Monday, September 8, 2008

Crazy People

Mr. T came to the hospital to detox for his sixth time, and he was only 25 years old. He was taking large amounts of Valium, booze, and opiates, as usual. So we detoxed him, giving him meds that would make him more comfortable while he withdrew from the drugs.

He would come up to me, seemingly from nowhere, and beg for more. He said the withdrawl was unbearable. He hadn't slept for days. He was anxious. He was sweating. He felt like he was crawling out of his skin.

And then he started to pee blood. A lot of blood. Oh shit. And on top of that, he had a urinary tract infection. He had a history of kidney stones, which can cause bloody urine as they pass through. And he described in perfect detail the exact location and excrutiating pain a kidney stone can cause.

He wanted opiates for his pain. If it were anyone else, we would have given it to him.

So we got a consult from Nephrology. They said that the bacterium cultured from his urine usually didn't cause UTI's. We started him on antibiotics. A CT scan confirmed that there were stones in his kidneys, but unless the stones actually pass through, they shouldn't cause any pain.

Then we got a Urology consult. They said his bloody urine was almost certainly due to "self manipulation." This translates to him shoving a coat hanger into his penis, all the way through his urethra, and then into his bladder, and then whirling it around. All to get opiates.

We discharged him a few days later. He was supposed to go to an inpatient drug treatment program the very next day (we had set up everything for him). But he relapsed, again, and nearly died, again. So now he's detoxing at yet another hospital.

At first I was furious. Furious that he had misled us. That we had wasted thousands of dollars for needless tests and consults. Money that could have probably saved several lives elsewhere in the world. All because this idiot was a druggie.

And then I felt sorry for him. Genuinely sorry. I wondered how a person would have to feel to do such a thing. To fake kidney stones with a coat hanger just to get some drugs. Never before had I realized the power of addiction could be so strong. So strong as to take over everything that you have been, or ever will be.

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