Topic : 12/29 "Save My Mommy!"

Whoever reads this please read all of it and please show it to Dr. Phil. please. I am a recovered addict due to Dr. Phil's show 'Escaping Addiction' with Joni as the guest.  When I saw the show I laying in the hospital fighting a staph infetion from using dirty needles, Iv Buprenex and takling multitudes of benzos and naecotic pain meds also smoking pot.  I wrote down La Hacienda, because this looked like my only hope.  I continued with my drugs after leaving the hospital for another year.  One day in March 2006 my husband woke up to go to work when he found me amonge the trees, where I spent the night  in my wheelchair passed out, when he returned home that evening from work he found me in the same spot passed out, he awakened me and I so the fear in his face, white as a sheet.  He thought I had died.

I made up my mind to go to LaHacienda.  I made the arrangements and he took me there the next day. I was there at the same time Lisa was there.. There I learned about how to escape my addiction.  It was indeed the hardest thing I have ever done. I am so thankful for you Dr. Phil.  So many good things have happened since I took charge of my life.  I have a granddaughter that I had been raising for 5 years and when the addiction got to the point that I could not take care of her, my daughter ran off with her hiding her for 2 years, and it was a horrible time for my grandaughter.  She went through abuse from her mother's boyfriend  I just want to cry sometimes when I think of what happened to Ivey.  After treatment I found Ivey a year later and I was able to care for her the way she deserved, my daughter was not a good mother she was addicted to meth.  Her mother had 3 boys taken away by cps, luckily I vey was with her other grandmother.  Ivey came home Feb 2007.  I was disabled from an auto accident,1988 and I had 8 back surgeries and my 7th back surgery left me bent over with a 60 degree curvature, I had a hard time seeing in front of me, I walked around bent over looking at the ground.  When I left LaHacienda I changed pain mgmt doctors.

I saw Dr. M, the firs day I saw him he told me that I don't have to walk around like that..well..I didn't take his advice at first because I had some bad experiences with  previous surgeons.  I went to him for a year before I decided to check out his referal.  At this time I was desperate because I was so much involved with Ivey,playing soccer, school activities.  I started having severe headaches from walking around bent over, it was like carrying a bowling ball around my neck.  I knew if I didn't do something I would be taking pain meds again, because the steroid injections did not help. I went to see Dr. R in Austin, Texas., We did some tests and he told me he could correct my curvature and I would be able to stand up straight.  He explained the surgery procedure.  All I could do is cry from being so scared.  This would be an invasive surgery.  I cancelled a few times and Finally I rescheduled to have the surgery.  He did 2 open wedge  osteomy's and broke my back in 2 places, he used live stem cells to speed up the healing. He repaired all of the past surgeries from L5-s1 up to T8 with rods and screws.  It was a 10 1/2 hours surgery.  He had planned on doing it in 2 surgeries, but I was doing good and lost very little blood.  If I had been on all of those drugs I don't even know if I would have made it through the surgery.  Plus having a clear head drug free, changes pain doctors I would have never been able to make the choice to have the surgery, I was always to busy looking for more drugs before going to La Hacienda.

Oh, by the way 4 day's later in ICU the therapist and nurses helped me out of the bed and THANK GOD I was standing straight with a lumbar curve.  My husband and myself just cried with tears of joy.  I have not been in my wheel chair  since Feb 2008. 

Dr. Phil I could not have made these changes without your TV show and LaHacienda, Ron helped me getting into LaHa,My thanks to the nursing staff also the wonderful chef's.  I have my lfe back and it all started with Escaping Addiction.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Also I now have custody of Ivey, you helped change her life, I could not have gotten her if I was still on all the drugs. When Ivey saw me in the hospital stand up, she said I didn't look like her grandmother, I was taller now.  I love it whe I see people for the first time after the surgery they have the look of amazement.  I thank you frome the bottom of my heart,. Dr. V is my hero.  Thanks for the help!!!

