There are many reasons that control why your physican didn’t allow you the physical therapy you felt you needed. Your insurance company mostly likely REQUIRED your physician to exhaust all other avenue’s before you get that expensive PT.The bottom line on profit controls how well you get treated by your physician unless you pay for it yourself out of pocket, which can be thousand’s of dollars just for a few appointment’s. If you are on Medicaid then most likely you won’t get PT at all. Doctors are well aware of how well heating pads work as well as cold compress. However, they know all too well that you can have rebound pain that can force you to go to Er. Unfortunately, with the new laws in place you will receive No narcotic pain meds for a pre existing condition now. He knows you will be calling after hours for help when he doesn’t have your medical chart and you will receive no help because new laws prevent narcotic’s from being called in. Just because he writes for pain meds doesn’t mean you HAVE to take them if you are not in pain. All of my doctor’s tell me to take them only if I am in pain after my car accident. Physical therapy was afforded to me because I had good insurance and ability to pay. Perhaps when medicine becomes a not for profit organization will everyone get the treatment the need to heal. Good luck!
As numerous people on BBS with chronic pain can tell you, it’s already too hard to get prescription pain medication. And every time something happens, it becomes harder. More hoops to jump through. More uncertainty.
Exactly. Sometimes PT can do wonders for alleviating pain. However, most insurance plans partially cover PT, so Rx’s can be more cost-effective for their patients. The doctors I’ve seen know exactly what insurance I had and what my plan pays for when they walked into my room.
Just another reason why the U.S. needs a single payer system.
I doubt it was that, there are modern advances in medicine these days that Jehovah’s witnesses can take advantage of that does not involve blood when having major surgery done. Use of blood fractions and blood saver machines that filter your own blood and recycles it back to you, and better techniques used by the doctors to prevent unnessisarry bleeding are among options acceptable to most of them. Some of these are considered conscience matters that each one decides for themselves if they will accept it.
So.
Many.
New.
People…
O.O
Thank you, thank you, and thank you. Finally this nightmare is put into words. I’ve suffered with Chronic Pain sense 2006. For several years I dealt with the depression that comes with it. You know, the isolation, the inability to care for yourself as you once did, the avoiding phone calls and the declining of invitations you never would have dreamed of turning down, the no shows you pull at the last moment. I was years into this darkness before I was told, “oh yeah, depression is a part of chronic pain”. By then I had lost or pushed so many people away, that the assistance I finally needed was in vain. The damage was done. Many loved ones had taken my way of coping with the pain and depression as a rejection toward them. My attempts to explain fell and continues to fall on death ears. Especially when I “DON’T LOOK LIKE I AM HURTING”.
Perhaps I like Prince chose to maintain some level of dignity when we finally step out publicly to look our best because we have pride about how we present ourselves. When deep down the truth is, one cannot even imagine what it has taken for to pull it together to make it out while fighting the pain and the depression. You see, not everyone who finds themselves dependant upon these meds is not the unfairly perceived unkept, unclean, noncaring, addict. But it can start as a respectable, clean, professional, loving person who finds themselves injured and who thereby spirals out of control with what was initially Chronic Pain and the LACK of knowledge about the true addictive life it can lead to. I truly had no idea.
Thankfully some of us are fortunate to maintain some level of control, but as the condition may worse the increase in dosage or more intense drug may be introduced. Like anything else, people abuse things unfortunately and where is it written that prescription drugs won’t be one of them. Duh. But there are those of us who just want to live, cope, and be as much of who we were as we can be. I personally feel that’s who Prince initially was. Why would someone as brilliant as him exchange his brilliance and lengthy career for a life of addiction and certain death if not gotten control of. Duh again. I think he definitely knew his worth and hoped he would beat it. The sadness is because pain meds have been given such a bad name due to the abuse, shame and fear of rejection entering into the equation, when help is needed to say 'Hey, I need help with this thing", the person instead covers it up. This choice, therefore keeps leading to the deaths of celebrities and those we love personally, and it’s only gonna get worse and more and more.
The proof is in my own little community when our authorities have formed a TASC force to begin working on finding an IMMEDIATE solution to stop increased deaths from opiates in our town. Not to mention that my own prescribed prescription amount continues to be decreased by laws due to abuse and illegal sales by others.
Again I thank you for finally shedding light on this journey. I am not considered an addict per se by God’s extended GRACE, but right now my meds sure help me daily.
You know, I wonder what Prince’s final time was like in that elevator? Did he die worried about what people would think when they found out about his addiction OR was he focused on his transitioning to the beautiful “Afterworld” he spoke so poetically about? I loved him. I think he was a beautiful spirit. I hope he was focused on the beautiful “Afterworld” where maybe there is Purple Rain rather than this cruel judgemental one we sometimes wrestle with.
