Local Video
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| Jake's story, Part 3: Nothing else to lose |
By: By SUZANNE ROOK, Senior Reporter
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Posted: Tuesday, July 8, 2008 9:46 pm
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It was the screams, her husband’s gut-wrenching screams, that sent Judi Malecha flying down the stairs.
Pushing past her husband, Ken, into her son’s room, she saw Jake: twisted, discolored and lifeless.
“Please, God,” she begged, “let us wake up and have our life back.”
Within minutes last April, the house was surrounded. Neighbors peered out their windows. Police, medical personnel and their parish priest filed in and out of the Malecha’s Northfield home.
“God forgives those that make mistakes,” the priest told Judi, trying to comfort the grieving mother.
What did he mean? She asked herself. What mistake?
Drugs, possibly heroin, the coroner said. They could be responsible for Jake’s death. That news only intensified the pain of losing the couple’s only son, a young man who had finally found his passion in life.
The Malechas knew Jake had used heroin — but that was in the past, they thought.
In the year since they found his stash, he had been clean — they had been watching and drug testing. He passed each test, they said, and his arms were free of any sign he’d been using.
It took a month for the toxicology tests to confirm the coroner’s suspicions. By then, the Malechas decided not to look back or assign blame. Nothing, they knew, would bring their boy back.
It wasn’t until they began talking to Police Capt. Roger Schroeder that they realized the wretched fraternity they now belonged to. In the last two years, Schroeder told them, four other young Northfielders had died from using heroin or the prescription painkiller OxyContin.
The problem in Northfield is real, Schroeder said. But getting to the dealers is nearly impossible. Suspects often refuse to cooperate, and parents of the other victims fear judgmental stares and whispered accusations that speaking out might bring.
The Malechas say they share those fears. But more than that, they fear keeping quiet.
Nothing to lose any more
For the last two months, the Malechas have worked on several fronts, reaching out to Jake’s friends, the medical community, law enforcement and the Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Alcohol and Drug Abuse, doing whatever they can to ensure no other family suffers as they have.
Deciding to take action, they said, was easy. Carrying it out has been excruciating.
Talking to Jake’s friends and other young people who’ve used heroin or OxyContin, they’ve been shocked at how widespread the problem is and how little has been done to help the addicts. They’ve talked to parents of addicts, too, but worry about how to broach the subject.
“You don’t know what kind of response you’ll get,” said Judi, adding, “we don’t have anything to lose any more.”
Says Ken: “I’d rather do that than go to someone else’s funeral.”
They couldn’t believe that more than a year after then-Police Chief Gary Smith announced that up to 250 young Northfielders were abusing heroin and OxyContin, no doctor in town could prescribe buprenorphine, a drug that keeps withdrawal symptoms at bay.
To prescribe buprenorphine, doctors need specialized training and licensing.
Ken and Judi have since told their story to Northfield Hospital and Allina Medical Clinic staffs, asking each to work cooperatively to combat drug abuse.
A few months ago, the Malechas were looking toward the fall. Jake would be back at school. Their daughter, Abby, would be leaving for college. Ken was planning a run for city council. Judi was considering her options.
These days they’re holding tightly to each other and trying hard not to hover over Abby.
There are no do-overs in life, said Ken.
“Jake’s not walking through the door. There will be no more baseball games. He’s not going to be taking his sister out for pizza ever again. That’s the reality. Death is final. And it sucks.”
— Suzanne Rook can be reached at srook@northfieldnews.com or 645-1113. |
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Even though there are not any buprenorphine (Suboxone) prescribing physicians in Northfield, there are 38 in a 40-mile radius. To find a physician, go to: www.naabt.org/local
To learn more about this treatment, go to naabt.org
There is also aPatient/Physician Matching System which has connected over 11,435 patients with at least one of 2,014 participating buprenorphine-prescribing physicians since 9/06.
The naabtList.org free online service lets patients reach out for help 24/7 with complete privacy.
Buprenorphine (brandname Suboxone) is a medication, combined with psychosocial therapy, which treats the medical condition of opioid addiction in the privacy of a physician’s office. FDA approved in 2002, this treatment has improved quality of life for patients and provided dignity to opiate addiction treatment.
More information: naabt.org
I commend the Malecha's for taking a stand and telling their story of Jake. I too experienced the heartache of drug abuse with my son while in Northfield. I chose to move him to his fathers home in another town after he finished an in-patient treatment. We had our relapses, but now, at 19, he remains clean. It's a hard, hard world out there. I took the majority of the blame from family members when my son entered treatment, but realized how quickly people turn to judge the parents, when it is really them that know nothing about this type of abuse. My heart aches for this family, but truly feel that they will find peace in helping others fight this same problem. My nephew took his life on Dec. 29, 2006 after withdrawals from meth. Hug your kids tonight - and talk, talk, talk.
A 40 mile radius doesn't mean much, especially when many of them are on that 40 mile mark. The reason it would be beneficial for Northfield to have local suboxone availability simply comes down to convenience. I know that when I was using, a clinic 40 miles away was pretty much out of the question, especially when out-patient suboxone treatment requires daily check ups at first to monitor the patient's health. A clinic a good distance away just gives a person that is feeling hopeless one more excuse to not seek help. There are many points of view regarding drug addiction, but in my experience, help is easier to come by when someone understands the point of view of the person using. The best help I've been given has been the help of those who have been in the same position. Ken and Judi are doing very good things for the problem in Northfield, God bless them.
many physicians will feel comfortable with suboxone *maintenance* after the initial treatment has been made by a specialist and an appropriate dose established. So while the treatment may at first require these trips, it needn't remain that way.
Don't fool yourselves, parents, your child is as gullible as the rest. I know. I suffered a loss in my family also, due to heroin. We had no idea this was going on as this person was really getting his life together and becoming a man. Now all we have are memories. It's very sad. I sympathize with anyone in this situation.