Making a Difference

I still have days where it hits me, "How did we get HERE?!" For our family, the initial cut of the opiate wound that would later fester into a gaping hole of addiction was when our oldest son, Adam, tore his hamstring pole vaulting for his high school track team in 2004. Adam, like many others, was prescribed pain killers...and allowed to refill that prescription far too many times. Then, with no warning, was cut off. TOO LATE, the damage was done....Adam had an opiate addiction. That was the start of 10+ years of hell for our family! Adam was an extremely intelligent man so it didn't take much for him to figure out very creative ways to manipulate people to get what he needed...that next fix. But as it goes with opiate addiction, his hunger and need for that "High" got stronger and required more and more drugs....percocet, vicodin, oxycontin and, at his lowest, most desperate times, heroin.
 

Where had our athletic, intelligent, charismatic, compassionate, caring son gone?! And who was this manipulative, self-centered, dishonest, man that now lived under our roof?! For 10+ years we fought to save our son & regain the Adam we once knew. We tried behavioral rehab centers, a tough-love work rehab program and a methadone program. Adam outsmarted, or was so obnoxious they just wanted him gone, the behavioral rehab centers and was discharged within 3 days...on both occasions. The work rehab program was probably the most beneficial but, unfortunately, we couldn't force him to stay in the program and he eventually left. The methadone program allowed him to function but, in our experience, was just trading one addiction for another. FINALLY in 2016 we found, or should I say, a SUCCESSFUL program found us!
 

Now you're probably wondering if Adam found a successful program, why isn't he with us today? Good question. But first let's talk about Jon. How did Jon end up down the opiate addiction path too when he watched, and was openly disgusted by, his brother's addiction and how it had adversely affected his life and the lives of his family. His too was a case of an injury but he wasn't prescribed painkillers. After a serious fall at work, Jon injured his back but, stubbornly, refused to see a doctor. He already suffered knee pain from school related sports injuries & felt he could just deal with the back pain too. Then, at a point of extreme pain and discomfort, Jon was offered someone else's prescription for pain. That's when Jon made a crucial mistake, one that many often make, in thinking that knowing what happened to his brother, he could use painkillers short term, just long enough to make the pain bearable but not enough to get addicted. Sadly, he was wrong.
 

Jon, unlike his brother, was not as callous when it came to what people thought of him so he dealt with depression. He knew his family loved him but hated the judgement of those that showed their disappointed in him. Jon had become dependent on opiates and it was effecting his family life, his finances and the raising of his daughter. In early 2014, Jon wrote us a letter apologizing for his actions and asking for forgiveness and help. We immediately responded with our full support. Now this is where, as a mother, I am still SO ANGRY! I tried to find a viable program for Jon. All I could find, outside of expensive rehab programs that we couldn't afford and required him to be admitted to a facility for an extended length of time...if I had known what was laying in wait just around the corner, I would have sold off everything I owned to get him the help he so desperately wanted...but our only options were suboxone or methadone programs.
 

Seeing how inefficient the methadone program had been for Adam, we decided to try a suboxone program. After several phone calls and a stack of paperwork, we finally got Jon in a suboxone program that his insurance would cover. But, as fate would have it, shortly after his initial prescription of sublingual suboxone tabs, his account was moved to another doctor and facility. When Jon tried to schedule his next appointment, they couldn't locate his account. For days, several times a day, we called both facilities trying to correct the matter and get Jon the help he needed. His suboxone prescription had run out and the withdrawals were unbearable....like the flu on steroids! Jon, out of desperation, went to the methadone clinic and enrolled in their program. Would suboxone have been the answer? Being that it works on the brain similar to methadone, I doubt it, but we'll never know because an incompetent healthcare worker mishandled his account.
 

The biggest problem I saw with the methadone program, they didn't encourage their patients to taper back and, eventually, come completely off methadone. It was, in my opinion, a legalized drug business...trading opiates for a synthetic version and making a profit off it! Not only that, but both Adam and Jon often turned to benzos (benzodiazepines drugs) to help "feel better".  This in itself, can be a deadly combination in more ways than one, as we fatefully discovered in October of 2014. That's when Jon decided to attend a halloween party and made the fatal decision to mix alcohol, opiates and benzodiazepines. But Jon didn't overdose on this deadly combination. Tragically, while under the influence of these drugs, he experienced an emotional trauma that, along with the depression he was dealing with, led him to hang himself.

Adam was devastated, to say the least, by his brother's death. After over a year of living in constant panic trying to keep him from self-destructing, a dear friend told Adam about Compassionate Care. What an AMAZING program. They gave me back my son; the intelligent, charismatic, compassionate, caring son we once knew!! I won't sugarcoat it, it was a battle for Adam and myself the first 2 weeks of the program...But it was worth every minute! Adam got stronger in his resistance for opiates and the desire for opiates diminished over time. He was determined to be there for his family and especially for Jon's daughter. Soon Adam had a stable job he loved and exceeded at. His employer and coworkers loved him and thought the world of him. His old (true) friends were starting to come around again and he was back in school pursuing his dream to become a helicopter pilot. Life was back on track. Then, as fate would have it, in May of 2017, Adam, low on funds and too prideful to ask for help...trust me, this wasn't the Adam we had known a little over a year prior...put off getting his next scheduled naltrexone pellets. Feeling the anxiety and fearing he'd desire to use, Adam bought some benzos off the street. Grievously, those pills were laced with fentanyl and Adam overdosed 2 days before he was scheduled to get new pellets.

This is our story, don't let it be yours!

 Reach out and ask for help. Get the information and help you need to overcome your addiction, help your loved one that's headed down the path Adam and Jon traveled or get information on opiates and how to prevent opiate addiction.

That our efforts...

...can prevent other families from going through the pain and grief we've had to suffer.

...can help others who, like Jon, so desperately want help to find and obtain that help.

...can keep others from going down the same road Adam and Jon traveled.

As Loved ones of 2 incredible young individuals that lost their lives way too young due to the consequences of drug addiction, we've established the Adam and Jonathan Cambron Memorial Foundation. It's our desire to assist individuals and organizations in reducing the addictions and deaths attributed to opiates through detoxification, awareness and education by providing funding through public fundraising and donations.