Spent all day trying to get in to the Free Clinic (aka bum hospital)
(dont ask... but I am writing a first person article on Healthcare in the US along the way)
So... let me start by saying that at least in Santa Cruz County... Clean, helpful, healthcare is available to those in need who do not have expensive private insurance. You have to be willing to wait, jump through hoops, dot i's, cross t's, be nice, ask favors, make a fuss, and otherwise get to the front of the line.
In my case - we were at it all day... even at the finish line they tried to send a nurse out to shuffle us off.
I saw a doctor.
He pointed out that the 1" gap in my X ray was... uh... not there before... and showed me what my bones were supposed to look like
Separated ACL
He said that basically I will have a bump there and it will look funny... and that I wont be at 100% again for overhead work... but that most people (9 out of 10) dont get surgery and they just work around it. He said it will only be maybe 6 weeks till I can raise my hands over my shoulders, write on a white board, and "use" my arm. He made no promise as to how well it will work.
Humpf...
As you guys know I have been rallying HARD against the prescription drug industry... shit is root of much evil if you ask me.
That said... I now have to adjust some of my rhetoric... as I have been a bit short on empathy. Immediately after an injury like this... uh.. I was INCAPACITATED with pain. Unbelievable pain. They prescribed 20pcs of some mixed pill (5mg Oxycodone mixed with Tylenol). The medication took me from "frocking shoot me" pain to... "meh".
Now its been a couple days. I tried immediately to move over to heavy doses of Ibuprofen and got a wicked stomach ache. Doc prescribed me some sort of Ibuprofen that is topical... so it should work but I dont have to digest it. Sweet!
But as to my hatred (and it is hatred) of the prescription drug epidemic that we are currently in...
Man.. I can see how it happens. The pills not only take your pain away... but they give you a sense of undeserved well being.
Dangerous shit I tell you...
I have worked with a lot of kids on the streets who got strung out on the higher end prescription drugs. Story is always the same... somehow they think it is less dangerous because it is not heroin or crack... little do they know its WORSE... its f'ing ENGINEERED heroin lol.
From my readings and observations there is a loop that pill addicts fall into.
They take the pills in the beginning out of genuine need
They continue taking them because it makes them feel good
At some point... they saturate with the stuff... and then just "not" having the pills causes them extreme discomfort.
Basically they go through a withdraw period where there is extreme heightened sensitivity in the body.
Worse over... the bodies natural "feel good" system becomes broken. It was described like this:
"
Picture the natural "feel good chemicals (Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins) being a machine in your body
One side of the machine shoots out different shapes... stars, boxes, circles, octagons, etc.
One side of the machine has matching holes... so stars, boxes, circles, octagons, etc.
When a shape jumps the gap and lands in a hole... you feel pleasure
A prescription drug is like a new shape... but it will fit into ANY of the holes.. so call it a Dot.
Over time... the body adjusts... and all of the holes end up the shape of the prescription drug.. so you have nothing but Dot holes.
Your body does not produce dots...
So your body is trying to produce your natural feel good shapes... stars, boxes, circles, octagons... it does... but the holes they go into (which make you feel good) are all Dots now...
They dont fit
You dont feel good
And it can take months or YEARS to undo this damage and return the body to natural function.
That is the argument for why you should not fool around with powerful prescription drugs.
I believe it to be a true and correct analogy based on my observations.
You can see the rub... its a true physically addicting set of drugs that alter your body and leave you broken
IF - you abuse them... and abusing them means taking them for more than a couple days or a week after an injury.
The solution (or visualization) to break free of it if you are already stuck in it goes like this:
Picture your body as a long tube... full of marbles.
Black marbles
White marbles
All mixed up... sometimes a long string of white... some times a long string of black
Black is bad, equates to frocking sorrow.
White is good, equates to carefree living
The key is maintaining a conscious effort to delay gratification, to have faith that you WILL feel better later, and to drop nothing but white marbles.
Ok... a black marble falls in... dont drop in more!
White marbles... as many as possible.
Food
Exercise
Friends
Productivity
Change....
Lots of white marbles.
Eventually... after a while.. integration over the curve leaves you feeling like a white marble.
The tube is always there
At any time you can pump it full of black marbles
In doing so... you have some margin that aligns with how well you have been treating yourself over the integration window.
Keep up with the black marbles... fail
That's the latest being propagated in non-faith based recovery circles... where I participate... for my own education and the education and support of others.
I grew up around nothing but drug addicts and losers.
Took me 20 years to surround myself with winners... and I still to this day am attracted to "broken people"
Meh... steer clear is my advise.
Broken is contagious
Sick people like to get you sick.
If you dont fool with the stuff... dont get started. I have seen it absolutely destroy perfectly normal people.
It may seem cool or mysterious or like it will make you feel amazing.
Well... thats why we have all the kids learn Calculus.
The Area Under The Curve equates to misery except in the most disciplined examples of controlled use.
Take it from Uncle Methods... I am an expert in the area of finding excess and then finding balance.
Everybody has the right to find their own path.
Some are smart and listen to the old man laying on the side of the trail... who has warnings of alligators, hoards of spiders, and long walks without water. :wink:
End service commercial.
If you take drugs regularly don't get defensive. I judge you only on how you behave and how you perform. I had to learn a long time ago that the world is full of all sorts of people doing all sorts of weird shit. Worshiping false idols, worshiping real idols, worshiping drugs, ... whatever... if we are all to get along then all that maters is that we comply with Universally Acceptable Behavior and that we perform at or above the level we are being compensated for and up to the expectations of our peers.
Another reason to surround yourself with winners...
Winners breed winners. Health and wealth is contagious.
Want no responsibility... Starbucks is waiting for you.
Want epic responsibility... the opportunity is there.
-methods