The mountain that was moved: Dr. R was facing deregistration or at best a few years of suspension from medical practice. Why? Because he stood up for what was right. Because he cares too much for his patients. and because people lied against and falsely accused Dr. R. He's opposed to drug maintenance and because of that many red alarms have been popping up all around him, and health bureaucrats have been trying to get him out. They've tried for over 10 years, but still made no dent! He offered morphine in severe cases to patients detoxing off of methadone. Everywhere around the world this is standard treatment, Canada, US, Europe, even Western Australia, but not here in QLD. More than that, he got verbal permission from the QLD Drug & Dependence Unit, who then denied giving it at all. His own lawyers thought at best he'd get 3 years of suspension, the other side was pushing for deregistration. Despite this, God moved the mountain, worked in the judge's heart who ruled that his suspension be suspended for 3 years! What a miracle! He'll be starting back at work on the monday :) It goes against all laws and logic, and I guess thats why just thinking about it puts a HUGE smile on my heart. God is a miracle-worker.
A family found. I met the loveliest couple this past week as a bunch of us gathered to help Dr. R sift through a bajillion boxes of archives. They've somewhat adopted me as their daughter, and they my 'Australian' family. It's strange. I've never clicked with people as fast as I clicked with these 2. They're different than the typical older Christian couple you'd see in church. Gary is just backed with a wealth of wisdom and has such a huge heart full of compassion for struggling men. He works at New Hope House with Teen Challenge here in Brisbane and is a chaplain as well. His wife is one crazy amazing woman! She's studying at bible college and she's what I'd call RADICAL! :) Both Gary & Linda are the type of people I'd read about in books. I'm still recovering from meeting both of them! I think the one thing that really stuck out was the fact that they're both so eager to grow and are so fired up, there's no pause on their remote, they just Go and Do, and talking to them you understand why, they're absolutely saturated with the Holy Spirit :) I just love the fact that they really love God and they're NOT afraid to show it!
A night of celebration! They brought me up to Toowoomba for Champion's Night at Teen Challenge. I'm still kinda in shock to be honest... at God's amazing power to transform lives so radically. Imprinted in my mind is a guy named Josh: was on the streets, used everything, headed towards death, but yet here he is completed the program at TC, and with YWAM now filled with such a passion for full-time missions! He was one of many stories that night. It was wonderful seeing and celebrating with these guys. One thing really stuck out for me that Pastor Alan said "Success isn't about never failing, success is learning how to deal with failure" & to get through failure think ADHD: assurance --> deliverance --> hope --> destiny!
22.11.09
"Life sometimes can be like the frayed endings of a most beautiful tapestry. We just see the bottom frayed bits in our life, but truly God is weaving a beautiful picture out of us" -- Pastor Steve
"Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." -- 2 Cor 4
O Lord my God deliver him I pray. All things are possible through you, but let Your will be done! Grant him peace and assurance and hope knowing full well You are in control of every circumstance. As you say in Isaiah 45, "I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things." Nothing goes without Your hand in it. And so I pray Lord God that You'd continue to weave out a most beautiful tapestry from Dr. R's life and the lives of his patients. In Jesus' mighty name, Amen.
9.11.09
i went to moonyah today to check out Salvos' detox unit and their drug, alcohol & gambling rehab center. They definitely do a good work there!
during lunch, everyone was at the caf eating. as i was getting my food i met a really nice man named Scott. He arrived 10 weeks ago, was on heroin, and went cold turkey off of it. I was amazed! that's no easy feat. it was even more amazing hearing him accredit everything to the Big G. i still can't get over hearing addicts, ex-convicts, and the homeless talk about Jesus. its strange, but it lights my heart on fire. its so contagious! when you see someone whose heart is set ablaze, you can't help but feel the heat and catch fire.
i sat down with the other staff members who were sitting on the long table in the front. it reminded me of my highschool caf, where all the teachers sat along this sectioned off table away from the students... it seemed like an invisible divide, giving an 'us' versus 'them' kinda feel to the place. i sat there eating, and i thought about the parable of the great banquet in luke 14. i wondered if the master would've had the poor, the blind, the crippled and the lame sit off to the side and not have them join in on the feast at his table? ..my eyes fell on Scott as he was sitting there eating by himself. i felt so urged to lift up my plate and plop myself next to him... but felt social etiquette kick into play that i should stay with the people who had taken me in and showed me around the place. i wish i had greater courage. next time. i can't help but wonder just how different the atmosphere would be at their caf if everyone sat with everyone, if there were no more invisible divides.. just a random thought.