Thank you. Love you for sharing your story. It means so much.
I’ve had double hip replacements twice, the first round 27 years ago and the second round 13 years ago. The pain prior to the replacements was horrendous but I’m thankful I was prescribed physical therapy and deep tissue massage which worked far better to alleviate the pain than the vicodin i was given. When the surgeries were done it fixed the pain although recovery is no picnic. I’m grateful for that PT, as i could have gone down that path of relying on Meds. But the article is spot on regarding the shame Prince must have had (along with a good amount of denial). Fentanyl us sone scary shit!
Is no one going to call out AA, here? I was nodding along with this article until I started hearing that same familiar language. This is a site full of people who are ready to call out woo and magical thinking at the drop of a hat, but this faith-based program seems to get a pass.
I don’t have to dig deep for this conclusion, here’s step 3 of 12: “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.” Talk to a Scientologist, and they’ll tell you how great Scientology is. Talk to a long-term AA member, and they’ll tell you how great AA is. It’s a requirement for belonging to the group. The vast majority who don’t stick around for a year or more (despite enormous pressure from families and governments who have bought into this stuff) feel otherwise.
Of course, somehow by definition I don’t know what I’m talking about when I say this, but my interactions with AA and the institutions based on it have been enormously counter-productive.
I haven’t been in AA or any similar program myself, but I’ve known people who were. I certainly have thoughts about it . . . but in this particular thread I see a lot of new people who just seem to be showing up to share their stories, so it could be that others are holding back on starting a debate. We’ll see if anyone comes along to prove me wrong 
I am willing to debate if I hear something that I haven’t heard before, but I’m not seeking it out. I’ll do it if somebody comes along with a compelling argument or outright lies that make me seem like I’m wrong, but my intended audience is really the massive majority of people who don’t really know much about “the program” or have had similar experiences to myself.
I know it’s risky to give such a strong opinion, and there’s a high burden of proof, but years of exposure to this group has convinced me that these programs kill people. Passively, maybe, maybe not. Judges and parents generally don’t know what it means to send people to 12-step based treatment centers. They are basically (sometimes nicer) jails, with more AA meetings (and sometimes more sex offenders, because they “treat” that too) and “aftercare” programs that are designed mostly to monitor and enforce meeting attendance in the real world. Sure, if you’re not court-ordered, you can leave anytime you want, but good luck walking out into the wilderness with no money or transportation.
They put captive audiences into these rooms for months and months until they start to “fake it till you make it” (a phrase that people actually say very often). Most people still leave. You “can’t be too dumb for AA, but you can be too smart” is another bit of common wisdom. Some start to believe parts of the arguments, but can’t do the mental gymnastics to really buy into “the deal” and end up killing themselves. Others hang miserable and largely shunned on the edges for years. Many had been doing drugs for years, then six months to a year after their introduction to NA, they’re dead from an overdose. It’s not just the lowered tolerance, it’s the thought that if you’re already miserable and now you’re going to “fail the program” and doom yourself, you might as well do it in style. Some use needles for the first time.
Despite real evidence that scientific approaches like maintenance therapy dramatically raise the quality of people’s lives, NA is completely against a medical treatment for something they call a disease. I blame these groups for the deaths of several friends. I don’t see how doing anything else would have left them worse off.
Because of loud, joyous claims by a secretive organization that not only won’t release statistics, but actively pretends they don’t exist, people think there is already a real solution out there. The highest priority of 12-step groups is not the wellbeing of the individual, it is “preserving the group” (look at the explanation of the 12 traditions - basically “we can’t deliver all this badly needed help if we disappear”). Getting you to “change your stinkin’ thinkin’” (yes, really) is a clearly stated goal in these meetings. American society forces people into awful, hopeless situations, where the only requirement for getting a “temporary reprieve” is that they really, really believe (there is no cure, ever, you’ll always need to go to meetings and keep believing).
It’s true people there will be nicer to you when you can parrot the catch phrases in a convincing tone, so I see how some people find a sense of belonging. A whole lot more could have used a real solution, but we have this fake one standing in the way.
If I won the lottery, I would hire a team of lawyers to scour the country and make first amendment arguments for people compelled to attend 12-step meetings or rehabs. If we can establish good case law that prevents the system from feeding the religious group that has a monopoly on treatment, that industry will not be able to stand by the strength of its ideas alone. Then we can actually start helping people.
Does anyone know.w their stance on ‘synthetic’ blood as developed by the military? I assume it’s a no. I assume I’ll have a chance to ask one within the next few weeks, as they come around my place a lot.
Complicated. When the idea was less refined, they had an easier time being against it, but now reality has introduced new subtleties and they’re recognizing them. The presence of animal products would be a factor.
