Voices Spotlight

For over 30 years, Kids Escaping Drugs (KED) has led the fight to end the disease of addiction amongst adolescents and young adults. They are committed to continuing this fight...

This month, we are excited to spotlight Mental Health Colorado, based in Denver, Colorado. Mental Health Colorado advocates for every Coloradan who experiences a mental health or substance use condition each year.

This month, we are excited to spotlight the California Black Health Network (CBHN), based in Sacramento, California. The California Black Health Network is dedicated to ensuring every African American and Black Immigrant in California has the opportunity to live a long, healthy life, free from violence, racism, and health inequities.

Team Sharing Inc, headquartered in Marlborough, Massachusetts, uses social networking, community activism, grief services, and advocacy to provide support and solace to grieving families impacted by the opioid epidemic.

Flourish Bakery, located in Midvale, Utah, is the only “second-chance” long-term recovery workforce reentry program in the state. The venture started in 2017 when leaders from faith, culinary, and rehabilitation groups came together to help people in recovery, especially those previously incarcerated.

As a bedside surgical RN, and a soon-to-be clinical nurse specialist and nurse researcher, I am excited to be partnering with Voices for Non-Opioid Choices (Voices). Before becoming a nurse, I worked with patients with serious mental illness (SMI) living in the community and frequently noticed that they weren't fully addressing their health concerns.

This summer, I had the pleasure of virtually sitting down with Melissa Ryan, LMT of Quality Health Massotherapy, based in Steubenville, Ohio, who shared how she utilized massage therapy to help patients manage their acute pain.

In April, I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Ali Nairizi, a board-certified interventional pain specialist and board-certified Anesthesiologist based in Nevada, who is dedicated to optimally managing his patients pain using non-opioid methods.

In late March, I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Joseph A. Best, an oral surgeon at Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Associates based in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Dr. Best has performed extensive research experience in pain management and actively utilizes non-opioids to manage his patients’ pain.

Jordan Parker was first prescribed oxycontin to manage post-surgical pain at the age of 12. Suffering from a long-term health condition, Jordan’s childhood and teen years were often spent in the operating room. As a result, Jordan found himself falling into an opioid dependency and an addiction that lasted 16 years. Thankfully, by the age of 29, Jordan forged a life in recovery, and since then he has been paying it forward by helping others struggling with addiction.

In March, I had the pleasure of chatting with Megan Doyle, an occupational therapist at St. Luke’s Health System in Idaho who has completed a Fellowship in Pain Sciences through the International Spine & Pain Institute in partnership with Evidence in Motion.

Rural areas face unique factors contributing to substance use, including isolation and lack of access to mental healthcare, both of which are exacerbated by strong stigmatization of substance use disorder.

In February, I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Benjamin Tallman, a licensed psychologist and the psychology program training director in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital. Dr. Tallman actively focuses on enhancing patients’ ability to manage their acute and/or chronic pain utilizing non-opioid, non-pharmacological methods. Our conversation is summarized below.

Bill and Lisa Bright lost their son Will to a heroin overdose when he was just 25 years old. The Brights describe their son as “kind, caring, a friend to all and a drug addict.”

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Steven M. Dellose. He discussed his acute pain management protocol for hip and knee replacement surgeries and the development of a new state of the art facility that would optimize the patient experience.

Over the past few years, we have learned a one size fits all approach is simply not sufficient when it comes to addressing the opioid epidemic. Voices of Hope is shouting this sentiment from the rooftops in Lexington, KY.

I recently spoke with Dr. Paul F. White, a consultant in the Department of Anesthesia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. We discussed his long-standing commitment to optimal pain management, and how he has evolved from practicing medicine and conducting research as a pharmacologist/anesthesiologist to a pain management and clinical research consultant.

In a time when there is extreme uncertainty, a record number of opioid-related deaths, and a seemingly worse start to the new year than anyone could expect, it is easy to feel lost with little control. Historically, during times like these we come together as a society and forge a path forward. And, more often than not, we look to the next generation for support.  

In November, I had the unique opportunity to chat with Dr. Kelli M. McEntee, an obstetrician-gynecologist completing a minimally invasive gynecologic surgical fellowship at the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, WA.

No one thinks the unthinkable can happen to them until it does. This is a message we hear often in every aspect of life, and a message Lisa at A Promise to Jordan has spent her life reiterating to her community any way she can.

How many patients have a history of substance abuse, but are still prescribed opioids? How many patients do health care providers unknowingly put at risk with their choice of pain management?

I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Jacob Moremen, a cardiothoracic surgeon and Assistant Professor of Thoracic Surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. We discussed his motivation for ensuring that his patients have quicker, less painful recovery experience through the use of non-opioid options.

For decades, communities have tried to wrap their arms around substance misuse and the best practices for prevention, all while helping those struggling with addiction find effective, reliable, and cost-effective resources.

In August, I had the unique opportunity to chat with Dr. Jennifer Filip Waljee, Associate Professor in the Section of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Michigan School of Medicine, about the in-house Pain Control Optimization Pathway she uses to manage her patient’s acute postsurgical pain.

All too often, people successfully complete a recovery program only to feel overwhelmed, alone and frustrated when they leave the community they learned to thrive in. Sober living homes can be an important step into long-term recovery, and Aurora Sober Living is creating that pathway in Colorado.

In early September, I fortuitously encountered a write up of a novel multimodal knee replacement protocol that significantly reduced opioid use post-surgery. I reached out to Dr. Andrew Wickline, one of the protocol’s authors, and he kindly agreed to chat with me about his groundbreaking non-opioid work.

Marietta Hagan wears many hats within her Missouri community. Whether she is educating parents on signs of drug misuse, working with schools on prevention efforts or encouraging efficient naloxone distribution, Marietta is a trusted resource.

Last month, I had the unique opportunity to chat with Dr. Kelechi R. Okoroha, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Wayne State University and Orthopedic Sports Medicine Surgeon at Henry Ford Health System about his recent study detailing a non-opioid multimodal protocol consisting of pre-operative analgesics, intraoperative local infiltration analgesia, and postoperative pain regimen published in Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery.

Voices is proud to have a long-standing partnership with Overdose Lifeline, an organization that has galvanized efforts to help their community during these difficult times.

I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Dr. Atif Iqbal, Chief of the Colorectal Surgery Program at Baylor College of Medicine, as we discussed his utilization of a comprehensive enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocol, which facilitates opioid-free recovery.

The ups and downs of high school are part of the universal American experience – but for those struggling with addiction, this time in adolescence can be riddled with anxiety, depression, and hardships.

Hi Reader! Welcome to our new blog, Voices Spotlight, where we will share interviews and stories from all corners of our Voices community.