On another note, i need to get crackin on this research thing. 2 more days! :*( God help me please to focus!
The week in Perth has come and gone just like that! I didn't get a chance to see much of Perth, but I don't really mind. got to see a whole lotta other stuff & learned heaps :) don't want to forget any of it..
a little about George...
Dr. George O'Neil, entrepreneur extraordinaire, founded Freshstart not-for-profit organization, founded Go Medical Industries, Research Director & innovator, Inventor of the O'Neil implant & O'Neil catheter among other inventions, missionary doctor to Africa, Addiction Medicine doctor, part-time obstetrician/gynecologist, father, husband, and front-line sprinter in this race of faith! This man is seriously changing the face of addiction medicine, and his naltrexone implants actually WORK in getting people off not just heroin, but also alcohol, ice, tranqs, you name it! It's crazy. I think it just hit me today that I met someone famous. 10 years from now I'll be reading about him in textbooks! But all that aside, George is the humblest & kindest man I've ever met despite all his accomplishments. He lives very humbly, that one of his patients the other day was in disbelief when they saw his old station wagon roll in and even told him how they felt like buying him a new car (you wouldn't even think he was the founder of a multi-million dollar organization) His patients and staff are treated like his children. He gives them his full attention and somehow makes everyone feel welcomed. The front door to his house is always open, he gives away his home phone & mobile numbers to his patients, even tells his patients where he lives in case they need to find him! The O'Neils are incredibly generous! They don't hold onto anything tightly in this world, especially money. They pay out of their own pockets to keep the organization up & running, and never turn away patients even if they don't have enough money to pay for treatment. There are ppl who show up at their clinic from all over Australia. Sometimes the O'Neils even pay for their ticket to fly out to Perth! They definitely taught me firsthand what it truly meant to have a generous heart & to not hold onto things of this world so tightly.. for it all becomes dust in the end anyways.
a little (or a lot) about addiction medicine...
addiction occurs on 3 levels:
The Level of the Cell - there are opioid receptors on the cell membrane. during times of stress there is a spike in endogenous opioid release. if there is chronic stress (ex. growing up in a dysfunctional family, series of broken relationships, etc) then after a while the chronic high concentration of endogenous opioids will damage the receptors from over-use. damage causes insensitivity and therefore increases the release of opioids in order to maintain same effect. if in combination with morphine, heroin or other opiates, then we see increased damaged and decreased sensitivity of receptors.
The Level of the Brain - Paul talks about the internal battle between the flesh and the mind in Romans 7, in modern terms it can be seen as the battle between the limbic system and executive functioning of the prefrontal cortex, or perhaps the head vs. the heart. It's all the same thing. With Pavlov's dogs, their dopamine levels increased 50% at the anticipation/desire for food when the bell rang. With heroin, dopamine levels rise 1000x! imagine overcoming that strong of a craving for something..
The Level of the Person - our roadmap to life begins when we grow up at home. if we come from a dysfunctional family then all we grow up with and all we know are unhealthy relationships and unhealthy ways with dealing & coping. Everyone on drugs to some degree battles with guilt, and therefore the big hump for most is forgiveness - learning to forgive and learning to be forgiven.
