Background. Leslie and I used to work together in the same hospital a couple of years ago. She's a surgery resident. The two of us became sort of inseparable. She is a great resident, a mom, a wife, and all around a pretty cool chick. We've been close friends for a few years now, inside and outside of work.
I haven't heard from her much in a couple of months though, save for a few text messages. I knew she was having a rough time with her sister, troubles at home... and some struggles at work so I kind of blew it off. Finally last week after a million attempts we made it out to dinner. She said she had a lot of stuff to tell me.
When we sat down, she said that she was off work for two weeks and didn't know if she was going back. I figured she had maybe decided to quit via using her vacation time or something like that... but then I saw something was wrong. Really wrong.
"I got caught", she said. She looked at me like I should know what she was talking about. I had no idea WHAT she was talking about. Did she have an affair, I wondered? How could you get put on leave from work for that?? When I finally was able to drag it out of her, she admitted that she had been using for three months.
Folks, I couldn't have been more shocked than if she told me she was having alien children. This was Leslie, for god's sake. She was the most straight, together, awesome resident, and a totally devoted mom. She's uber-responsible, and doesn't really show that she's stressed. I never saw her drink more than a glass of wine, I'd usually have to drag her to go to the mall or to dinner, and and far as I knew she had no drug or alcohol history. I could not fathom how this happened. Of course I knew she had been having rough times over the past year or so... but I never imagined it was this bad.
Turns out she'd been taking un-used fentanyl and injecting it a couple times a day at work and at home before bed for a couple of months. Finally, one of her co-residents suspected her, and reported her.
So why am I telling you this? Because if it can happen to Leslie, the most normal, awesome chick in the world... it can happen to anyone. Quickly. Medical professionals have access to drugs that street junkies can only dream of... and stresses just as bad if not worse. She was dealing with so much pressure on every side of her life that something had to give. I think she created this situation by using drugs so that circumstances in her life would change... because she was stuck in something she couldn't get out of.
Thankfully, medical professionals are allowed chances for rehabilitation and depending on the circumstances of the drug use (if they don't harm a patient) can often petition to have their privileges re-instated. But it will be a long process for her.
The moral? Be in tune with your own emotions, and know when you need help. Don't wait until you crack to make a change. All of this isn't worth it. I'm just her friend and couldn't sleep for three days over this... can you imagine how she feels?
No comments:
Post a Comment