[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 1638-1640]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING FAMILIES IMPACTED BY THE NATIONAL OPIOID EPIDEMIC

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. ANN M. KUSTER

                            of new hampshire

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 1, 2017

  Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to include in 
the Record the personal stories of families from across the country 
that have been impacted by the opioid and heroin epidemic. In the U.S. 
we lose 129 lives per day to opioid and heroin overdose. In my home 
state of New Hampshire I have learned so many heartbreaking stories of 
great people and families who have suffered from the effects of 
substance use disorder.
  Earlier this year, my colleagues and I were joined by many of these 
courageous families who came to Washington to share their stories with 
Members of Congress and push for action that will prevent overdoses and 
save lives. Since then, we passed both the Comprehensive Addiction and 
Recovery Act and the 21st Century Cures Act to provide much needed 
funding and critical policy changes to fight this epidemic.
  The advocacy of these families truly is so important to leading 
change in Washington and I am proud to preserve their stories.

                    JC Conners--Milwaukee, Wisconsin

       JC Conners came to his mother over five years ago worrying 
     and wanting to get off of drugs. Unfortunately--by that 
     time--he had little control over his addiction; his brain was 
     shutting down and we didn't understand. On August 13, 2016 JC 
     succumbed to the disease of addiction; he overdosed and died. 
     He was 38 years old!
       How does a hard-working, healthy man become severely 
     addicted to drugs? It shocked us all. Some time ago, JC was 
     introduced to oxycodone, a simple pill, that a friend told 
     him would help with stress and make him ``feel good''--adding 
     that the best part was that it wasn't easily detected and 
     didn't get you in trouble like alcohol. Unaware, JC took the 
     pill, not realizing the downfall that was about to happen.
       JC wasn't your stereotypical addicted individual. He was 
     high-functioning, worked hard at his job, and spent time with 
     his family. He fooled them all by managing his everyday life 
     so well. But slowly over time he started to deteriorate. JC 
     eventually shared with his mother what he came to realize 
     later: ``This so called `medicine' shouldn't be on the 
     market. It's misused. I'm really sick. Something's wrong. My 
     minds off.''
       After realizing this JC tried hard to stop but couldn't, 
     with each attempted he was further consumed by his addiction. 
     His family tried seeing doctors, therapists, etc., but they 
     all seemed detached. JC was only a number in a long line of 
     individuals also struggling with an addiction. We tried 
     outpatient therapy but that didn't work either.
       At another program, his family learned how this particular 
     drug stops your brain from producing the ``right'' chemicals 
     to function and if this continues part of your mind goes 
     missing. We also learned that it can take years for the brain 
     to recover and start producing these much needed chemicals 
     again for health brain functioning. Meanwhile, the individual 
     just wants to feel ``okay'' and as hard as they try the only 
     way to function ``okay'' is going back on the drug.
       JC overdosed Thanksgiving 2015 and survived. He overdosed 
     for a second time this past June, again, he survived. He then 
     spent five days in the hospital with complications related to 
     this overdose. The day JC was released, neither the doctors 
     nor the staff learned or inquired about his past history with 
     addiction, they only sent him home with the suggestion he see 
     a therapist. So, his family trusted the professionals. Two 
     months later, JC was gone. He had fallen through the cracks 
     and we didn't understand fully the depth of his struggles 
     until it was too late.
       My daughter asked me to write this so JC's story would be 
     heard and to relate this message to everyone: we need to be 
     aware and come to terms with the realization of what these 
     drugs do to the human brain, yet these drugs are out there 
     and way too easy to come by. Why is this happening? We need 
     to sympathize, understand and help those struggling with 
     addiction, not stigmatize them. JC was told by many 
     professionals that, ``he had to want help and had to want to 
     help himself.'' The outside help he did try failed him, so he 
     thought he was better off overcoming his struggles on his 
     own. We, his family didn't understand the severity of his 
     addiction, so we let him try. We came to realize this was a 
     terrible mistake! Professionals need to make it VERY clear to 
     both the individual and their families that overcoming 
     addiction can't be easily done on their own. Additionally, 
     they need to better help us, the families, understand that 
     our loved ones might not be thinking rationally due to the 
     addiction compromising healthy brain functioning.
       Yes, JC chose to use, but had little knowledge of the 
     effects these drugs have on the brain because they aren't 
     being properly explained to the public. His last years were a 
     hard existence and he paid the ultimate price, but my son was 
     so much more than his addiction. He was a kind, sincere, 
     caring person, who would do anything for anyone. A kid at 
     heart, JC believed there was good in everyone and truly 
     wanted to turn his life around. He was a great man who was 
     loved by so many, who just made a terrible mistake, but so 
     did the medical system.

