Bert and 32 Hydrocodone

32 Hydrocodone

Bert was sent home with a prescription for 32 Hydrocodone after a tonsillectomy a few weeks back! I was shocked and pretty upset, to say the least. I arrived at the checkout counter to pick up what I assumed was an order for a few to get through the first couple of days if he needed them and received enough for continuous dosing every four hours for five days. Never was Bert asked if he had a family history of addiction. Never was Bert instructed in the proper use of opioids other than a brief disclosure by the dicharge nurse at the hospital (when he was still loopy from the anesthesia) that said 'don't become a statistic'. Never was he told how and when to take them other than 1 pill as needed every 4 hours for pain. Bert was told he could also piggy back the tylenol and ibuprofen however those could upset his stomach so be sure to eat...

Bert was also not told to limit the opioid use to only when truly necessary for extreme pain or if he took it regularly the side effects associated with the drug. He wasn't told how this too could upset his stomach, or how it could cause constipation or how if he took it as prescibed he could blow through those 32 pills in 5 days which has been PROVEN scientifically to be long enough to cause a dependance and withdrawal symptoms. He wasn't told how terrible that withdrawal could be; flu like symptoms, aches, pains, headaches, vomiting, diarrhea, anxiety... the list goes on. 

No one wants to be in pain and no one wants to see their child in pain and it would have been super easy to hand over the bottle to Bert and say take as needed, you're an adult now; if the doctor prescribed them it must be safe. NOT TRUE!

Full disclosure: I do not beleive the doctor acted intentionally neglegent, the dose Bert received was a low dose, there were no refills and the type of drug has less of an addictive nature than other opioid drugs on the market. However, that said, I do beleive for parents that have never experienced the opioid abuse/addiction epidemic first hand, this rx is A RECIPE FOR DISASTER!!! 

How Bert and I managed his pain 

First course of action was pain reliever and antiinflammatory pain reliever; Tylenol* and Advil*. Both meds, staggered, worked well to control his pain. Nights were the worst so he took 1 hydrocodone before bed and when he woke up in the middle of the night, it was ibuprofen and then back to Tylenol in the morning. Suffice it to say Bert was in a decent amount of pain, but he had his tonsils out...we knew it was going to be terrible... track a few days forward, the pain, worsening and at its peak he was able to manage; although uncomfortably, eventually making it through the recovery process having used over the counter pain relievers, ice and patience. He ended up using 4 of the 32 hydrocodone he was prescribed with little to no side effects. 

Do the math, 28 pills leftover is 28 too many...let alone the high cost of meds that are now wasted and being destroyed.

I shared this with Hillary and she was beyond disgusted. How is it in today's world with the opioid abuse/addiction epidemic being at a world wide high can these prescriptions still be written. There are on call doctors, 24 hour pharmacies and a modern world where there are plenty of ways to get more in an emergency if it is absolutely necessary.

Please take heed when opioids are prescribed, ask questions.
WHO~WHAT~WHERE~WHEN~WHY~HOW it could lead to a matter of life or death and at a minimum a life that is changed forever by a drug...….

As always, I offer you love and compassion for the never-ending always changing journey!

~peace filled hugs,  k 

My phone call from Lincoln saying he saw Ben this morning...and he did!

Ben transitioned to his new life in Spirit when Hillary was five weeks pregnant with Lincoln and Cam was a few months shy of two years old. When Ben was alive, Cam had terrible night terrors consistently. Almost immediately after Ben's crossing over those terrors turned into night after night of him laughing in his sleep; awakening in sadness and grumpiness every morning. When asked what was wrong he would say daddy played with him when he was sleeping and had to go when he woke up. From the moment Lincoln was born he would look over Hillary's right shoulder and smile/laugh for what appeared to be no reason as Hillary experienced goosebumps in the same area. When Lincoln learned to talk he would talk about Ben as if he knew him and would look off to what appeared to be nowhere and smile or talk or be silly as if he was playing with someone who we couldn't see.  I have shared many times over the past few years, signs of Ben's presence but today when Lincoln called me on his way to school it was different. 

Lincoln :) 

Lincoln can be a little guy of few words and most of the words are silly, made up, or simply funny sounds; not words at all. Lincoln often lives in his own little world happy as a clam and is the sweetest little munchkin (okay, most of the time).

When my phone rang and I saw his face (Facetime*) I was surprised because Cam is usually the caller... I'm lucky if I get a 'hi, Nena" and a grunt most times from Lin.

Hillary was in the background, driving Lin to school and he says, "Nena I saw daddy in the driveway and then he disappeared!" I immediately said, 'Oh my goodness, how lucky are you' to which he responds, with an emphatic, "yeah, he was right there by mommy's car!" I believe in the power of Spirit and I believe we are all born with innate gifts and understandings of where we came from that are often pushed back in our minds or forgotten because they are not nurtured, or they are dismissed. 

Rather than telling, I prefer to ask questions so I did.
Me: Lincoln, where were you?
I was looking out the window. (He was in their living room)
Where did you see daddy?
He was in the driveway by mommy's car.
Oh my goodness how lucky are you?
Yeah Nena, then he disappeared!
He did, wow that's pretty cool! How did you know it was daddy?
Because it was... (looking at a picture of Ben Hillary keeps in her car to show me he knew what he was talking about)
Were you scared?
No, (in a sad voice) but he went invisible!
Well how exciting that you got to see him for a few minutes, what a treat!
Yeah, here's mommy...

for those of us that know Lincoln this is a major conversation, his attention span is usually pretty short for just about everything. Hillary called me right after dropping Cam so as to let him share without her putting ideas or words into his mouth or Cam getting anxious. When Lincoln first told her daddy was outside by the car she immediately went to see if indeed someone was outside which is when Lincoln told her "AWW, He went invisible". 

This is not a little boy with imaginary friends...this is a little boy who has had this gift since birth. This gift is more common than we know because often we are trained to tell our kids to only believe in what they can see. That situations such as these are imagined. This is not true.

The more I study physics/theology/religious tradition and end of physical life, the more proof I see of the separation of the life force from the physical body upon the death of the body not the death of the whole! The energy that binds our connection; binds our spirit to our bodies remains alive and lives on as an energetic presence in the multiverse not universe, we live in. 

Thank God for the Lincoln's of the world who remind us that Spirit is alive and well and living among us. Many of our SOS family have shared with me a serendipitous story of a message through a song, bird, flower, a smell or feeling of presence. For me, a ring with BEN (the only letters in the price code on the tag when we were shopping for a ring after his passing; the perfect sign that we had made the correct choice; the elderly sales clerk with tears in his eyes because of his own awe and surprise at the ability of LIFE to catch you off guard make all of this true in the richest sense.

Please, please, please! Encourage the Spirits in your life to be present and they will be and by all means lift up children who have this gift!

Divine Spirit Of LOVE!

I give you thanks for the blessing

of those who see spirit with 

the eyes of a child! 

The Spirit of God lives in and through

our children and all of us!

Peace ~ Love & a childlike vision

be with you today and always!

xo, k