Pain Management

We hear all the time about the evils of hydrocodone, Vicodin, what have you... To hear politicians describe it, this drug is the worst thing out there... The problem is that it's also what keeps many people suffering from chronic pain functional.

There's no doubt that people get addicted. I'm not arguing this. What I am saying is that doctors should be the ones who determine whether or not someone has access to this type of medication.

About 10 years ago now, I blew a disc in my lumbar spine. At the time, this drug was a Godsend. It kept me able to work. Thankfully, I then was helped by an epidural treatment which temporarily fixed the problem. Three years after that, it came back with a vengeance. A quack pain management doctor (Lasalle) in the Kansas City Metro tried something like 6 different epidural treatments and even an ablasion where they burned the nerves in my back. Nothing helped, except the hydrocodone that they gave me during treatments. I finally had a laminectomy, which corrected the problem.

Six months later I was diagnosed with sero positive Rheumatoid Arthritis. Again, I went through who knows how many drug treatments to attack the disease. Thankfully, we've prevented joint damage to date. However, there's never a time when I'm pain free. I'm always at between a 4-5 on the pain scale.

I'm thankful for a doctor who helps with my pain management by providing this drug. Without it, I would likely not be able to work. With it, I'm able to lead a team of software sales engineers for a major software company, in the call center industry.

Medical decisions should regulate the availability of this important drug. If someone abuses the drug, then obviously, they shouldn't have access to it. However, making it a political issue or reclassifying it so that the people who truly need it have a much harder time is simply wrong.