CANCER PATIENT - 'WHAT ABOUT (THOSE WHO) DON'T ABUSE IT?

For a while, Mary slept in a recliner because the pain of getting in and
out of a bed was too much to bear. Whatever rest she managed to get was
squeezed in between having to take pain medication every four hours, and by
the time she had eaten a little something so the pills would not upset her
stomach, she was lucky to sleep at all. And sometimes sleep can be the
only peace a cancer patient has.

Mary had breast cancer five years ago, and bone and bone marrow tests in
January showed that the disease had returned, infecting her spine, pelvis
and liver. Today, with the pain only getting worse, she says she cannot
imagine going back to those sleepless nights. Mary, 54, of Marion, is
one of thousands of cancer patients who rely on OxyContin and is fighting
efforts to have the drug banned.

She said she is determined to let people know that OxyContin has been like
a gift from God for her. ``I just can't see that God would allow a drug
like OxyContin to be manufactured that he gave the scientists the knowledge
to make a drug that works so well. And I can't imagine he'd allow the devil
to come in and take the drug away from the people that it works so well for
just because some people abuse it. What about the people that don't abuse
it?'' Mary began using OxyContin in March. Until then, she was forced to
take Lortab a combination of hydrocodone and acetaminophen every four
hours. ``OxyContin has been a godsend, I'll tell you that,'' she said.
``Every time I went somewhere, I would have to have the (Lortab) and
something to take with it, or I just couldn't go anywhere.

The pain was so bad I couldn't walk.'' Her oncologist, Dr. Ben
Cowan of Blue Ridge Medical Associates, said Mary is a good example of
why he is fighting to keep OxyContin on the market. ``I can't say
that I can take as good of care of patients without OxyContin because
that drug is right for some patients,'' he said. ``I'm always hearing
from patients, `Doc, you're not going to let them do that to me, are
you?'^'' OxyContin contains 12 hours worth of oxycodone in just one
pill, and according to Mary, that means she can live a more normal
life again. ``It saves you from having to get up in the middle of
the night,'' she said. ``It gives me back my sleep and my rest. It
gives you your life back, really.

You take it twice a day and you just don't worry about it.'' Mary
spoke on the condition of anonymity _ not because she is embarrassed
but because she said she is scared of becoming a target of OxyContin
abusers. ``The ones that are on drugs, most of them don't care how
they get their drugs as long as they get it,'' she said. ``And it
would be easier to break into a private home to get it instead of
breaking into a pharmacy.'' While she recognizes the OxyContin
abuse problem in Southwest Virginia, Mary said it is unfair for people
to try to take away what has made her life so much better just because
some people choose to abuse it. ``Taking this drug off the market
is not going to keep the drug abusers from getting their high. They're
going to get it one way or another.

They will come up with another drug to replace it, but that will be
abused, too.'' Cowan agreed. ``Addiction is a disease, not a
drug property,'' he said. ``Somebody once said we'd all be addicts if
we could find the right drug.''