I hope you will get to read this. I'm sure you have touched many lives, especially my husband, 3 daughters, a son and 14 grandchildren, an also my dad(he cried when he saw me sober for the 1st time, I lost my mother to this disease.) Thanks, for my new life being sober and being able to walk with out looking at the ground and having those horrible headaches along with backaches.  I tell everyone that this chane in me started wity Dr.Phil
Sincerely thankful,
Anna

This can happen to anyone....does not mean addiction happens to you because of race or your income or where you live.  i have suffered from pain for about 6 years now.  i was able to live with it for @ year i did not want to start taking pills. I sall what it did to people in the past.  Then it got worse. I went back to the doctors and found out my back worse, so I decided to try them.  I also receive epidural shots in my back every 3 months.     I know at times I do need the medication, but not as much as I am taking.  i have been getting them from my doctor and my back doctor.  I am at the point that I know the shots work but I can not even tell if I don't need the medication.  It has caught up to me so quick.  I do not take as much as this lady but, I have taken @ 10-15 Vicodin ES day without even my family knowing.  I am not prescribed oxy. or percacet.  But I am afraid that in the future it might turn to that.  i have tried it. Certain people I know have taken it and have given it to me at times.  Still my family has no clue.  It has been on my mind to talk to my husband, i know that he will be very supportive!! He knows I take them when needed, He even tells me to take them when he sees me in pain.  But he has know idea it is everyday.  When you get to this point you also feel so low that you can betray someone who loves you more then anything.  I feel like the most selfish person in the world!! 

I would like to THANK DR.PHIL for this show...Seeing what happens when it is in front of your face, I know what I have to do.  Sit and talk to my husband!!

I know that I have to do it before I destroy everything good in my life....and I start asking the doctors for harder drugs..(which scares me the most).

 

I feel for this family...I also think the husband needs to be there for his wife (if he wants to stay in the marriage)..especially for the children.  They both need to talk to someone also.

i hope everything works for her and her family...I will be thinking of her.

 

I hope there will be a updated show!!!

 

 

Wow!!  Uhh...I think she gets that she has a problem, has endangered her children, has endangered other people by driving, has relied on her 11-yr-old to care for her children, has had a regrettable affair, and whatever else you are beating her over the head for.  Wish my slate was as clean as YOURS to qualify me for stone throwing.  Never mind...I really don't like to throw stones or ride on REALLY high horses.  Do you have any compassion AT ALL??  Did you see that she cried, regretted, admitted her problems, accepted HELP and was very willing to STOP what she was doing?  Do you understand confession and repentance AND a cry for help?  By your post, it appears not.  By prayer, I hope a light will turn on, because WE ALL fall short, hunny.  Best to you.

 

Brenda

 

 

 After having heard this guests story, I truly do feel for her and I hope she is able to survive detox and actively participates in her recovery.  I wish she and her family the best.

I knew what this episode would entail as I had seen the commercials but I am frustrated nevertheless.  I have suffered from Chronic Pain for six years.  Chronic Pain is now being recognized by many in the health profession as an actual condition of its own.  I will not bother you with all the details but due to an injury I suffered many years ago in a motor vehicle accident, we were hit 'head on' by an impaired driver, I had to have my knee replaced in 2001.  Approximately three months later, the pain began with no explanation.  I have seen numerous doctors, had scans, x-rays, blood work, medical procedures to try and block the pain to no avail.

At the same time I try alternative therapies, I also work closely with my pain doctor on a regime of medications to allow me to get out of bed in the morning and function.  My medications would likely be considered by most people very heavy narcotics.  The frustrating part for me is that I fear episodes like the one today, will lead the public to believe that all patients that take medications for pain, anxiety etc. are like this guest.  We are not!  I do not 'doctor hop/shop', take more then my prescribed dose (if anything I tend to under medicate), lie to my family about my medications or steal to obtain them.  I have one pain doctor and our family doctor I work with, I research my condition to the best of my ability and all follow all my doctor's orders exactly.

I understand that the type of story portrayed today has a need to be told and I do hope it helps viewers that may be in the same position as this guest to seek help.  My wish is that there would be information given  before or during the show that told viewers there are legitimate reasons for taking these types of medications, that not all patients that start out taking these medications end up needing rehab.

