Cocaine And Needles
Hello everyone! Praise the Lord!
Last Saturday I came in early since we were going to have our biannual volunteer appreciation party that afternoon. I came in and had a nice long visit with a patient I'll call "Nick."
Nick was a middle aged white man that had long hair and a full but thin beard and mustache. When the doctor popped in for a quick visit, she exclaimed that he was looking more and more like Jesus! I remarked that that was a good description.
Nick was in a bad mood and he complained about everything. The nurses was not attentive enough and the food was never enough. He was also stockpiling juices, food and cups. I thought it odd until I found out that Nick was a homeless man! When you live on the streets, stockpiling things is a survival trait.
Nick was suffering from AIDS and Hepatitis C, but he was dying of heart failure. He only had twenty percent of his heart that was working! He was earlier in the hospital for treatment and they said that he had forty percent of his heart working and he went back to his car, which he was living in, since he was homeless. He called 911 and passed out in his car and the ambulance workers had to drag him out of his car since he could not walk. They brought him back and told him he only had twenty percent of his heart working now. He was mad about that because he thought the hospital had lied to him. Nick uncovered his feet to show me how black they were due to a lack of circulation! That was the first time that I have seen black feet!
His suffering from AIDS, Hepatitis C and his bad heart was a direct result of his lifelong cocaine usage using needles! As the Bible says, you "reap what you sow." I certainly didn't tell him that, but I'm sure he already knew that anyway. Nick said that shooting up cocaine with needles gave him a faster high and better high! His cocaine addiction also caused him to not pay his child support on his three children, losing his job in construction and eventually causing his homelessness! He is not getting any cocaine in hospice care, so I wonder how he was dealing with that. Maybe they were giving him a substitute or something. I didn't ask.
Nick was on probation from the courts because of the back child support and the IRS was after him for back taxes! That's a lot of problems he was dealing with all because of his cocaine addiction. It was the cocaine that also damaged his heart valve that was not working. It was sad to talk with him and to hear how one drug could destroy his whole life.
Has drug addiction affected your life? How has drug addiction harmed others around you? Feel free to tell your stories in the comments section.
Brother Roop
Last Saturday I came in early since we were going to have our biannual volunteer appreciation party that afternoon. I came in and had a nice long visit with a patient I'll call "Nick."
Nick was a middle aged white man that had long hair and a full but thin beard and mustache. When the doctor popped in for a quick visit, she exclaimed that he was looking more and more like Jesus! I remarked that that was a good description.
Nick was in a bad mood and he complained about everything. The nurses was not attentive enough and the food was never enough. He was also stockpiling juices, food and cups. I thought it odd until I found out that Nick was a homeless man! When you live on the streets, stockpiling things is a survival trait.
Nick was suffering from AIDS and Hepatitis C, but he was dying of heart failure. He only had twenty percent of his heart that was working! He was earlier in the hospital for treatment and they said that he had forty percent of his heart working and he went back to his car, which he was living in, since he was homeless. He called 911 and passed out in his car and the ambulance workers had to drag him out of his car since he could not walk. They brought him back and told him he only had twenty percent of his heart working now. He was mad about that because he thought the hospital had lied to him. Nick uncovered his feet to show me how black they were due to a lack of circulation! That was the first time that I have seen black feet!
His suffering from AIDS, Hepatitis C and his bad heart was a direct result of his lifelong cocaine usage using needles! As the Bible says, you "reap what you sow." I certainly didn't tell him that, but I'm sure he already knew that anyway. Nick said that shooting up cocaine with needles gave him a faster high and better high! His cocaine addiction also caused him to not pay his child support on his three children, losing his job in construction and eventually causing his homelessness! He is not getting any cocaine in hospice care, so I wonder how he was dealing with that. Maybe they were giving him a substitute or something. I didn't ask.
Nick was on probation from the courts because of the back child support and the IRS was after him for back taxes! That's a lot of problems he was dealing with all because of his cocaine addiction. It was the cocaine that also damaged his heart valve that was not working. It was sad to talk with him and to hear how one drug could destroy his whole life.
Has drug addiction affected your life? How has drug addiction harmed others around you? Feel free to tell your stories in the comments section.
Brother Roop
Comments
Post a Comment