Oxi?

I had a procedure last week. This is not my first time going under anesthesia. The first time was at 13. I had dislocated my elbow at camp. It definitely shouldn’t have happened. Something that most would sue for but parents opted against. We are much more litigious now than we were then.

That dislocation created a bone chip at the end of my elbow, which floated around until it attached and pinched my ulnar nerve. I had to have surgery to remove the chip with hopes that the numbness in my fingers would go away. Unfortunately, a year later, I found myself back in surgery because I had built up lots of scar tissue, and that tissue was strangling my nerve. A new surgery, for that time, was to put the nerve underneath the muscle, hence shielding it from scar tissue. It worked.

I remember how sick I was from the anesthesia for a few days and the pain killers they gave me. They left a terrible taste in my mouth and kept me sleeping most of the time. Essentially I slept away the pain.

Fast forward, I have been under for more times than I need to share. Anesthesia has changed a lot over the years. Hospitals have changed. Technology has caught up with everything. I am fascinated each time to see slight and sometimes significant changes, even in the gowns worn.

I have taken different painkillers, but most time, I bite the bullet and stick with Tylenol. Call me crazy, but there is nothing wrong with a bit of pain to process what you just went through. It would be best if you weren’t moaning, but you certainly don’t need to experience anything with Oxi.

I am a bit obsessed with the Sackler family. Wealthy white family figures game the system and get a slap on the hand for killing hundreds of thousands of Americans while also making the users addicted to their drugs. They should be forced to liquidate every single asset they own and be put out of business. But that is another conversation.

When I checked out, the hospital handed me three Oxi pills for pain. I didn’t want them, but they were adamant I take them with me. I did not take them but thought a lot about that bottle sitting on my counter. After everything written, filmed, and discussed around Oxi, how could any doctor or hospital want anything to do with this drug? It alters your mind. Sure it blocks out the pain, but other drugs do the same thing.

Over 100,000 people in the US overdosed during this pandemic. Many were from streets drugs, but addiction is real. The NYTimes wrote, “Overdose deaths related to use of stimulants like methamphetamine, cocaine, and natural and semi-synthetic opioids, such as prescription pain medication, also increased during the 12 months.”.

I might have felt differently if they had given me Percocet, although I wouldn’t have taken it either. Was I in pain? Yes, but Tylenol, gummies, and a solid martini indeed did the trick. Why the hell is Oxi even on the market anymore? Why do the Sacklers continue to make money off a drug that has destroyed an entire community of people?

People with money, which in turn creates power, have managed to avoid proper punishment for their crimes. Now more than ever, it is all out there for all of us to see. I look at that Oxi label and wonder, really??