The Coleman Institute Blog

When I write blog articles, my inspiration is drawn from the courageous patients who are re-writing the stories of their lives. Usually when I ask for permission to tell someone’s story, changing a few details to keep it confidential, people are willing to share. When I talked to Ben about sharing his story, he offered to write it in his own words. Clearly, I couldn’t have said it any better. (more…)

I was riding my bike when a huge flatbed roared past me. Stenciled onto the back of the cab were big red letters: TOWING and RECOVERY.

I thought, “Now that would be an interesting way to tout our own services at the Coleman Institute…”

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Last month, a long-awaited research study was published that will help patients and physicians make decisions on which treatment to use for opioid dependence. For quite some time, Suboxone, (Buprenorphine combined with Naloxone) has been the most recommended type of treatment for Opioid Use Disorder. Suboxone is a partial agonist, which means it turns on the opiate receptors, and so it is quite addictive.

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To choose nursing or medicine as a profession usually means that sometime in your career, you will be covering weekends and holidays. So when my children were young, I had to take my turns doing shifts on Thanksgiving and Christmas for many years.

As much as I loved being home during a holiday, from the beginning I was always grateful to be the one ‘wearing the uniform’ rather than being the patient when I did have to work. Being in the position to help someone who has to be stuck in a hospital over the holidays was actually pretty gratifying.

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Last week was busy and wonderful at The Coleman Institute’s main office in Richmond, Virginia! We helped a married couple with two children detox off a variety of opioids, most recently heroin, which they had been using for several years. Amazingly, they had kept it a secret from their family, but their lives had turned into a series of exhausting, shame-filled activities centered around getting money for drugs, hiding, and trying to hold things together with a very thin thread. (more…)