Tag Archives: opioid

Advocacy, disability, Episcopal Church

Disabled Deputy On a Roll

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Note: since publishing this post, I have left the church. Here’s why: Ableism Killed My Christianity.

I implore you to read it, as it overshadows the points I make here.

I became a self-titled Episcopal Church Geek as soon as I learned the proper order in which to extinguish altar candles, when I was 7-ish. My early days as an acolyte are blamed on my desire to be just like my closest older brother, who is five years my senior. But, once in, I was so enamored with being part of how church functioned that I never thought of leaving.
I was hungry for more.
It could seem cult-ish to say I’ve never questioned my faith, but in all honesty that’s the truth. Because the norm in my religious upbringing was that I was encouraged to ask tough questions of God, the Bible, the preacher, our beliefs, rituals, and more. The thing that allowed me to never question my personal faith was the fact that I had permission to question everything about it. The very freedom that I could so easily walk away meant that I had a reason to find out why it was important to stay.
I was 16 or so when I thought I wanted to be a priest, but it would take another 15 years before I would find my true calling as an Episcopalian. I’m still figuring out the whole priest thing.
This post explores some of the ways I am beginning to bridge my “in real life” disability and chronic disease advocacy work with my passion for helping The Episcopal Church truly welcome everyone.

Continue reading Disabled Deputy On a Roll →

chronic pain, opioid

Painstipation, Ever Heard of It?

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Salix Pharmaceuticals provided me with a stipend and paid for my travel and accommodations related to the event. However, all opinions are my own.

Poop. Number two. Bowel movement. Stool.

If it isn’t hard enough already to talk about living with my invisible, incurable disease and chronic pain, it’s even more difficult to talk about poop — or lack thereof: constipation caused by opioids, a medication I take to manage my chronic pain.

You’re laughing, right? Because I said poop. And I’m sorry not sorry for all the puns in this post.

When I was invited to attend a recent event to discuss Opioid Induced Constipation (OIC), my first reaction was, “Wait, what? Opioids can cause constipation?” I was shocked. I consider myself a well-informed patient and if even I didn’t know, I realized a majority of my audience probably doesn’t know either.

OIC Definition

At this Salix Pharmaceuticals event, I learned of the word Painstipation, which is known as the constipation caused by opioid pain medication in chronic pain patients, also known as OIC. Dr. Joseph Pergolizzi, Senior Partner and Director of Research of Naples Anesthesia and Pain Associates who spoke at the Salix event says, “Some chronic pain patients may not mention opioid induced constipation with their practitioner, so we need to have a ‘do ask, do tell’ policy. It’s important to realize that it starts with conversation. I like to use the phrase ‘Painstipation.’ These are chronic pain patients who are experiencing constipation due to their opioids.” Continue reading Painstipation, Ever Heard of It? →

#sickbody, Advocacy, chronic disease, chronic pain, Current Events, Healthcare, opioid, Patient Advocacy, Politics, sickness

Dear Prescription Opioid Debaters:

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Dear debaters,

I am a 30 year old who inherited a lifelong inflammatory disease called ankylosing spondylitis (AS). AS can cause the spine to fuse together from bone spurs and can affect organs and other joints. AS causes significant pain, to put it lightly.

I am also a former college athlete and marathoner. I know what it means to push through pain as an athlete. But I cannot push through the pain caused by my disease. Pushing through it causes the disease to progress and the pain to increase.

My main treatment is a drug made from living cells (the same class of drugs that treats many cancers); it helps slow the progression of my disease. Because this treatment is [finally!] working, it also reduces some of the worst symptoms. But AS is a severe disease with no cure, so even with this specialty drug I still have plenty of pain.

And, like millions of chronic pain patients who fight simply to survive daily, I’ve tried everything to control the pain. Continue reading Dear Prescription Opioid Debaters: →