Oct 13 2008
Letter to MHSA #3
The Minister for Health & Substance Abuse, Etc.
Â
The Hon Dr Jane Lomax Smith
Â
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.
Â
I am a 39 year woman diagnosed with Chrohns Disease in 1987. Between 1987 and 2000 I have had multiple surgical procedures most of which resulted in complications such as fistulas and wounds that take a long time to heal. During this period I was give large amounts of pethidine injections for pain relief.
Â
I was referred to the pain specialists at the Royal Adelaide and Lyell McEwen Hospitals where I was told that the pain I was suffering was just in my mind and was put through various treatment programs which where very stressful and at times undignified. On several occasions scans and x-rays actually showed blockages, ovarian cysts and at one point a bladder stone the size of a golf ball which must have taken months to grow whilst this treatment was happening.
Through chance I met Dr Ian Buttfield in 1997 and with skill and patience he was able to reduce my pethidine injections and teach me to recognise the difference between real pain and phantom pain. By 2001 I was no longer taking pethidine or morphine but was on tramadol tablets which made my pain bearable. Form here my life returned and I was able to go back to work, something I was not able to do since 1987, we moved house and started to run a small wildlife sanctuary caring for orphaned native wildlife. My Chrohns disease was stable and my pain was under control except for the odd occasion when scar tissue would cause my bowel to kink.
In August 2007 I was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for a hysterectomy due to the return of the ovarian cysts more complications again the wound from the operation did not heal and required packing on a daily basis. I was put back onto morphine injections and I hoped that this would only be short term as I am fully aware of the dangers. Once the wound healed I was put on to oral morphine liquid and started to reduce on a 5% per week rate and I went back to work. At the insistence of the Drugs of Dependence Unit I was admitted to Kapunda Hospital to speed this process and was given clonodine to help with any withdrawal symptoms. The result of the clonodine was a seizure similar to an eplilectic fit, I was taken off the clonodine. My pain however has got worse and an MRI on 29 August 2008 shows a partial mechanical obstruction and ovarian cysts
The Drugs of Dependence Unit still recommends:
• 5% morphine reduction per week but no suggested replacement.
• If in need of additional pain relief a 2′d opinion be sort from RAH pain clinic which currently has a 12 to 18 month waiting list.
• Failure to comply will result in immediate in-patient detoxification at Warrinella.
• If I present at any hospital with additional pain I will be admitted to RAH to be treated by the pain clinic.
Â
The consequence of the Drugs of Dependence Unit’s stance on this is that I will no longer be able to function in the same way that I have for the past 7 years. My life is changing to one of constant pain, misery, low self esteem and lack of confidence. I have to pick up my pain relief every 2 days as well as the mountain of other medical issues that you don’t have time to read about now. I have been fortunate enough to get two jobs locally and will not be able to continue with either of them. The animals that we care for will be neglected and end up suffering. I am afraid to eat as this will cause me severe pain. I can’t were normal clothes as this puts pressure on my abdomen
My gastroenterologists and pain specialists advice is being ignored and I am being dealt with by people who are not familiar with my situation. Both of my specialists are eminent leaders in there field and yet my rights to be treated by a doctor of my choice is not being met. I am not alone in this plight and I am well aware that there are other people in similar situations.
I feel that this situation needs your urgent attention ask that my doctors be allowed to treat my in the way that they see as appropriate.
Once again thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to read this letter
Â
Yours sincerely
Nicola Heelis
Â
What I find amazing is that these so called “experts” seem to think that lowering dosage will help. If someone is in increasing pain, then simple common sense would dictate to up the meds.
Imagine if these “experts” saw this happening to their loved ones. Pretty sure it would be a much different tune being played.
Idiots.
The doctors are just “towing the line” for DAASA and the DDU following the rules set out by bureaucrats not practicing pain specialists. They are scared of the power these bureaucrats wield.
These bureaucrats have no understanding or first hand knowledge of what it is like to suffer chronic pain and the debilitating effect it has on the sufferer and their family and friends. Otherwise this situation would not exist.
What happened to the caring society???
My poor daughter has been through hell because of these so callrd proffesionals!She has many severe illnesses and became additted to so many opiats she has done some type of brain damage.She has a terminal lung disease,coeliace= disease, stuffed up lung surgery which give her shao pain,and not one person at the llyle mac would help her at all,she is a bad drinker to cope with her severe anxiety,again no help,she has always been put in the to hard basket,.The last 4 months have been hell for the family and family sa have taken her children off her againso now i have to be a mother again at the age of 56,when i thought i would be able to slow down a bit but i have the children until i am 70!thats if i last that long and no other family to help.She is in detox now and then to rehab,i pray for her every day! she also has borderline personality disorder which makes it harder.The lylle mac need to pull there act together, she was addmitted 7 time and begged to be put in gi unit but they just kept throwing her out onto the street! so she would start drinking vanilla essence again or listerrine,they both contain high amounts of alchohol and now her liver is destroyed and she is only 28 julia