With that in mind, healing & recovery also occurs on 3 levels. In Christian terms: body, mind, soul. In medical terms: physiology, cognition, self-actualization. The 3-prong approach is addressed by George's organization!
body/physiology (cellular level) --> introducing an antagonist to block drug's effects thereby allowing time for receptors to 'heal' and become like brand-new. blocked effects also allow freedom of mind not chained by cravings/desires and offers enough time for the patient to get back on their feet for a second chance
mind/cognition (brain level) --> counselling & mentor services are offered
soul/self-actualization (person level) --> chaplaincies, bible studies/devos in the detox houses, community houses similar to Teen Challenge, opportunities for education & skills training, employment opportunities (quite a few of the workers/volunteers at FreshStart are previous patients!)
A simpler version of recovery which George uses often is the PHREE model:
Physiology (the naltrexone implants, antagonizing opiate effects)
Housing (ensuring patients have a place to live to start the road to recovery)
Relationships (mending & re-building broken relationships; re-learning how to form healthy relationships)
Education (patients are encouraged to gain an education & a christian-version of the 'Twelve Steps")
Employment (ultimate goal of reintegration into the community with a self-sustaining not self-destructive lifestyle)
a little about doctor politics... In addiction medicine, the buzz word that's thrown around is harm-reduction. Essentially this means to reduce risks associated with drug use without actually interfering with patient's drug behaviour. In other words its about decreasing the number of deaths caused by ODs and decreasing the spread of disease, without actually solving the problem of addiction. The current government-funded form of treatment is methadone. According to the doctors, methadone (opioid agonist) is man's best method for treating drug addiction, but if you talk to the patients, its far from the ideal. Methadone is nasty stuff, erodes & decays your teeth, decreases bone density, causes widespread aches & pains, depression & withdrawal-induced psychosis, and worst of all you're still addicted to opiates and still experience cravings. It has a horrible success rate and talking to the patients at the detox clinic, methadone is the worst stuff to detox from, far worse than heroin itself. So then one has to question why are doctors giving patients methadone if a) it destroys the patient physically b) its painfully hard to detox from and c) at the end of the day the patient is still addicted and using opiates.
There's a new emerging approach to addiction medicine which doesn't involve harm-reduction. There's no fancy word attached, it just simply believes that not only can harm be reduced, but also recovery from addiction can be made where the patient can remain opiate-free! Talking to patients who've received naltrexone (opioid antagonist) treatment, you see firsthand how effective it is! It completely stops the cravings and desires, along with the drugs' effects. The only people I've heard who are against the use of antagonist-therapy are the doctors, namely the pro-methadone doctors. Taking a step back, you'd wonder why there even is a debate. Methadone treatment: going from one type of opiate to another type of opiate. Naltrexone treatment: going from one type of opiate to none! with the emergence of antagonist therapy, pro-methadone doctors such as Alex Wodak (credited to have started the needle injection site movement) have written such charged letters to members of the Australian government basically saying they shouldn't even be thinking of funding naltrexone work (since funding for naltrexone work means less funding for methadone work). I spent a chunk of this week helping George write an affidavit, and its crazy how doctors can get so petty, juvenile, and be outright liars. As I was reading this document from Wodak speaking against naltrexone, one by one all the points he listed were lies and the worst thing was he knew it, but that didn't stop him. Sounds so petty and so wrong. Many of the patients I've talked to want to receive naltrexone therapy but its just too expensive. Its such an injustice if you think about it, that the government is denying patients from truly getting better, or at least having the option to choose! I'm sure 10 years down the road the dust will settle, but I'm inspired to see this process speed up. hrm, surveys, questionnaires & letters here we come =)
a little about some people I met... Jason: he had been abusing alcohol since young and had been in and out of jail all his life because of the influence of alcohol. He told me the longest time he'd ever been out of jail was for 7 weeks. But after receiving treatment with a naltrexone implant, he's now been outta jail for 2 years! It's been 2 years from touching alcohol and 2 years after finding God & himself. It was pretty awesome getting to know him. He's in the process of finding a job now, just submitted his resumes and everything. How awesome :)
Peter: he has used and abused practically everything from ice, benzos, heroin, alcohol, etc since he was 13 years old and was headed in a downward spiral. he wanted out of his addiction and found George to get treated. He's now been practically drug-free for 10 years and mentors other patients who are just coming out of addiction. He's also not shy to mention the huge role God has played in transforming his life. it was so edifying to talk about God with him :) it still catches me offguard a lot of times when I meet Christians from a whole other walk of life than mine, definitely not the typical church-goer person you'd imagine. How wonderful is that!
