Surviving a Renoviction
Visions Journal, 2019, 14 (4), pp. 13-15
Child of the First Step
Finding safe, affordable housing while living with the challenge of mental illness
Visions Journal, 2019, 14 (4), pp. 10-12
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The Chronic Pain of Pain Management
How the new opioid prescribing guidelines risk patient care
Reprinted from "Opioids" issue of Visions Journal, 2018, 13 (3), p. 26
Since the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC (CPSBC) announced changes to the opioid prescribing standards on June 1, 2016, health care providers and people living with pain have raised concerns about how the new policy may have a damaging impact on the treatment of chronic pain in this province.
“It Helped me Forget”
A young mother’s journey through loss—and finding hope
Reprinted from "Opioids" issue of Visions Journal, 2018, 13 (3), p. 23
Growing up, I lived with my mom until I was about 12 and then I moved in with my grandma (me and my stepdad just didn’t get along). I lived with Grandma for about a year. She was an awesome lady. Then I got taken away by MCFD [Ministry of Children and Family Development, child protection services].
It Takes a Recovery-Ready Community to Keep Loved Ones Connected and Healthy
And to Reduce the Harm from Substance Use
Reprinted from "Opioids" issue of Visions Journal, 2018, 13 (3), p. 17
My son Tyler fatally overdosed on heroin laced with fentanyl in a friend’s hotel room on January 27, 2016. He was 23 years old.
Living a Good Life—With or Without Opioids
It all comes down to decent, safe housing
Visions Journal, 2018, 13 (3), p. 17
I first started using heroin in the late 90s. I was in Matsqui Penitentiary, so it was just a way to get high and escape reality. I was 32 years old. I had started off young, sniffing gas and glue as a kid, and I smoke and drank. Everything was just another means to escape.
How Did We End Up Here?
Holding on through a close friend’s opioid addiction
Reprinted from "Opioids" issue of Visions Journal, 2018, 13 (3), p. 14
It was 4:00 on a Friday evening, about 24 hours since anyone had last seen Gwen. She had been given the opportunity to get help, but she chose instead to leave the hospital. No money. No cell phone. No car. No purse. Nothing. And no one had heard from her since.
Young, Bipolar and Addicted to OxyContin
An insider’s perspective
Reprinted from "Opioids" issue of Visions Journal, 2018, 13 (3), p. 11
In 2000, when I was 18, I was prescribed OxyContin for two painful kidney problems. The drug was relatively new then. The first three and a half years, I took up to 240 mg a day (considered a high dose) plus Percocet, a drug that contains smaller doses of oxycodone, for what my doctor called “breakthrough pain.”
