Substance Use Disorders

I am from Milwaukee Wisconsin. I do have a bad back primarily resulting as working as a printer for about 25 years. So I’m living with a lot of chronic pain. And I was prescribed a lot of opiates and they created nothing but destruction in my life. It got to the point where I felt life was not worth living. I had a lot of suicidal thoughts.

I’m Jennifer Thede. I’m a Behavioral Health Advocate with Optum. I met Randy about a year ago when he was in the hospital. He had a history of depression, anxiety and he had issues because pain medication continued to be prescribed to him.

My role was to outreach to Randy and discuss with him what treatment could work better.

My case worker Jennifer got me involved in the suboxone program of which I’m still on. It’s literally been a life saver for me. Jennifer she really cared and it’s gave me a motivation to continue on the right path. So I started attending yoga classes and then I was going to acupuncture.

I have definitely seen a change in Randy. I do feel that my role is really to give members everything they need and in doing so that does lead to the healthier life.

Now I feel tremendously better. There’s still a lot of reconstruction being done in my life. But I’ve come a long way. I feel a lot better.