Overdose - My little sister is dying of Heroin overdose

[dark12]

Hey all,
Twelve days ago my 18 year old sister was found unresponsive on the floor of her friend's apartment. She was rushed to the emergency room and was in a coma until three days ago. Three days ago she opened her eyes, but the extent of her communication is a single word muttered once or twice a day. I hold back tears every time I look at her. Her eyes are not centered and she stares through me.
Since she has been in the hospital we have tried getting her to show emotions. When she was in the coma she would laugh at my funny stories and cry when I played a sad song. Now she doesn't really seem to show emotion at all. She has just been lying there with her eyes open and biting her lip. Her lips are torn and bleeding right now. She appears to have extreme brain damage.
She can move her leg if I tell her to, but that's about it. All of the doctors are saying that she has no chance to recover completely, and the best case scenario is that she lives the rest of her life with brain damage and a respirator.
She must have had respiratory depression for an extreme amount of time.
If anyone has any comments or suggestions please post. Otherwise keep her in your prayers, smoke a bowl for her, or whatever.

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Stay strong man - Junket
	sorry to hear, yet wise choice to share with others. hope it will be a warning!

[Richard_smoker]

Jesus--times like this are rough like nothing anyone whose never been there before will ever understand (me included)...for certain, know that swimshouse's thoughts & prayers are with you...

[fiveleggedrat]

Perhaps Swim is ignorant about opioid overdose and it's effects, but was it the CNS depression that caused a lack of oxygen to the brain causing coma/brain damage? Sorry if this is stupid, but Swim has honestly never heard about anything like this. Were they sure it was heroin out of curiosity?

[dark12]

Originally Posted by fiveleggedrat

Perhaps Swim is ignorant about opioid overdose and it's effects, but was it the CNS depression that caused a lack of oxygen to the brain causing coma/brain damage? Sorry if this is stupid, but Swim has honestly never heard about anything like this. Were they sure it was heroin out of curiosity?

Thanks for the kind words.
Yes her brain was not receiving oxygen so apparently parts of it died. The toxicology test was positive only for opiates. She was in rehab for heroin withdrawal.
Today she received an EEG brain scan and tomorrow they will tell us what is damaged and if recovery is possible.

[Junket]

I'm sorry to hear that man, my best wishes go out to you and your family.

[lexifer]

SWIM is very sorry to hear about that and sends his regards to you and your family.

[MiMoMo]

Originally Posted by dark12

Hey all,
Twelve days ago my 18 year old sister was found unresponsive on the floor of her friend's apartment. She was rushed to the emergency room and was in a coma until three days ago. Three days ago she opened her eyes, but the extent of her communication is a single word muttered once or twice a day. I hold back tears every time I look at her. Her eyes are not centered and she stares through me.
Since she has been in the hospital we have tried getting her to show emotions. When she was in the coma she would laugh at my funny stories and cry when I played a sad song. Now she doesn't really seem to show emotion at all. She has just been lying there with her eyes open and biting her lip. Her lips are torn and bleeding right now. She appears to have extreme brain damage.
She can move her leg if I tell her to, but that's about it. All of the doctors are saying that she has no chance to recover completely, and the best case scenario is that she lives the rest of her life with brain damage and a respirator.
She must have had respiratory depression for an extreme amount of time.
If anyone has any comments or suggestions please post. Otherwise keep her in your prayers, smoke a bowl for her, or whatever.

Dear dear dark12,
Upon first reading this announcement, hope was that it was a macabre prank, a sick joke. Quick review of your posting history revealed an earnest and responsible nature. Now confronted with the stark reality of the situation, please accept my sympathy.

A quick search reveals a veritable mountain of teenage girls that have gone into coma from heroin overdose. It might be useful to review past cases of young girls so afflicted. Here's a case of a 17 year old and pregnant Amy Pickard from East Sussex that had been in coma for 8 months when the article was written (2002). Her parents ever optimistic, alas not so her boyfriend, who purposely overdosed and died.
http://archive.theargus.co.uk/2002/2/22/162745.html

