who found alternative paths to recovery.
After working with a different network, Larry W. launched RTN in March of 2007. With his co-host Constantine and Wednesday host Richard C., RTN airs live from 8-10 (Pacific) Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights as carried by cable systems in 33 states in over 11 million homes by CRN Digital Talk (www.crntalk.com) and in Boston and the Chicago area by Langer Broadcasting. In 2008, they intend to expand to more nights and cities (with the help of additional host and sponsorship). His first recovery radio stint was when he created and hosted “There Is a Solution” for a year and a half in 1990 and 1991.
On a more personal note...Larry got sober in 1975 in N. Miami and is also recovering from compulsive overeating thanks to Overeaters Anonymous (OA) and Compulsive Eaters Anonymous (CEA-HOW).
I will be a guest on RTN in the next few weeks and will post the date/time as soon as I know it!
......I first received this message...
READ MORE! - "GREAT update for Nepal"
