You know when you don’t have a close family so your friends become your “family”? I call my friend’s kids my “nieces” and “nephews” and they truly consider me as part of their family.
Well my “family” just lost their 19-year-old daughter to an overdose of Fentanyl. WTF is Fentanyl? It’s this:
…and apparently kids are smoking it or sucking on the patches to get high. My friend’s daughter had been addicted for a few months and was getting treatment, but early Sunday morning apparently her boyfriend woke up, looked over at her and she was blue. He ran upstairs to get her parents and her stepdad did CPR but she was already gone. They think she did the drug “one last time” after her boyfriend fell asleep.
I’ve known this family since I was 14 (that’s 25 years) and they are devastated. I just saw Tina at the gym last week and as she left I said “See ya later, Tina-kid!” … I was supposed to “see her later”, not get a phone call from her crying cousin a few days later saying “Tina died.”
Tina’s parents very couragously did an interview on the news yesterday to bring awareness about the drug. They want Tina’s story to reach as many people as possible, because they figure if they can save one child or one family from going through this horror then Tina’s death won’t be in vain.
The viewing is tomorrow and the funeral is on Friday. I’ve never been to a funeral with a casket before - in fact my first funeral ever was this same friend’s Dad’s funeral two weeks ago, but there had been a cremation and he had been fighting cancer. Yes, she lost her Dad and her daughter within two weeks of each other. How much is one family expected to endure?
The first casket you see “in real life” is not supposed to belong to your teenaged “niece.”
Now, please, in honour of this stunningly beautiful girl who was full of life and had an amazing sense of humour and adventure, please go talk to your kids about “Fentanyl.” And if you’re a teenager reading this and you’re ever offered Fentanyl - get the hell away from it. This is not a PSA, this is a real life tragedy.
I was going to ask how young people would even have access to Fentanyl, which I’ve never come across in my life (illicit or prescribed), but if the grandfather had cancer I guess that’s a possible clue.
No, it wasn’t from that. Her granddad lived out of town and I don’t think she was able to see him often enough to steal his painkillers. I think her “friends” were doing it and she got caught up in it. I have no idea how that shit gets “on the street” but somehow it does, even in our little city.
I am so sorry to hear that…I can only guess at the depth of the family’s grief.
Fentanyl used to only be prescribed for cancer, but it has evolved into being provided for chronic pain treatment (I think the Actiq brand ‘lollipop’ is the most prevalent). It’s crazily addictive and IMHO should really not be prescribed other than for cancer patients.
Man what a sad story. Really sorry for your loss…I absolutely hate when people go “too young,” and for such silly reasons.
My dad has FentanyL for pain. It fucks him up pretty good sometimes if he does something like gets over-heated, or accidentally has 2 patches on at once or something.
I thought it was a narcotic, and hard to get? If it’s not, it should be.
Really? I find it helpful in end-stage liver failure, certain end-stage wasting syndromes like advanced AIDS, and it’s quite helpful during cardiothoracic surgery too. I’d hate to see its use limited to cancer.
It sure can kill people, though. Not quite as deadly as methadone, but not a safe drug when in the wrong hands by any means.
I visit a pain management clinic to see a skilled anesthesiologist who isn’t afraid to stick the occasional steroid in my mangled spine in order to target a specific blown disk. Though he is aware that I refuse all narcotics, he has written 6 or 7 scripts for Fentanyl, and shrugs as I tear them in half and hand them back to him. If he is so willing to hand over the patch to someone who isn’t interested, it may not be hard to come by.
…and those could be the type of people who have no problem selling those patches for some quick cash. Like Tina said in the interview (can’t remember her direct quote, you get the idea): “There are nasty people. These people are older and they sell the patches to teenagers.”
They’re putting nails into people’s coffins for easy money.
Intervention did a very creepy episode about a Fentanyl addict.
Intervention has been educational for me. Although I have no connection with drug users or drug culture IRL, I know about all sorts of emerging addictions - Dextromethorphan, bath salts, Fentanyl - from watching that show.
Okay, I see I was way too hasty in my suggestion (and I’m clearly not a doctor). What I do know about is the impact of Actiq on injured workers, and it’s amazing how hard it can be for people to withdraw even where it’s been effective.
IIRC when my aunt - a chronic pain sufferer - died she had a whole stash of them un-used. They can be somewhat tricky to use, more work than just popping a pill. So I can see how someone who is infirm with pain would get them but not use them so yeah, I guess I can see how they’d be easy to come by.
Hey kids, there’s a powerful super drug out there whose users are the baddest of the bunch…
Usually I just try not to focus on stuff like that. When it is mentioned I react with digust and briefly note how stupid it is and how it will ruin even the most promising kid’s life. I don’t want to make it tempting to the type of kids who would run right out and do it because everyone keeps talking about how powerful and bad it is. There are definitely kids like that.
FWIW, I’ve heard they make tamper resistant ones now that dont have the goo inside which could be squeezed out and abused. (Source - motorcycle accident victim in chronic pain).
ETA- I am sorry for your loss by the way. That really is a tragedy, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to trivialize anything or turn it into a joke so please don’t take it that way.
