>----- Original Message -----
From: Dolores To: Congressman Cooksey
Sent: Tuesday, July 02, 2002 10:02 PM
Subject: Re: pain management
Dear Congressman Cooksey: Thank you for your reply to my email. I am a chronic pain sufferer caused from an auto accident ending with the loss of my colon(no colostomy ). I suffered a ruptured spleen 6 fx ribs, almost complete destruction of my abdomen, damage to my left breast, skull fx with concussion, right eye orbit fx. I am lucky to be alive after a 75 mph impact of my steering wheel being driven into my body. Wreck caused by a drunk parking his car in the fast lane of the interstate just outside New Orleans and caused a 5 car pileup at 11 p.m. at night. I got a lifetime of pain and suffering and loss of a very lucrative career All he got was a pat on the wrist and to attend AAA and a defensive driving course. He wasn't even in the car. I take 3 or 4 Vicodin ES a day and it barely touches the pain I am in. I also suffer from peripheral neuropathies from having so much surgery.I did not say above that I had enough sigmoid to anastomose to a small intestine that is so damaged if I don't take Xanax 1 mg daily and I lose my bowel sounds and that is even more pain. Since you are a physician, I knew you would understand. Please keep helping to stop the DEA to get so powerful and our doctors being afraid to prescribe any strong medication for terminally ill and chronic pain patients. If you go over to the site adhesions@adhesions.org you will find so many people who can't get adequate pain relief and that is just one of the many sites where I see the horror stories but the street people and the movie stars will always get their drugs. I am not an addict but if I couldn't get some relief, I would just end it all. Thats how bad my pain is. I have been a RN for 35 years and can't work now because of this hell I live in and I would never put peoples lives in my hands when I am taking medication and besides I can only go for about 4 hours without lying down. Please keep helping to remove the federal government from our doctors office. Thank you and God bless Dolores in Louisiana
> ----- Original Message -----
From: Congressman Cooksey
To: 'Dolores'
Sent: Tuesday, July 02, 2002 4:03 PM
Subject: RE: pain management
Ms. Atwood,
Thank you for your email. As a physician with many elderly patients, I am quite familiar with your concerns. There have been attempts to increase the federal government's oversight and penalties on such medications in the past years and I have consistently voted against such steps. We need better pain management for patients and having the federal government looking over every doctor's shoulder is not going to help things.
Sincerely,
John Cooksey _________________________ Congressman John Cooksey=20 _________________________ 113 Cannon Building Washington DC 20515
-----Original Message----- From: Dolores [mailto:dtouch@bellsouth.net] Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2002 11:10 AM To: Congressman Cooksey Subject: pain management
Please help with the problem of doctors being afraid to prescribe anything for pain other than tylenol. Chronic pain people deserve to have a better quality of life. Thank you, Dolores Atwood