Hi. For people who have been here a while, can anyone tell me what happened to Red? I went away for a while while I was in remission, and was surprised at his absence from these boards when I returned. Just curious.
Best-
Faye
I miss his knowledge and wisdom too. Hope he is alright.
Red Lawhern is a member of the Anesthesia Dolorosa Facebook group. He is still very involved in advocacy and photography.
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Thanks so much for answering my question, Hamboy. Although I definitely miss his presence here.
Faye
I noticed his absence after the website changed. I have been a member since 2013 and his knowledge of TN and advice has been a valuable asset to this forum. I miss his photos of flowers as well!
Yes, me too. I could use some pictures of flowers when it’s 7 degrees out!
Hi! Red is still active on the TN and ATN Facebook sites although he mostly gives us our weekly spots of light photos and the odd shared media release. I think a lot of people left when the format changed, I know I did.
Where is Red?? I miss him…
Red I know is advocating very diligently with the crisis of opiods and much more, that for so many it’s affecting. For those of us not abusing these meds for Intractable pain or Irretractable pain he is a voice that speaks for us all. May our best thoughts and well wishes be with him as he reaches out indirectly for all those who know him on this site and elsewhere.
The changes many of us & others most likely have experienced with opiod law changes this last year-current getting scrips authorized, approved with insurance and Doctor’s being scrutinized to treat if not feeling forced to change plans working for patients in severe daily chronic pain to taper, etc…Red is a voice for us all and still is now.
Change for those who truly are abusing and overdosing opiods is needed and gone in effect however the huge concerns/gap for those in severe daily pain that opiods do allow some function and quality of life that no other meds currently provide…Red is definitely a strong voice to bring forth a voice to those in this position.
Rest assured Red, is devoted to helping us all and many more by letting his time go where “like the wind” we may not see it…but it is there…the breeze fills our sails and in it he is very much a hard working driving force for positive change across the state. May he safely reach from ocean to shore and back again for all he has already done to help and inspired in us to know with knowledge and further encouraged us to come together and support each other to be.
I like and commend you on your prose, for a better word.
That said, since 1990 ish some, I think 200,000 people have died due to opiods medication in the U.S. , alone. What is the answer to avoid opiode misuse according to you or Red.
Addressing the underlying cause of pain might be an answer, instead of squashing the pain with meds, not always possible I know, but too often the prescribed answer. Who’s suggesting the alternative, it’s all very well shouting from the roof tops. but an answer/ alternative?
Opioid misuse is NOT my problem and is NOT our problem and is NOT the problem of the medical profession – although the current culture is trying to make it out that way – and it is certainly NOT a crisis.
This is no solution to “opioid misuse” because it’s not a problem to be solved. People who misuse opioids are addicts. Addicts are going to be addicted to something, somewhere. The fact that some of them are addicted to opioids isn’t relevant, if it wasn’t opioids it would be cigarettes, or super glue, or spray paint fumes, or liquor. The issue is addicts, not what they are addicted to.
Nearly 1.3 million people die in road crashes each year, on average 3,287 deaths a day world wide. On average, more than 100 people per day died in car crashes in the U.S. alone, that’s an estimated 730,000 since 1997. An additional 20-50 million are injured or disabled world wide. This is far, far more than any “opioid misuse” or “opiod crisis” and yet no one is calling for a ban on driving! No one is saying highways should be shut down! No one is trying to revoke driver’s licenses!
Opioids seem to a target right now because a very small percentage of people actual use them and are familiar with them and what they do. It’s easy to vilify something you don’t use yourself. No one is screaming for a ban on cars because just about everyone drives one and therefore can’t image life without one, even though cars result hundreds of thousands of deaths a year.
The “solution” to the perceive “opioid crisis” is the education of the masses on what these medications are for and how they make life livable for people. The other solution, which is probably impossible to achieve, is to get people back to MINDING THEIR OWN BUSINESS. People need to worry about what they’re doing themselves over there, not what I’m doing over here.
(stepping down off my soap box and putting it away now)
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The opioid crises is what it is. Red is doing a great job for advocacy which has been his focus the last few years, and wish him continued success. He continues to advocate for his wife and now sadly his daughter.
This site however is more about patient to patient support and less about advocacy and how live from day to day with a horrible affliction. Its important to remember that this is very much an international site and the Opioid issues are pretty exclusive to the USA which is one of the many reasons we don’t deal with it here.
Members come and go, and while we miss those that have gone, lets not forget that peer to peer support is what this site is about. In the last 18 mos that need has never been more pronounced. By opening the site to more types of Neuropathic Facial pain, more patients are being helped. In fact almost twice as many as just 2 years ago. Activity, unique page reviews and even participation is more than double. Its relief to us because when the old format provider went bankrupt and were uncertain as to whether or not all the sites would go dark literally overnite (as several did) or we would be able to save them.
The people who founded, built, finance, and maintain this site (Red came on much later) were prepared for that possibility and were able to keep the sites live. I’m sorry that the format change upset some and we weren’t able to save some materials, but the alternative was no site.
TJ
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