| Display Name |
Mike Dubose |
| My Story |
I am a singer-songwriter , guitarist, recording engineer, live sound engineer and I’m working on my BA in French, Spanish, English and Linguistics. I was born with cerebral palsy, which gave me an irregular gait. That didn’t matter to me, as soon as I learned to walk, I walked everywhere. This caused a problem insofar as my knees were not designed for my irregular gait. 9 years ago, when I was 23, I woke up one day and my knees were on fire. An MRI revealed severe tendonitis, major cartilage loss and osteoarthritis in both knees. My orthopedist put me on Norcos and I ran the gamut of NSAIDS. Nothing worked so he referred me to pain management. That’s when the real nightmare started. Due to my cerebral palsy, my metabolism is extremely high because my muscles work against each other. I need 5, 000 calories a day to maintain a healthy weight. I also need more medication: antibiotics, allergy meds, etc. This wasn’t an issue until it pertained to opioids. I was immediately treated like a drug-seeker for three reasons: I’m young, I’m a musician with long hair and tattoos and I need higher doses of opioids.I was consistently undermedicated, so much that I took desperate measures. Life was a living hell for 2 years until I found my current pain management doctor, who not only saved my life, but helped me wrest it from the monster that is intractable pain. One of the reasons why I love the music community is because my cerebral palsy was never mentioned and never mattered. However, I am starting to speak out more in the press and onstage about the farce that is the drug war, opiophobia and the maltreatment of pain doctors and pain patients. I am extremely grateful to the PRN and the National Foundation for The Treatment of Pain (of which my pain doctor is executive director) for their hard work and dedication to changing the paradigm of pain-management in this country. Speaking of music, the only time I’m completely pain-free (aside from merciful sleep) is when I’m onstage. It doesn’t matter if there’s 20 or 20 thousand people in the crowd, after the first song my pain is COMPLETELY gone, for the duration of the performance and for 3-5 hours thereafter. I find that amazing: I take enough opiates to kill an elephant and my pain levels range from 6-10, yet stepping onstage kills it, not only during the set, but for a decent amount of time after the show is over. I realize that this pain relief is a combination of adrenalin and endorphins, but there’s something else. I think its the fact that I’m 100% in my element, doing what (some people say) I do best. By the way, I’d be much obliged if you all would give my music a listen. Go to: If you’re on facebook go to: MySpacers can find us at: If you like what you hear, please become a fan/send us a friend request and encourage your social-networking pals to do the same. Thanks! |
| State |
TEXAS |
| Membership Type |
Pain Patient |
