Mike's Story - Part 1 of 3

Meet Mike. An average middle-class American, raised and living in the heartland. Married, 3 children, 2 grandchildren. A loving husband and father, Mike was very active and present in his family's lives until he hurt himself at work in 1999. At that point, he was prescribed opioid painkillers. He took them as prescribed and as his tolerance grew, his prescription was increased as he needed more and more to control the pain. But with this increased dose, "my life started to change" said Mike. He became disinterested in the things he once cherished. By 2004, he felt as though he let his family down and his wife did not have a husband and his children did not have a father. He knew he had to find a solution.