Hospital move for drugs coma girl

From the archive, first published Friday 22nd Feb 2002. A teenage heroin victim who has been in a coma for eight months is to be transferred to a specialist brain unit next week. The long-awaited move to Putney Neurological Unit will be the first major step in the rehabilitation of Amy Pickard. Although she remains unable to communicate, Amy, 17, has remained free from infection during the past two months at the Conquest Hospital, Hastings.
She has been receiving round-the-clock treatment there since being found slumped unconscious in town centre public toilets last June after injecting heroin. To compound the tragedy, she was pregnant at the time but lost tiny Summer Louise five days after the baby was born by Caesarean section, something Amy is unaware of.
Mother Thelma Pickard, of Sandown Road, Hastings, said she had been able to take Amy out in a wheelchair for up to three hours a day.
She said: "Amy's doing brilliantly, showing just what a fighter she is.
"It has taken a long time to get to where she has and it's going to be a long time until she can come home with me. "But she is getting there, slowly but surely." Auxiliary nurse Mrs Pickard said Amy's treatment is being funded for six months at Putney's profound brain injury unit.
She said: "The staff at the Conquest have been brilliant and have done all they can to help Amy but there has now come a point where she needs more specialist help. "I have already been to Putney and the staff and facilities seem fantastic, so I know she will be in great hands."
Mrs Pickard has sought to highlight the dangers to young people of heroin, which she said was a serious problem in Hastings and St Leonards.
However, her warnings were not heeded by Amy's boyfriend, Michael Morfee, 22, who returned to the same public toilets where Amy collapsed and took a heroin overdose. He died at the Conquest Hospital, heartbroken at his girlfriend's condition.

And wouldn't you know it? Six years later, in a piece written in 2007, Amy is said to be making fantastic progress being one of 300 people worldwide undergoing trial medication with Zolpidem, an insomnia drug. In 2006, researchers found that some patients in a vegetative state could be temporarily revived by taking it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7070601.stm

Vegetative state drug trial hope
A woman in a six-year vegetative state after taking a heroin overdose has made "fantastic steady progress" during a sleeping pill trial, her mother says.

Amy Pickard, from East Sussex, is one of 300 people worldwide being treated with Zolpidem, an insomnia drug. In 2006, researchers found that some patients in a vegetative state could be temporarily revived by taking it. "Within 20 to 25 minutes [of taking the first pill] you could see the change in her face," said her mother, Thelma.

Ms Pickard, 23, experimented with heroin in 2001 and had to be resuscitated twice. Her mother, from Sedlescombe, East Sussex, said she was not an addict, but she just "got in with the wrong people" through her boyfriend at the time. Ms Pickard was still a teenager when she collapsed in public toilets in Hastings, and she was also seven months pregnant.

She's much more aware and she will actually look around
Thelma Pickard

"We don't know exactly what happened, but she had 15 minutes of getting no oxygen to her brain and she suffered brain damage," her mother said. "Unfortunately we also lost the baby." A person in Ms Pickard's condition may appear to be awake and have their eyes open, but will show no awareness of their surroundings.

Thelma Pickard embarked on the Zolpidem trial after a visit to South Africa, which was filmed for a documentary called The Waking Pill being broadcast on BBC One on Wednesday. She went with the programme makers to hear about South African patients given the pill who had then woken up "as if a switch had been flicked". She said: "I'd actually heard about the pill about two years ago, but thought it wasn't within my grasp, and then it came to find me."

'Profound brain injury'

Her daughter is being cared for at the Raphael Medical Centre, in Hildenborough, Kent, which specialises in a holistic approach to rehabilitation. And Mrs Pickard said the drug seemed to be having an impact on helping her come out of a state of limbo. "It's all very, very exciting and my visits to Amy are far more exciting now," Mrs Pickard said. "She is making fantastic steady progress... she moves so much better now. "The main thing that you see straight away is with her eyes, she's much more aware and she will actually look around.

"She has a very profound brain injury... but Amy's team feel she's gaining from this pill so we're keeping her on it for as long as [possible]."
South African researchers writing in the NeuroRehabilitation journal in 2006 said three patients treated with Zolpidem had been temporarily revived from a permanent vegetative state. Mrs Pickard and the BBC documentary team also travelled to the country with the parents of Joanne Douglas, from Prestwick, Ayrshire, Scotland, who has been unable to communicate since lapsing into a coma in 1995.

Keep hope alive, dude. The fact that she responded to you while in coma and also afterwards means monster much. She obviously hears you, totally. Now, see if you can guide her back home!

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Nice article
	Nice work there, very thoughtful of you to post articles that may give the OP a little hope. Well done.

[dark12]

Thank you for the great response MiMoMo.
Yesterday her EEG results said her brain is fine, but quite slow. Her CT scan was normal.
Her physical therapy is going great. Yesterday she moved her left arm and leg on command and she even said my sister's name when she was asked to.
A few days ago the doctors explained the process of how they would take her off life support. Now they aren't even considering that as an option. They say the fact that she has made it this far is a miracle. Everyday she just gets better and better. It may be a year until she recovers, and she may not be able to do the same things she used to; but I have faith that she can live a fulfilling life.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Thank you for sharing this with us

[fiveleggedrat]

Swim is pleased to hear such positives lately, wonderful.

