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Show n on n n C The Daily Herald Tuesday. April 9, 1996 Vietnam AIDS victims often abandoned People don't have to suffer with pain By KATHY WILHELM Associated Press Writer HO CHI M1NH CITY, Vietnam Her son's forehead wrinkled in pain, Tran Thi Xuan leaned over to massage his temples. Her fingers moved vigorously despite the weariness in her own face. "He misses me very much when I go out," Xuan, a vegetable vendor, said fondly. "He always wants me to stay home, but I large-knuckl- Her son, Pham Manh Cuong, was dying of AIDS, apparently contracted from a contaminated needle during more than two decades of opium addiction. He didn't have medical insurance, enjoyed mainly by those with government or si. ;e factory jobs, and couldn't afford the daily hospital fee of 20.000 dong. about S .80. No doctor came to call. Still. Cuong was one of Vietnam's luckier AIDS victims his ' family took care of him until he died. Social workers say most families desert AIDS victims as soon as the disease is confirmed. In a society that traditionally stresses family ties, the abandonment betrays the terror AIDS inspires. It may also reflect the fact that most of the victims are drug addicts who long ago wore out their families' patience. "He is my son. so I must help him." Xuan said when asked to explain her faithful care. Vietnam's biggest holiday of the year was nearing. Tet. the lunar new year. She wanted all 10 of her children there, including Cuong. "We want to be close to him." said Xban. a widow. They almost made it. He died People with chronic pain don't have to suffer and they don't have to call Dr. Jack Kevorkian. That was the message given e to l'tah County residents last week by John Nelson, an anesthesiologist employed at the Intermountain Pain Management Center in Orem Speaking at L'tah Valley Regional Medical Center's Clark Auditorium Friday evening. Nelson offered several options tor treating chronic, acute and cancer pain "Carbon monoxide should be the last thing on your mind." he said, in reference to one of the assisted-suicidmethods tor which Kevorkian is currently on trial in Michigan Nelson said those suffering from chronic pain shouldn't two-scor- T x x. at age 4 1 . Nearly 3.500 cases of fullblown AIDS or infection with the AIDS virus have been officially reported in V ietnam since the first case was detected in 1990. But health experts believe the true number is several times higher, with most cases going undetected IMI 9 : 1 ii smoking, exercise more and seek psychological help if they By ED CARTER The Daily Herald ed can't." low 4ay s before Tet, A A Vl '. k 3 t - e AP Pnoto on his bed because he is too weak to walk. Loang s Nguyen Van Loang, an AIDS patient at the state-ru-n Binh Trieu Drug Rehabilitation Center in Ho Chi family refused to have any contact with him after Minn City, Vietnam, spends most of his day laying they found out he had AIDS. because blood tests are rare. are routine, is building a new. sepbought opium, grown in Vietnam's Over the past two years, the arate facility for AIDS victims. It's highlands, from dealers who pronot to segregate and confine them, vided needles. government has undertaken large-scaThree years ago. during an anti-vic- e public education about AIDS authorities insist, but to give them through street posters, television a place to go. sweep, police sent him to the ads and school programs. Worried "Once a (regular) hospital Binh Trieu center, where doctors found he had the AIDS virus. by the disease' rapid spread in knows someone has it Thailand and them to to out AIDS, Cambodia, nearby they try push Cuong wasted away slowly has promoted condom use with a another hospital." said Bui Quang after release. He developed a fever frankness unusual for an Asian Thuy. a center worker. "They and skin lesions. His legs refused don't have separate wards for HIV to support him. country where talk of sex is nor" I feel as if someone is mally taboo. pulling patients and they 're afraid of dristill Nonetheless, many people my head apart." Cuong muttered ving away other patients." fear casual contact with AIDS vicCuong and his mother never "Especially at night. I can't tims. Unlike many Western countold the neighbors why he was ill. sleep." He sprawled on a thin straw mat tries, no public figures have unsure of the reaction. forward his habit to stepped acknowledge drug atop a metal bedframe. his limbs Cuong developed from a faded having the disease and give it a in the South Vietnamese army durpoking stick-lik- e human face. There is little public ing the Vietnam War. "I was 18 green workshirt and baggy brown sympathy for victims. years old. too young to underpants. From a cassette player came The Binh Trieu drug treatment stand." he said. the sound of Willie NeKon Like many soldiers, Cuong singing. "You were always on my center, one of the few places in Ho Chi Minh City where AIDS tests drove a pedicab after the war. He mind." expect to be cured, but they can look for way to decrease and manage their pain. The use of narcotics, spinal cord simulation and implantable infusion therapy are three effective ways to treat chronic pain, he said le "The public's perception of even what physinarcotics is cians think about them a metamorhuge undergoing phosis." Nelson said. He said using drugs to allev late pain is a good alternative for someone who is suffering badly or considering suicide. The reluctance of doctors to prescribe narcotics tor chronic based on the erroneous pain belief the patients will become is driving many addicted people to consider Kevorkianlike