APECS debuts it's new website!

Addiction Prevention Education Consulting Services published their new web site today.

May 14, 2007 -- Jack Stem, founder and CEO of APECS anounced the debut of the new web site for his consulting and continuing education organization. While it is primarily aimed at dealing with the problem of addiction in the profession of anesthesia, Jack said there is plenty of information available for the non-anesthesia professional as well as the general public.

"Addiction is the number one health concern in this country and yet, politicians, police agencies, and the general public choose to ignore it. What is even more appalling to me is the lack of understanding by the health care community at large, and the individual health care professional specifically. There is very little taught about this deadly disease in our medical and nursing education institutions. This has to stop, and now is the time! APECS intends to be a front runner when it comes to facing this disease."

Virtually every person in this country has been touched in some way by this disease. While statistics quote an addiction rate of 10% in the general public, it is the belief of those in the recovering community that those numbers are much higher. Mr. Stem said, "How can you verify the numbers from polls taken about a disease with the stigma associated with the disease of addiction? The word "addiction" stirs up images of evil, smelly, addicts lurking in dark alleys "shooting up" and waiting to pounce on the next innocent victim to appear. Would you admit you were a recovering addict with that image associated with this disease? I didn't for a very long time."

As a recovering addict who is also a retired certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), Mr. Stem knows all too well how devastating this disease can be. He became addicted to pain medication as a result of significant chronic pain associated with a spinal defect known as spondylolisthesis. As a result of significant progression of this defect, Mr. Stem was experiencing increasing pain which had been successfully treated in the past with a prescription of a combination pain reliever (oxycodone and acetaminophen) and rest. When this didn't help, his physician ordered x-rays which were read as "insignificant changes" in the spondylolisthesis. Over the course of several weeks the pain intensified, yet his physician told him, "There is no reason for your pain to be this severe based on your x-rays." When he was unable to get additional prescriptions for pain medication, Mr. Stem began using pain medications left over at the end of the day in the operating rooms.

Within several months, Mr. Stem began experiencing loss of sensation and muscle weakness in his legs. A semi-emergency surgical procedure, laminectomy with fusion, was performed where it was discovered the significant pathology was not detected by the x-rays taken months before. Unfortunately, Mr. Stem's disease of addiction had been triggered and the worst hadn't even begun.

As a result of his addiction, Mr. Stem eventually was unable to practice as a nurse anesthetist, and eventually left health care completely. Over several years, it became apparent to Mr. Stem his calling was to educate the anesthesia community, and society in general, about the disease of addiction and it's devastating effects on the addict and all who know them. Just days before his mother died, Mr. Stem said his mother told him, "You need to use the gifts God has given you to make a difference when it comes to addiction. Promise me you'll do that."

With his father's financial backing, Mr. Stem is doing what his mother (and father) know he was meant to do...make a difference in the lives of those touched by this terrible disease of addiction.

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