Those are the reasons that I have been in pain management for over a decade. I have been able to create a somewhat normal life for myself using opioid pain medication. OxyContin and morphine have given me the ability to do what I love most in the world, which is.to make art and walk my dog. The chemo and radiation robbed me of my ability to have children, but they did not steal my inspiration and artistic abilities.

I have followed all of the rules set forth by my pain doctors, keeping my meds locked up, never sharing with anyone, never asking another doctor for drugs, and passing urine drug tests each month. But none of that matters now.

The new guidelines set out by Health Canada have caused doctors to no longer treat patients based on their individual needs, but rather as a number based on the guidelines. For 5 years I was on the same dose of OxyContin and morphine. The regimen worked well for me and afforded me the ability to create all kinds of artwork. For the most part, I had a pretty decent and comfortable life -- until the guidelines came out.

In less than 6 months, I was tapered down to less than a third of the opioid dose that I was stable on for five years. The tapering was very fast and caused immense daily suffering on my part. I do not remember the last time I have slept more than an hour at a time. I do not have enough pain meds to get thru 24 hours of the day no matter how I work it. Every single day is a roller coaster of severe pain and withdrawal.

My pain specialist no longer has the ability to treat me properly and I am routinely left without any pain medication, while my GP doctor tries to treat my very high blood pressure. When my pain was being managed, my blood pressure was fine.

I know life isn't easy and I definitely know it can be unfair. But this sort of cruel and unusual torture that I am being put through is absolutely disgusting. I keep hearing about the "opioid crisis," but the only crisis I can see is all the legitimate pain patients going untreated and suffering, because legislators have their thumb on the doctors and doctors have too much at stake to risk treating patients properly.

Health Canada says the opioid guidelines are voluntary and were never meant for pain management doctors, but rather for general practitioners and surgeons treating acute short-term pain. Yet the pain clinics are being raided and told to enforce the guidelines no matter who the patient is and what is wrong with them. I do not know how much longer my body can continue in this much pain.

I want to make sure that the truth gets out there. There are far too many people suffering and being denied proper medical care. And for what? Who wins? Who is benefiting from all of my suffering? Who?