It would be refreshing to see the useful purpose of these medications and not always the negative side.

Thank You
CraftyCanuck64

Hi, I am brand new here.  I just would like to comment on today's show.  I am a substance abuse counselor at an opiate treatment program (aka methadone clinic).  I think it is important to realize that people who are addicts usually do things they would never do minus the addiction.  I have found that people in recovery do not need more guilt laid on them than they already have.  Many times once people receive a certain level of success in treatment they relapse due to the guilt they have from "the bad old days".  Why make it worse for them.  All of you on this message board could become opiate dependent.  What if you woke up from a comma in a month and found that you were now physically dependent on morphine?  It happens!  People use and abuse drugs for many different reasons.  If there continues to be such a stigma surrounding addiction isn't is understandable that so many people hide their addiction and are afraid to admit they have a problem?  People need support, and I am not talking about enablement.  I want to encourage everyone that there is hope out there.  Unfortunately treatment like this lady will receive is out of most people's budgets.  Insurance companies don't cover the type of treatment most people need.  If it takes a person 20 years to develop all of the habits of a drug addict do you really think someone can be completely cured in 28 days?  It takes a lot of hard work and a strong support system to be in recovery.  Great job to everyone out there dedicated to their Recovery!! 

I went into a doctor's office 5 years ago for sweaty hands and anxiousness and he prescribed Celexa (which my husband renamed no-sex-a).  It killed my sex drive and all other happiness for life too, so I went to another doctor who prescribed Welbutrin, Clonipin, & Effexor, three strong medications.  I took these for two years and my husband kept going to the doctor's visits with me asking how to get me off of them because they were ruining our life.  I had two preteen kids at home and I was also raising a special needs infant (my grandson), but was always "under the influence".  SCARY!  The medicines altered my personality so much that all of my friends stopped inviting us over, because I always had an excuse and would never show up, no matter how big the occasion.  The worse part was... I still had sweaty hands and even more increasing anxiety!

 

So, one day I decided (with my husband's agreement) to go against the doctor and stop all of the medications cold turkey.  BIG MISTAKE!  Within 12 hours I had suffered a stroke, or TIA which is a stroke that you recover from on your own.  So, back on the pills I went, and back to the doctor I went with a huge ultimatum... "Take me off these damned things or else!"  So, he pulled me off the Wellbutrin and Effexor very slowly but couldn't take me off the Clonipin (THAT HE PRESCRIBED) and he referred me to a psychiatrist who wasn't much help and basically said "Just wean yourself over a 2-week period by shaving the pill with a razor blade.  Goodbye and good luck."  NICE!  And, thanks for all of the professional help, Jerk!

 

Well, I did get myself off all of the medicines, and looking back I should have been in a hospital with a doctor overseeing the withdrawal process.  It was very painful, you feel like you would rather die than feel this kind of pain.  And, I woke up every day wanting to kill myself!  But, I did survive this terrible patch of 3 years and I went on to become a successful Realtor and I've been enjoying a "medicine free" life for over 2 years now.

 

So, whatever you do, if you are facing this same dilemma, GET PROFESSIONAL HELP!  IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO GET BETTER.

Dear Dr. Phil, Staff, & All Rehab Facilities:  This is great work you are doing. This is a horrible problem that is so rampant and effects all who it touches. Every single one of us has an employee, neighbor, friend, family member, church member who is addicted to some substance in some form. These are not the ugly, worthless, nasty people that we can cast judgment on. These are human beings who need to rid their bodies of chemicals!!!! This is Star's very 1st attempt at recovery. Let's give her our prayers and hope for the future. Any family who can hold it together in these tough times of drugs, war, recession, job loss, etc.. we need to be a support system for them.  Its not as though she has been on and off the road to recovery and continually makes bad choices. Let's see Star through her recovery and hope that its a whole new lease on LIFE!!! Star, this will be the biggest battle of your life, and I pray it all works out for you, your husband and your kids. Good luck, best of health.