Jessica: travelled all the way from Brisbane with some friends to receive an implant (was too expensive in Brisbane since they have to pay the full price cuz there's no George to swallow up the costs). Not a Christian and doesn't want anything to do with it, but was surprisingly so open about her relationship with her dad and how much hurt he's caused her and her family. She's struggling with forgiving her father. She gave me her mobile number so i'll have to chase her down this week :) how beautiful it would be if she finds Christ and learns to forgive and be forgiven. she noticed the HopeFoundation bracelet i was wearing, and is friends with some friends of Bronwen Healey! how wonderful it'd be to take her to hopefoundation next thursday :)
Tess: lost her boyfriend a year ago who overdosed on heroin and is having a tough time grieving. she has uncontrolled diabetes, a complication from excess heroin use, and doesn't have all that long to live (maybe 10 years max), but is trying so hard to live out a fulfilling life. I remember hugging her and feeling how frail she was. Not someone you'd expect to be around my age. George has done so much for this young girl, beyond treatment but in supporting her emotionally. He came in afterhours one day to the girls detox house just to talk to her and see how she was going. (this after finishing work around 7!)
a little about some random stuff... This past week I baked my very FIRST cake from scratch =) and learned how to bar chords on the guitar courtesy of one of their sons Graham who taught me despite my slow intake lol. i also finished reading Deadly Money Maker by Saga McOdongo, and learned a little about the drug world in Kenya (drugs in kiswahili is 'marufuku'). Its a good read, writing of her experience locked up in jail in Kenya for drug trafficking. i've also heard the strangest song ever known to man! it makes me crack up everytime i listen to it!
a little about some things i've learned...
live humbly knowing it is He who does a good work in us
live joyfully each day when in plenty or in need
have FUN joining in on God's work
use the time we're given wisely, don't waste it!
be patient and always be ready to forgive 70x7 times even if patients lie or disappoint you
we receive from Him so that we can give to others, so don't hold onto the things of this world
3.11.09
I'm in Perth :)
I arrived last night at 7:45pm. It was quite the hectic morning with many bumps on the road! I set my alarm to 3am, my flight was at 5:00am, and of course i sleep through the alarm and end up waking at 4:25am. In a state of adrenalin-shock i frantically called up a taxi who gets me to the airport at 4:45am (unheard of! he drove like a madman). I run into the airport and silly me forgot to check-in the night before, and since the check-in deadline was for 4:30am.. i was too little too late. I had to pay a $50 fine (*sigh) to change the flight, but my card kept on declining. my heart sunk as i thought of the worst case scenario, that perhaps someone had gotten into my account and emptied it? but i called the bank and everything was alright.. so i'm guessing its just the magnetic strip that has gone wonky.. will have to sort it out when i get back. I wasn't sure how i was gonna pay the $50. Out of habit i never carry a credit card with me, but for some reason as i was hopelessly searching through my wallet, i found one! (strange!) so thankfully I was still able to catch a flight to Perth :) I only had some spare change in my wallet, so for the whole day i had 1 mcdonald's apple pie lol. SO DELICIOUS when u go a day without food!
When I arrived on the other end, Christine (Chris) and George (the doc I'm shadowing out here in Perth) met me at the airport with a welcome sign :) I've never met a lovelier couple than they! Greeted with warm hugs & kisses from well.. absolute strangers, yet they made me feel so absolutely at home. That same night we drove around delivering huge bags full of bread (which they often do) to some of their detox houses (which house anyone without or needing a home after receiving treatment for as long as it takes for them to get on their feet). All i can say is wow, I've never met a more radical couple! It's even more inspiring when I consider their age! They could be my grandparents, yet still they are running hard & fast for the Lord =)
