Sunday, January 27, 2019

Withdrawing from Withdrawal - The Language of Addiction Matters

I wrote this essay for The Partnership for Drug-Free Kids in November of 2017.  My essay and the links provided by The Partnership give a useful guide as to how we discuss and write about addiction.  I am guilty of some of the transgressions described.  We all need to learn and change.

https://drugfree.org/parent-blog/withdrawing-from-withdrawal-the-language-of-addiction-matters/

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Anatomical Donation - A Family Story

In December of 2012, we made an anatomical donation of William's body to Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons.  As William was more or less a peer of the medical students in the anatomy lab, his body was not used in that lab out of consideration of the effect it might have on peers still alive.  It took some time to discover exactly how his body was used. We ultimately found out after being interviewed by the writer of the article below.  You can learn about our story here.  Be sure to go to the end of the 2018 article to read an essay of mine.

Opioids:  How We Got Here, Where We Go From Here

William is used as an example of healthy tissue throughout this manual.