Narcotic abuse is rampant in our society and we have all
become complicit in ignoring its causes.
As I wrote about on April 3, I recently had minor
surgery. An endometrial ablasion, which is a 1 day procedure that includes a
D&C. As I sat in pre-op I was
visited by no less than 5 people. They each introduced themselves and reviewed what
I was having done. Someone mentioned I’d be going home with 2 prescriptions:
800mg Motrin and Percocet. I was a bit nervous and really just wanted to be
knocked out and taken to the OR. Actually they kept me awake so in the OR
everyone could again identify themselves and say what they were there to do. My
brain wanted to explode – please just put that mask of propofol on my face!
Finally I was awaking in recovery. A nurse noticed and was
at my bedside explaining she would get my Percocet and be right back. My groggy self knew enough to realize that I
was not in pain at all. I was too out of it to verbalize anything. Luckily it
took her awhile so when she came back with her tiny paper cup holding the pill
I had the wherewithal to protest. No I do NOT want a narcotic. She was
surprised and asked me my pain level from 0-10, I said 2. She agreed to “dispose”
of the pill. Flashes of Nurse Jackie pocketing the pill ran before my eyes, but
no matter to me, I did not want nor need to ingest it.
Today I’m 10 days post-op and didn’t fill either prescription.
I took 3 standard Motrin the evening of the surgery. A couple more the
next day and that was it. I never had
anything close to severe pain. I was sporadically uncomfortable for a day or
two as my uterus recovered from the invasion. I don’t have an unusually high
tolerance for pain which makes me wonder if other people think being a little
uncomfortable is reason for narcotics. I wouldn’t want someone to needlessly
suffer in pain, but doesn’t a reasonable amount of pain mean your body is
coping and you are alive?
Maybe I’m the odd-man out. I never have understood women who
wanted to have an epidural as soon as they arrived at the hospital for
childbirth. My thinking is that if I’m
going to deliver a 7 lb. baby that it is going to hurt and I did know that when
I got myself into that situation. I guess I’m of the “whatever doesn’t kill you
makes you stronger” mindset. Well, at least epidurals are not a highly addictive,
easily acquirable drug.
Back to our nation's narcotic/opiod crisis. This situation that I was in is repeated
daily thousands of times across the US. Percocet and Oxycodone are routinely prescribed for a multitude of surgeries.
See the astounding data from the CDC here. Otherwise sane, productive, normal people go home and fill these prescriptions.
Some of them will become addicted. Many who are able to just take a few pills
or never take any more will find their pills being pilfered by someone in their
household. A teenage child, one of the child’s friends, a service person, even
one of their own friends who is hiding his/her addiction will find themselves
sneaking 1 pill while using the bathroom.
The only power I have is that of AWARENESS. Please pass the
word and research this yourself. If you
don’t think you personally know someone addicted to narcotics, you are probably
wrong. There are many, many very good people hiding their addiction right in your
insulated suburban neighborhood.
Although this blog has morphed from KindCleaning (with Norwex) to KindCleaning (your body for healthy living) I cannot ignore some social problems that definitely affect the health of our society.
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