Carol Blecher This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Nothing to fear but pain itself

   www.msnbc.com/news/613494.asp - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/17/2001   Last Visited: 8/17/2001

   ONCOLOGY NURSE specialist Carol Blecher knows the face of pain and the face of fear. Cancer , says Blecher , is not a gentle , silent enemy but rather a painful , raging foe , which must be fought with powerful weapons that often cause their own unremitting pain. So easing or eliminating a patient's pain is often Blecher's primary concern. But every day patients and families come to me filled with fear about taking opioids , she says - narcotic drugs like methadone , morphine , and OxyContin. That fear , called opio-phobia , can stand in the way of relief for many patients. At her office at Valley Hospital System in Ridgewood , N.J. , Blecher says the media frenzy surrounding abuse of the long-acting painkiller called OxyContin has fueled patients' fears. Now patients and families are asking : Does this drug make you an addict. I have to just tell them over and over that they are taking the drug for pain , not for addictive reasons , says Blecher , a spokesperson for the Oncology Nursing Society.
   
   DRUG A ‘LIFELINE' FOR CANCER PATIENTS