Weird… when I read this piece yesterday I was really excited because it did such a good job describing the situation, but when I tried to go to this comment page yesterday it gave a 404 error. I guess it was a temporary glitch.
Thank you very much for writing this up Ms. Herman, and best of luck with your music and writing careers and your own pain management.
Thank you so much for giving Prince back some dignity…its so easy to see what happened at least to me…
The narcan he was given just before he died started precipitated withdrawal unfortunately…
He would not have known what hit him…
Poor man…then he would have been chasing pain relief like a demon not a nice way to go…so sad
But it so often happens
To explain…when you take too much pain killer and you OD
They hit you with Narcan to save your life
This puts a person into immediate withdrawal for several days
No amount of normal painkillers can over ride the Narcan
So people chase the relief of pain any way they can
Of all the pain killers there are Fentenal is the only one that was strong enough to bypass the Narcan
He used too much…by mistake because he was so uncomfortable
He should have had supervision in a Hospital with experts…
But of course he was Prince …he could not
Tragedy
What a beautifully written article! Thank you Maureen for saying what needed to be said! THIS is what needs to “go viral,” instead of the tabloid trash being published by fools and circulated by trolls.
I absolutely HATE the fact that Prince died all alone, and in of all places, an elevator! Not in the comfort of his own bed or even on a sofa or soft pillows, and surrounded by loved ones - as he should’ve been. I am also FURIOUS that his “staff” and family and friends left him all alone in such a fragile state. Regardless of what he may have said he wanted. Especially after the emergency landing for the alleged OD, and the requested hospital stay which was refused. At least one (bodyguard) was with Prince on that plane and saw him in that frail condition, because he summoned emergency treatment. Even if that bodyguard was naive enough to think it was just the Flu or Pneumonia, as reported, the very LAST thing Prince needed was to be left alone to suffer! Someone should’ve stayed with him after that!
Also in the days prior to his death, someone close to him clearly knew how dire the situation was if they contacted the addiction specialist to intervene! It is reported they told the doctor it was a “grave medical emergency,” yet they left this beloved, very frail man alone in that state? WTF? His chef has reported his eating habits had changed due to some health problems. Plus, Prince was treated by a local doctor the very day before he died. This was reported by that doctor, who showed up at Paisley Park with some sort of “test results” after Prince was found dead. So there is at least one licensed medical professional who should’ve been aware of the seriousness of the situation. (I find it extremely curious that this doctor is no longer employed at that clinic, and I hope his records are being thoroughly investigated.)
Also, someone (staff? family? bodyguard?) drove Prince to Walgreens the night before he died, where he was allegedly pacing outside, waiting for prescription(s). The Sheriff reported that some “acquaintances” had dropped Prince off at Paisley at around 8 p.m., and he was once again left alone in such a fragile, “grave” state of illness. FAIL! This is reportedly the last time he was seen alive. If anyone had communication with him after that, I have not seen the reports. I am assuming there was video surveillance at Paisley Park, however the public will likely never be made aware of any of that footage.
The situation just doesn’t make sense to me at all! They knew he was potentially near death, so why didn’t anyone care enough about this man to stay with him? I would’ve INSISTED someone stay there, if only to be standing by in in the building and available in case he needed a drink, food, assistance moving around, etc., which would be very normal for someone sick with flu/pneumonia symptoms, regardless if it were actually opiate withdrawal. It’s just shameful that no one close to him stepped up to protect and take care of him!
But equally shameful is the fact that he had to hide his illness or drug dependency. The scandal rags and trolls were already dragging him through the filth with wild speculation (AIDS, JWs refuse treatment, etc.) after the plane incident. So I can imagine he would not have felt good about needing to seek treatment for opiate wirhdrawal, regardless of the fact that he legitimatetly had chronic pain from documented injuries he suffered from performing his heart out for so long for us, his FANS! It is maddening.
I personally hope and pray that Prince knew how much he was loved and adored by millions, that he realized the positive impact he had on so many others, and all of the charities he has helped, and that he was at peace when he passed. He had a very strong faith so I doubt he was afraid of death. If it really was an overdose of Fentanyl, I am hoping he just painlessly drifted off to sleep, until he crossed over… But most of all I pray our beloved Prince will rest in eternal peace, finally free from pain and anguish, and that he is with his baby son and his loved ones and friends who had gone before him.
He will never be forgotten.
Dear Ms. Herman,
Thank you, thank you so much for writing this article. I was moved to tears more than once as I read it. I commend you for your courage to share your story and making Prince even more human than ever. My heart still aches from his passing and your article is by far the best article I’ve read on this topic. I encourage you to continue your path to healing in a way that is best for you. Much love and healing energy to you.
PS I took the liberty to share this article in my Facebook page and the amounts of likes and shares shows the impact your words have.
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