                Anthony Fiore--Warrington, Pennsylvania

       Growing up, Anthony tried to fit in with the ``good kids,'' 
     but was shunned on many occasions. He then began to change to 
     fit into a group that would accept him. This group of friends 
     started smoking pot in 8th grade, and transitioned to 
     Oxycontin by 12th grade. Anthony always wanted to have 
     friends and was very loyal to them.
       Anthony was very intelligent--he never had to study but 
     always had above a 3.5 GPA. He enjoyed making people laugh, 
     and would joked around a lot. He got accepted into Penn 
     State's Main Campus in State College, PA, based on his SAT 
     scores and his GPA. In his sophomore year he joined a 
     fraternity.
       During Christmas break in 2009, Anthony told his family he 
     was addicted to Oxycontin. He said he could detox at home, 
     and would take some time off before returning to college. 
     This was the first time his parents heard anything about 
     this.
       In January 2010, Anthony returned to school and started 
     using again. When he came home at the end of the semester, 
     his family sent him to a relative's house for the summer--far 
     away from anything that we thought could trigger his 
     addition. The entire summer they kept in touch with Anthony; 
     he was passing drug tests, and everything seemed to be going 
     well. Anthony

[[Page 1639]]

     wanted to go back and finish college, so his family let him 
     return that fall.
       It was not until early 2011, that Anthony's family found 
     out he was using again. They then pulled him out of school on 
     medical leave, but this time he went to a 28 day inpatient 
     treatment center. When he returned, everything seemed fine. 
     Anthony had a friend pick him up to go to Narcotics Anonymous 
     meetings and he would show his family the various chips he 
     received for being clean for a certain amount of time. It 
     appeared that he was clean and again, his family allowed him 
     to return to Penn State.
       At some point, Anthony switched to heroin because it was 
     significantly cheaper. Two of his best friends, one day, came 
     to Anthony's parents house and told them Anthony was 
     injecting heroin. Because of their courage, his family had 
     more time with Anthony. Anthony was then referred to an 
     inpatient rehab facility in Pennsylvania. At the time his 
     family didn't have insurance, so they only kept Anthony for 
     about five days; just long enough to detox. While there, 
     Anthony was diagnosed with depression but his family were 
     never informed of this diagnosis. That summer Anthony stayed 
     home, worked, and seemed to be doing fine. His family refused 
     to let him go back to Penn State's main campus; so Anthony 
     enrolled at the Abington campus, which was about 30 minutes 
     from our home.
       What his family later came to find out was that Anthony 
     made a copy of his dad's car key and was sneaking out in the 
     middle of the night to get heroin. At some point he added 
     cocaine to the mix. On May 23, 2013, Anthony overdosed in his 
     parent's basement. One of the boys he was with came and got 
     his mother, and she called 911. Anthony was given Naloxone, 
     which saved his life.
       In the emergency room the nurses tried to give him another 
