Text from my Mom
It’s crazy that we are still dealing with a lack of awareness around Kratom, 7OH etc… I was down BAAAD for about 6 months using feel free then 7OH (about a year ago). Sent me to the hospital a few times due to major panic attacks. Things I never thought I would experience
My mom just shared this text from one of my family members. Just copied and pasted what was sent to her. Shows the reality of what it does to the person taking it and your family / friends. It could be you at any time, even though it feels so unlikely. Be safe out there, I promise it’s better on the other side. Stop giving power to companies that will take everything away from you.
My beautiful and loving siblings. I’m trying to be strong but need your love and support. Today was supposed to be a day of joy and excitement as are plan was to head up to our new life in Virginia. Lauren was found unresponsive on Saturday morning. I had to call 911. Long story short she has become addicted to what we think is kratom which can be found in gas stations and local smoke shops. She is in the ICU at Tampa General on a ventilator helping her breathe. She was heavily sedated so Saturday she wasn’t responding to commands. Yesterday she is more responsive and is understanding commands such as squeeze hands and she is understanding when you ask questions by nodding her head yes or no. That alone was a blessing. They were gonna try to take the vent out, but she has fluid in her lungs, so hopefully today the vent will come out and she will continue to heal. Once they get her oxygen at a good level, they’ll probably transfer her to a regular floor. Unfortunately, this is the second incident that has happened within a month. I found her in April in the same condition, but she wasn’t nearly as advanced, and she was only on an air supply. That was a piece of cake compared to what she is going through now. Watching her yesterday struggle with the vent was heartbreaking. Our life has been turned upside down but I have faith she’s gonna be OK but she’s gonna need a lot of help. She had already accepted a job in Richmond, but I’m not sure what’s gonna happen with that. She needs a lot of help both rehab wise and mentally. For her to do this again, knowing how dangerous it was the last time is unfathomable. For her to make a choice to do this to herself shows she has an addiction issue. So I am just trying to figure out the next step. I have a lot of support here and I know I have support with my siblings. I have to be out of my house today. I have no furniture and I’m gonna be staying with a friend. Fortunately Finley is in boarding so I don’t have him to worry about. Today my electricity gets turned off and I close on the house. I don’t understand why this is happening, but I trust God is trying to get her on a right path. She obviously didn’t learn the lesson last time and she had promised she wouldn’t go back to this stuff. I don’t know if she took too strong of a dose again or mixed it with some of her other meds. Once she can talk about it, she needs to be forthright and honest. I feel like there’s been a lot of lying and I am just heartbroken and angry with her. I am also angry that this stuff can just be sold over-the-counter. Now that I’ve come to terms that this is a real issue I’ve heard from other people I know that have had relatives or friends that have gone through the same thing. So it’s not only the addiction, but it spills over into her finances too. So it’s a mess. Please pray for us that her path will be set straight spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically. It’s going to be a hard for her but I have faith she will turn herself around with rehab, counseling and lots of prayers. I am sure you all have questions, but I have shared everything at this point. Love to all of you
She is resting. Tried to give her another breathing test this morning after they took her off sedation, but she was very agitated so they’re gonna try again later. But when they gave her one yesterday, I was standing there and helping her calm down so hopefully that will happen again today. And then if that happens and she’s good to go that tube will come out and then we can move forward so that’s something to please pray for.
So apparently she had fentanyl in her system. She is improving in her conversations but there is lagging. She is answering questions. She wasn’t able to sit up on her own so the OT person used a hoist to get her out of the bed and sit her on a chair so she could sit up. Her friend is there braiding her hair. She’s getting some movement back on the left side as far as being able to squeeze her hand now. they are gonna do an MRI tomorrow or the next day to check on any type of deficiencies in her brain, but she’s pleasant now she’s not irritated and she’s happy to see us. It’s gonna be a long road but she’s in good care here.
She is alert and talking and feels like my Lauren is back. She is understanding what happened and didn’t even realize that she had a vent until I showed her a pic. I shared my anger and all the feelings about this and how much it’s affected her as well as everyone else. She is feeling the impact. She knows she needs help. So the plan is not set in stone, but when she is released from the hospital, she will need to go straight into rehab for physical and occupational therapy. It would be impatient and she would stay there for one to two weeks with 5 to 7 days of intense therapy. She has to be able to be independent before going into any kind of rehab for addiction if that’s the next step. We are getting there