Methadone: A Flicker Of Light In The Dark
Methadone: A Flicker Of Light In The Dark
Methadone: A Flicker Of Light In The Dark
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Methadone: A Flicker Of Light In The Dark

To provide a better understanding of the very important role methadone plays in the treatment of addiction.
 
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 Minnesota-Twin Cities area methadone clinics-MUST READ!

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mmtforme




Male
Number of posts : 48
Age : 49
Location : Stillwater ,Minnesota
Job/hobbies : the outdoors
Humor : Caddy Shack
Registration date : 2009-12-22

Minnesota-Twin Cities area methadone clinics-MUST READ! Empty
PostSubject: Minnesota-Twin Cities area methadone clinics-MUST READ!   Minnesota-Twin Cities area methadone clinics-MUST READ! EmptySun Jan 03, 2010 5:48 pm

I have been at my current clinic since April 14, 2009, and I truly believe that you will not find a great clinic ever, anywhere! THe name is Valhalla Place Clinic and it is located in Woodbury, Mn., 5 minutes east of St.Paul off of Interstate 94. This clinic and their staff will bend over backwards for anyone in need. My first experience with them was in the Fall of 2008. I had called them while I was in the hospital due to and overdose on benzos and alcohol and cocaine that required emergency surgery on my right arm because I passed out on it for 18 hours cutting off the blood and oxygen supply to the nerves and muscles in my lower right arm, hand and fingers, the surgery is called a faciotomy due to compartment syndrome. I ended up on a wound-vac to heal the open wound from the incision which was 9cm long and 6cm wide. Anyways, Valhalla had been open for a short time and they had not dealt with a patient such as me (with the wound vac), so they were a little frightened at first. I ended up at home on 240mg oxycontin a day, 20-30 mg oxycodone every 2-3 hours, then the fentanyl patch on top of the oxycodone. Eventually the director of the clinic, yes hte director, drove to me at my house to do and intake. I ended up not starting because at the time they could not accept my insurance as they were not accredited by Medica yet. I ended up, after many OD's at a clinic in St.Paul called St. Paul Metro, the nightmare had begun. First of all, the counselors and staff treated you like a #, just someone who brings in the $$$. Then, they said for the first 3 weeks that my insurance had not begun paying yet. Due to a few problems there, the staff, lack of profesionalsim, the treatment of people like little children, and BEING RIPPED OFF, ME AND MY INSURANCE COMPANY, I left. I then discovered that I had 100% coverage from the very first day I started MMT at that clinic. They were making me pay cash each day and billing my insurance company. It was very difficult to get my $$$ back from them. And Medica was none to happy either, that is fraud. I later found out that I was not the only person this has happened to. Never go there. I eventually joined up at Valhalla Place in April 2009. The counselors are truly the best. You are treated with respect and dignity from the moment you come through the door, and that continues every day you go. THe staff up front that check you in to dose are so nice and helpful. The nurses are the same, they are so caring and will help you any way they can. Again, the counselors too are the best, I love my sessions and I still go every other week cause I get so much out of the sessions. The program director and the head guy there will do everything they can to accomodate your needs, like I said they even came to my house to start an intake. There is a weekly group meeting on Saturdays and I go every week, the group is very close and some of my best friends are there. To sum it all up, this place gets 4 out of 4 stars in every category. They use a pump system which is fast and very accurate, so you can change doses up or down anytime, and they now have 2 pumps for 2 counters (lines). There is a couple that drive 80 miles one way each day to go there and come to group on saturday, they could go somewhere else that is close, but they choose to go out of their way to go to Valhalla. THeir # is 651-925-8200 if you are thinking about MMT in the area. Hope this helps someone some day, they have helped me so much.
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lilgirllost
Admin
lilgirllost


Female
Number of posts : 863
Age : 51
Location : live in Louisiana but attend MMT clinic in Tx
Job/hobbies : COUPONING & GEOCACHING are my favorite past times but I also love reading and spending time with my husband and kids
Humor : I don't have a sense of humor.............
Registration date : 2009-05-25

Minnesota-Twin Cities area methadone clinics-MUST READ! Empty
PostSubject: Re: Minnesota-Twin Cities area methadone clinics-MUST READ!   Minnesota-Twin Cities area methadone clinics-MUST READ! EmptySun Jan 03, 2010 7:53 pm

Thanks for sharing your positive experience with us! Those are so few and far between (or at least all we usually do hear the most about are the bad ones) it is so nice when we finally hear about a good clinic that has your best interest at heart.

So many times we end up feeling like you did at the bad clinic you talked about, like they are only concerned about the money and we are just a number or even worse, a low life scum bag. So many times it feels like you are just dealing with a legalized drug dealer who can treat you how ever they want because they know you need what only they can give you. They treat you like dirt, all they care about it the money and they have complete control over your dose. Just like a drug dealer who can give you more product for you money or less, because again, they know you will do whatever you have to do to get what they have.

SO! It is so nice and refreshing to hear about a clinic that is actually there to help you better yourself and actually cares about you and your situation further than just if you are going to pay your bill or not. To actually have counseling sessions and groups is a rarity as well. Yeah, we are suppose to "see" the counselor so many times a year and stuff like that, but all it usually entails is signing your name to your treatment plan which they just copied from the last time.

There is no encouragement for you to better youself or your situation, no involvement in your life whatsoever other than that of taking your payment for you to get your meds.

It is even worse when the very same ppl that are working in a methadone clinic do not even believe in or agree with opiate replacement therapy to begin with!

I could go on about the bad ones all day long and that isn't what I intended to do. I wanted to thank you for giving us a teeny bit of hope that there are actually some clinics out there who are there to help you!

There is also "Rate your clinic" site on our website, I hope you will post your clinic story there as well. here is the link http://www.medicalassistedtreatment.org/277599/index.html?cc=0.5148714889193505&i=33675425#start

thanks again for sharing!
ruthann
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