     Naloxone shot, but Anthony wouldn't allow it--he wanted to 
     enjoy what was left of his high. This shows how powerful of a 
     hold heroin has on its victims; less than an hour earlier 
     Anthony had almost died but he still wanted the drug. Because 
     his heroin usage depressed his breathing so much, fluid built 
     up in his lungs, and Anthony developed pneumonia.
       Anthony then tried Vivitrol, another relapse prevention 
     medication; this was given as a shot every 28 days by a 
     doctor. When Anthony started receiving his shots, it worked. 
     Then one day, Anthony told his family he wasn't going to get 
     the shot anymore. They did everything we could to convince 
     him and in the end they told Anthony he could no longer live 
     them if he wasn't going to get the shot.
       In the summer of 2013, Anthony and some other boys robbed a 
     drug dealer, thinking that a drug dealer wouldn't go to the 
     police. A warrant was issued. Months later, Anthony was 
     stopped for possession of heroin, and when police found out 
     about the warrant for the robbery, he was sent to prison. His 
     family refused to bail him out, despite Anthony's constant 
     pleas. They felt, at the time, prison was where he needed to 
     be; at least we knew he would be safe and clean.
       After about a month in prison, a private criminal defense 
     attorney was hired; who was able to arrange Anthony's release 
     on his own recognizance, on the condition that he immediately 
     enter an inpatient rehab facility. By this time, we had 
     insurance but the program only guaranteed 21 days. His family 
     begged them to keep him longer, but they said that's all our 
     insurance would cover.
       When Anthony was released, he truly wanted to stay clean. 
     He started cooking dinner for the family and hanging out with 
     his younger brother, which he never did before. ``It was 
     great to see my two boys together,'' writes Anthony's mother. 
     ``They went to movies, to the gym, and did various things 
     brothers do together. I finally had my Anthony back and we 
     felt like he had won. He looked good, acted fine, and was not 
     argumentative and agitated as he was when using. Anthony was 
     doing well and saving to move out on his own.''
       While Anthony was living with his family, they told him 
     none of the boys he previously hung around with could come 
     over again and he should find new friends. This lasted about 
     four or five months, and one day he told us one of his old 
     friends was coming over. Anthony said he was the only other 
     person he knew who was also clean; but in reality, this 
     friend was not clean and was still using. This friend was 
     with Anthony the entire night and morning when he died. He 
     said he didn't have any idea what happened, however, he did 
     find time to steal Anthony's debit/credit card from his body, 
     and proceed to spend $2,500.00.
       ``I found my son's body,'' writes his mother. ``What an 
     awful thing for a mother to go through. We are broken. 
     Anthony is not defined by his addiction. He was a loving and 
     caring son, brother, grandson, nephew, and cousin. He was 
     very intelligent, kind, thoughtful, and funny. He was a hard-
     working young man with a bright future.''