Dear "R"

I hope the encouraging messages can be passed on to Star and her family.  I was Star "light" several years ago with a physical addiction to lorazepam and latter alcohol.  I stopped the lorazepam cold turkey the day I found out I was pregnant with my only child.  I was taking a pretty small amount and even still went through a nightmare of a time going through the physical withdrawl.  I really do liken it to the worst experience a person can endure.  For days I slept less than 15 minutes in a 24 hour period and could only pace up and down my hall just trying to keep myself alive (I should have been under medical supervision and I'm lucky to be alive today).  If there had been a gun in my house, I might have used it...it is really that bad.  I have been clean and sober for almost three years and I can tell Star, without a doubt, there is a beautiful life waiting at the end of this dark journey.  I didn't start a Christian walk until I went through this, and God has been my Rock for the last two years and will be for the rest of my days on this earth.  It took a really long time to get my stride back and feel like I could go through a day without my mind thinking "I could go get a bottle of wine if I wanted."  I wondered if these thoughts would ever end.  They do...time and distance from the addiction will heal.  I also really recommend seeking out specific opportunities to achieve success relatively quickly.  For me, martial arts was the thing that gave me a physical outlet as well as specific goals to acheive in a measurable way.  I am currently one belt away from testing for my black belt :-)  Star, you need to keep busy...head up a Bible study, join classes, do things where people are expecting you and that have lots of reward in them.  Don't stay home alone.  I was in such a more serious state than anyone knew, and I was very good at hiding and lying to my husband about my addiction.  What a blessing you have been given with this new chance at life.  The shame will be intense for a long time, but there is not a person in this world who is free of sin, and we area all capable of falling down...even to this degree.  I always try to remember that I'm just a sinner saved by grace.

 

The hardest step in all this is coming clean and being honest about the behavior...that is done.  Star...truly I am praying that all the blessing that has been poured out in my life since getting clean and sober transfers on to you and your family.  I have a husband very similar to yours...a great guy who was really blindsided by my addiction and although he loves me, would have removed himself and our daughter from my life had I not recovered.  Apologizing, although very important, will only go so far.  Your action can and will heal this family.  Isaac will be so proud of you when he sees you just loving on your children and being the wonderful mom you still have in you. 

 

You are not alone, Star.  You are me looking in the mirror several years ago.  You are so many of us who have fallen.  God bless you and your family.  The darkest days are behind you...you are going to feel so much joy when your body is free of the physical addiction.  My heart is singing for you just imagining it!!! 

 

Holly

Brenda, I know what you mean, I didn't expect to find so much hatred on this of all sites.  I didn't particularly have a high regard for humanity to begin with but this just reinforces the sad truth that some people need to put others down and trod all over them in order to make themselves feel better.

 

I know addicts lie but was I the only one that saw the pain, remorse, shame and regret in that poor woman?  I have a feeling she's going to make it because I was completely convinced that she knows this is the last stop before either prison or death.

 

How about we send out some positive and encouraging vibes and thoughts instead of heaping even more guilt and shame on her!

 

To all of you that have battled illness and addiction, thank you for sharing your stories because it reminds us all that we're not alone.  The last time I checked we were all living on this planet TOGETHER.

I am  a 31 year old single mother with an addiction to prescription pain meds. I began taking them regularly 2 1/2 years ago when I was sent to a pain clinic for degenerative disc disease. I was in a lot of pain. I was prescribed vicodin and was treated with cortisone shots and physical therapy. I did take the meds as directed in the beginning but it didn't take long to "need" more. They helped with the pain and I  felt great.  I lost my mom a few weeks before I started abusing them and it really helped me get through it or so I thought. Its been a long few years on and off coding, ultram, and just 3 days ago, i came off of percocet. It has caused major problems in my relationship with my partner so i flushed them. I am feeling it now. watching this episode touched my so deeply. It made me cry. Addiction SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have tried so many times to stay stopped but failed over and over again. I truly do suffer from  daily pain, quite severe at times but I cant take a narcotic for it anymore. I am not too sure what I will do now but just for today I am not taking the percocet or the vicodin and on Monday, I will be going to see my doc about the suboxone program.

I hope Star does well.