techniques to put an end to their pain. Nelson said And while narcotics or other treatment methods may help ease pain, such remedies will not change a person's hie He full-blow- n Widow should tell man about her real love live-i- n Dear Ann Landers: I am a being. There must be some wid- ture of lard, powdered sugar and expect her to behave in a responsiwidow. For 20 years. I've ows in your circle who would like food coloring. Most of the addible manner. We allow her to take been sharing my home with a dear Stanley. A widow with a nice tives used make the food unfit for one of our cars anywhere she friend who would like to marry home would be ideal Get moving. human consumption. It is dumped needs to go. and she can stay me. but I don't love him. "StanDear Ann Landers: A reader into the trash when the film shot is overnight at a friend's anytime she ley" has been good to me. and I recently asked about the food that completed. For each plate of food wants. I have, however, asked her to is wasted on TV. You said you you see in a commercial, there appreciate every thing he's done. Two years ago. I went to a probably have been 20 plates used. observe a 2 a.m. curlew, and now reunion and met the man I was The real food featured in comour relationship is strained Am I I 18. has when He was to Stv mied in that does mercials not engaged require beinn unreasonable? Calif. been a widower for 10 years. It is The Texas "sty ling" given away. was love again at first sight. Since Dear Stymied: It's unrealistic Association of FilmTape Profesthen. "Leopold" has been taking to have two sets of rules one sionals lists charitable organizame out to dinner and lunch every for school and one for home. As tions that accept the foods and disdifficult as it may be. you must couple of weeks. This has caused tribute it to the homeless. So. now 7 many arguments with Stanley. in It's a Wrap Texas adjust to the reality that Melanie you know. t I've told Stanley that Leopold is Dear Texas: Thanks for giv ing is out of the nest for good. Remove the home curfew, and just a friend, but the love affair is my readers the inside skinny. hard to disguise. Leopold and I Advice Columnist From now on, when I see a bowl accept the fact that you're going want to get married but have of chocolate ice cream on a TV to have some sleepless nights. decided we should do it secretly so commercial, I'm going to think, (P.S. I've been there.) I don't hurt Stanley's feelings. thought most of the food was fake. "That's a bowl of d Stanley has no family or close lard topped with whipped I work in the film industry in friends and no place to go. I Texas. Commercials advertising cream." haven't the heart to ask him to food Dear Ann Landers: My daughproducts mostly use real mov e out. is a freshman at a college that ter food, but it is embellished by Is it possible for Leopold and has no curfew, but when "food stylists." who employ me to marry and not live together? comes home, we "Melanie" amaing techniques to create more That way. I would be able to colv iv id colors and textures. lect his pension, which he says will When you think you are viewhelp me later in life. ice cream, it is probably a mix ing flow can I solve this dilemma and not hurt either of these kind SAO NAILS California Dilemma men? Dear CD.: Uvd with Stanley. The sooner the better. Marry j Fills SI8 00 IxopokL and ask that Stanley be sn permitted to remain in the house with the two of you for the time or she must do that for themselves. NeKon said. "Lifestyle changes have to come from the indiv idual it's not going to come from a bottle." ld Nelson advised people suffering chronic pain to stop ? o.O v 0 need it Those who do get narcotics such as methadone to treat chronic pain are usually patients tor whom nothing else has worked. Nelson said he is often asked what dose is appropriate for those suffering from cancer pain "Fnough." he replies. As long as there are no visible side effects, most chronic pain sufferers should be able to take as much medicine as they need to relieve suffering, he said That idea is in direct opposition to what mot doctors believe: that patients will become addicted to the narcotics they are taking to cure their pain. As long as both patient and doctor are responsible, tlx person won't become addicted. Nelson said. n alternative to narcotics is spinal cord stimulation, a process which Nelson says is and simple, The leversible. process involves threading a needle with an electrode on the end into the spinal cord to stimulate the nerve centers there and relieve pain is method Another implantable infusion therapy, in which a catheter is inserted into the spmal cord area to allow dnect infusion of morphine into the spinal fluid, which reduces pain. Other methods, like severing nerves, are not acceptable. NeKon said "Don't let anybody talk you into cutting nerves to get rid of your pain because if you do that, you end up with a lot more than you bargained for" nerves, however, freezing table option to relieve Nelson said. That pnvess pain. dK'sn'l involve any scarring or damage to nerves or tissues. In conclusion. NeKon said the future is looking good for chronic pain sufferers because the medical science profession is learning hhhv each day about the phenomenon. may be a v WP s7p Lizzy 6 Country 6 - Lssdcro I Q GIFT HEADQUARTERS! Beautiful 67 5. lifts, charming spring items, lots of lace! Main Fleaeant Grove 796-631- 2 Hours C Monday-Saturda- y 10am-6p- m cO o&f t V ff IE Cookies "ILoilipop! B n 111 : 2 foiplete Makeovers & Photo Sessions, Ywwarrjorourk Ly! 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