                 Megan Rose Kelley--Appleton, Wisconsin

       Megan Rose Kelly, forever 22, was the youngest of four 
     siblings. From a young age, Megan was helpful and always nice 
     to people--she was a joy to be around. Growing up, Megan was 
     involved in soccer and Girl Scouts. She was well-liked by 
     everyone who met her.
       Megan, who was a kind and beautiful girl, had a lot of 
     insecurities. In the eighth grade, to better fit in with her 
     peers, Megan started hanging around with people who were 
     drinking to have fun. As things progressively got out of 
     hand, Megan's mother turned to a social worker for help. 
     Megan was put in counseling and an outpatient drug treatment.
       At 14, Megan met a guy who was seven months younger and had 
     been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Through this 
     destructive relationship, Megan turned to shoplifting and 
     began experimenting with more drugs. By sophomore year of 
     high school, Megan started skipping school, which resulted in 
     truancy charges.
       Throughout high school, Megan got into enough trouble where 
     she had to serve time in jail and was court ordered to be on 
     probation for three years. After two years, her probation 
     officer decided to take her off of probation. Things then 
     started to settle down for Megan, until the summer of 2013, 
     when her mother was told that Megan was addicted to 
     prescription painkillers. She confronted Megan, but denied 
     it. Later that summer, Megan and her boyfriend of four years 
     got into huge argument and broke up. Soon afterwards, she 
     started seeing another guy.
       Megan's mother spoke with Megan multiple times about her 
     addiction, and each time she blew her off. On November 2, 
     2013, her mother spent the entire day with Megan and her new 
     boyfriend cleaning her house. Around 4:30 PM Megan and her 
     mother both left; Megan went to work and her mother drove 
     home.
       Around 10:10 PM that night, Megan's mother received a phone 
     call from her sister telling her that Megan's boyfriend was 
     dead. It was found out that Megan's boyfriend had been 
     snorting Percocet throughout the day, and died as a result. 
     Shortly afterwards, two of his friends showed Megan how to 
     inject heroin. By March 2014, Megan came to her mother and 
     asked her for help, sending Megan to a rapid detox facility 
     in Detroit. Megan's mother was reluctant to spend the $7,800, 
     but Megan begged and said it was a matter of life or death.
       After Megan completed detox, she got so sick she ended up 
     having to go to the hospital and was hooked up to an IV. She 
     was diagnosed with pancreatitis, caused by heroin use. This 
     was when her mother first found out Megan was using heroin, 
     and the nightmare had only just begun.
       Three days later, after being discharged from the hospital, 
     Megan was arrested and charged with four felony counts 
     involving heroin. The next day at court, Megan's mother paid 
     $10,000 to bail Megan out.
       Over the next five months, Megan's mother thought she was 
     doing great; Megan was passing all of her drug tests. One 
     night, Megan was stopped by the police because her car 
     windows were too darkly tinted, and was rearrested when they 
     found syringes on her.
       Megan spent four months in jail before she was sentenced. 
     During her sentencing, the judge said that heroin was a 
     powerful drug, only to deny Megan a nine-month court-ordered 
     inpatient treatment program for a drug that kills. Four 
     months into her sentence, Megan relapsed, overdosed, and 
     died. ``My life forever changed that day,'' writes Megan's 
     mother. ``Her sentence became a death penalty.''

                    Kirstyn King--Richmond, Virginia

       Kirstyn King was born in the early afternoon on December 8, 
     1990. She was a perfect baby and everything her family had 
     hoped for in an infant daughter. The first time they saw her 
     tiny, sweet face, they were overwhelmed with love, hope and 
     emotions they had never experienced before. Her mother saw 
     her own future and past in Kirstyn's eyes and cried with joy, 
     she knew she'd do everything to protect her child and new 
     family.
       As the years went by, Kirstyn's mother worked hard and 
     elevated their financial status to a six-figure income. A lot 
     happens over the passage of time and in that particular 
     period there were mostly beautiful memories, but, 
     unfortunately, there were also agonizing ones that still 
     haunt her today. Despite her every attempt to shield her 
     family from life's worst, Kirstyn was harmed and sexually 
     exploited when she was a young teenager. This started a slow 
     avalanche as she rebelled and struggled. Her mother tried to 
     help her but she felt so powerless. Kirstyn's despair was 
     evident and her mothers attempts to make it all go away were 
     futile.
       ``Around this time, I injured my back falling down the 
     stairs,'' writes Kirstyn's mother. ``The physical pain was 
     unlike anything I had ever experienced. This led to a 
     prescription pill addiction that bottomed out in a horrible 
     way. After layoff and foreclosure, I began writing my own 
     prescriptions to support my escalating habit. I ended up in 
     jail. I had never been in trouble in my life and suddenly I 
     was a felon, effectively homeless and jobless, after being a 
     homeowner twice over with a promising career.''
       ``My children never used drugs more than the occasional 
     sampling. Kirstyn suffered from anxiety and once I went to 
     jail, the mom that had always saved the day was powerless to 
     help her. Her fiance transferred with a government contractor 
     to England and her brother, nearly 18, moved with his