Swim wishes only the best!

Do keep SwiUs updated.

[MiMoMo]

Hey dark dozen,
You have made my day and beyond. And thank you for steering me towards exploring the epidemic of heroin coma in young girls. An intriguing phenomenon, undoubtedly due lots to the rather delicate and very sensitive nature of the adolescent female body.

May a bazillion blessings surround your every moment.

[Birkill]

God man, thats pretty heavy and u will both be in my thoughts tonight, swim says this sat here on the fukin shit, i dont know if this is a stupid question but is it only females that get this sorta reaction to h overdose or is swim at risk aswell???

[davestate]

Originally Posted by Birkill

God man, thats pretty heavy and u will both be in my thoughts tonight, swim says this sat here on the fukin shit, i dont know if this is a stupid question but is it only females that get this sorta reaction to h overdose or is swim at risk aswell???

Perhaps it's more prevailant in females due to their lower body mass.

[Metomni]

Thoughts are definitely with you and your sister. Having a younger sister myself, I can only imagine what I would do if she was put into a coma. Hopefully mother gaia will look gracefully upon her.

[dark12]

Thanks for the kind words.
Birkill, respiratory depression can happen to anyone that uses too much of an opiate without proper supervision. She just passed out and her body slowed down so much that her brain didn't get enough oxygen so parts of her brain died.

An update on her condition: My family and the doctors are in awe at how fast she is recovering. She is able to hold a conversation now! Though, it is quite apparent that something isn't wired in her brain correctly because she randomly says phrases that don't make sense... sort of like tourettes syndrome.
It is incredible seeing that she is able to talk now. Thanks much for your support. I'll keep you all posted on anything new.

[Junket]

so 2 weeks later..

what has happened

[dark12]

Hey,
I have been at school for the past couple weeks. My school is about 5 hours from the hospital so it is hard for me to get out there as much as I would like.
I did go this weekend though. When I look at her now I am much more positive about her condition. All the nurses are still calling her a miracle so that's a good sign.
Her physical therapy is going great. She has her tracheotomy tube out so she can eat solid food. As of a couple days ago she can lift food to her mouth and feed herself. She still has very limited movement on her left side, but she has astounded us all so far with her progress.
Thanks again for the thoughts and prayers everyone.

[chadchadchad]

any new status?

[Anthalion]

Yeah, I am also interested - anything new?

[Spare Chaynge]

Please next post try to emphasize how her mind is doing. Speech,cognitive ability.

Swim is extremely sorry this happened. Swim had a similar experience happen to him but not as severe. He eventually gained most of his lost abilities back.

Just took time for his mind to work around the damaged areas.

[sunofnothing]

So sorry to hear about this, dark 12. I hope your sisters recovery is continuing as rapidly as it was and that you and your family are doing well.

peace

[dark12]

Sorry it took so long to give an update.
She was released from the hospital last Tuesday and she is now living with my older sister. We would have liked for her to stay in the hospital a little longer, but the insurance was running out. After receiving only half of the hospital bills the total was well over $150,000 for her treatment. Luckily, the insurance is covering it.
She is confined to a wheelchair now but she can kind of walk with two people holding her up. It seems she has to relearn all physical functions. For example, sometimes when she tries putting a spoon to her mouth she misses by several inches and cannot readjust the spoon properly. It wasn't only her fine motor skills that were damaged. When we hold her up and tell her to walk, her feet take very tiny and quick baby steps. Like 3-4 steps per second with an average displacement of about 1 inch each.
It is very sad to see her like this, but looking back on the previous posts I realize she is lucky just to be alive.

EDIT: Cognitively she seems to be close to her normal self. The only differences I notice is that her mind wanders more and she seems to be more caring than before.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Good to be updated. Your a wonderful relative to have!

[unema]

Speechless man, I am truly sorry for you and your family's affliction. Its good to see however that she is recovering so well. Your family sounds like saints and she needs you guys more now than ever. She is lucky to have you guys as well as "someone" up there watching over her. Prayers go out for her speedy recovery and your family as well.
Stay safe and let this serve as a lesson.
Peace
-unema

[cuddlesthefox]

Thinking of you all.
This really brings stupid wasters like me back down to earth.
Life is sweet.

[Panthers007]

Please convey my, and Drugs-Forum.com's, best wishes for a full & speedy recovery. Your sister has a powerful book to write when she feels up to it. See her on the talk-show circuit. Get her an agent.

[dark12]

Thanks everyone. It means a lot.