[[Page 1640]]

     father to California. She felt alone and began heavily and 
     carelessly self-medicating.''
       Kirstyn was shy, gentle and gorgeous. She adored animals 
     and wanted to save all of them. She would find the least 
     attractive, the most broken of the bunch, and that would be 
     the cat or dog she wanted to take home. From tadpoles to 
     earthworms, there wasn't a creature that she was afraid of 
     and didn't love. She had an infectious belly laugh and always 
     saw the best in others. She complemented other girls and gave 
     the most she could of her wonderful soul. She was the life of 
     the party and a risk-taker with a childlike spirit. Her light 
     wasn't reciprocated. In fact, it was abused. On October 16, 
     2011, Kirstyn lost her life to her brief addiction. I was in 
     jail and could do nothing. All I can tell you is that it is a 
     grief I'll never be able to fully comprehend or articulate.
       ``As a recovered addict and grieving mother of a 20 year 
     old who lost her promising life to addiction, I know we must 
     do more,'' writes Kirstyn's mother. ``Those in recovery who 
     are able to speak must be heard and represented in this fight 
     to find solutions for this crippling American epidemic. We 
     can't continue to villainize and hunt for the dealer or 
     ``that bad kid'' that influenced our child. We need to dig 
     deep, open our eyes and ask, why does America hurt? We are a 
     nation in crisis.''

                     Matt Klosowski--Bear, Delaware

       Have you ever met a guy whose smile could light up a room? 
     Who made you feel like you had found a long lost friend? The 
     kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back? That 
     guy who brings every stray dog home and makes it a member of 
     the family? That was Matt Klosowski. He had that happy-go-
     lucky personality that drew people in and made them fall in 
     love. Unfortunately for Matt, he never loved himself enough. 
     He experimented with marijuana in high school and after 
     graduating to pills, ended up in his first 30 days inpatient 
     treatment facility.
       Matt went on the become an excellent mechanic. He moved to 
     the beach, bought a home and opened his own business. His 
     adult life appeared successful and drug-free. Matt's family 
     took a deep breath and started to relax, only to discover 
     soon after that Matt was hiding his addiction. At first it 
     was just casual use--a Saturday night party or coming down 
     from a busy week of work. But he was slipping back into the 
     deadly mindset that made him believe he was in control.
       The beginning of the end began when Matt suffered a back 
     injury--he had been lifting an engine when he felt a pop. The 
     next day he could barely walk. Matt called his mother to let 
     her know that the doctor gave him Percocet. Matt struggled 
     with an addiction to Percocet for seven years. During that 
     time he lost everything he had worked so hard to gain. He 
     tried to continue working on cars while he was abusing pills, 
     but it was obvious to his steady customers that something was 
     terribly wrong and they took their business elsewhere. His 
     business closed six months after his injury. After missing 
     too many mortgage payments his beach house was repossessed by 
     the bank. Everything he loved now gone.
       During those seven years Matt was in and out of treatment. 
     Due to his insurance, however, Matt was never permitted to 
     stay for the length of time he needed to learn how to handle 
     life without pills. He would come home clean and his family 
     would look into his clear eyes and thank God that Matt was 
     back. He was such a joy to be around. He didn't want to be 
     tortured by cravings. Our life would start to feel normal 
     again but his family's joy was short-lived when, within a 
     matter of weeks, Matt returned to his world of numbness and 
     the cycle began again.
       Matt's last attempt to get clean took place at a treatment 
     center close to home. As his mother watched Matt struggle 
     with demons that had plagued him for most of his adult life, 
     she was proud and hopeful. Matt was coming back. Each time 
     she visited she was greeted by his clear eyes and beautiful 
     smile. She remembers sitting together looking out over the 
     water. Matt was headed to a recovery home in Florida. She was 
     unsure about his decision but remembered every book she read 
     always talked about how different people, places and things 
     are the best choice to support new sobriety. When Matt left 
     for Florida on June 2, 2014, he wrapped her up in a big bear 
     hug and told her he was so happy to have the monkey off his 
     back. Little did she know that monkey would find him in 
     Florida.
       Matt was starting a new life and Once again he was living 
     by the sea--his happy place. He found a job, his self esteem 
     returned, and his mother believe that this was his ``ah-ha'' 
     moment, that finally he was in a good place.
       For reasons her heart will never understand, Matt relapsed 
     and died. He lost his battle on January 3rd, 2015.

                          ____________________