S3:Ep5: Ryan Oftebro
Today’s episode is a special one. Not just because it features one of my good friends whose work inspires me so much, but also because all parents need to take heed of this discussion about opioid addiction. Yep - it’s a heavy topic for sure. But considering the face of drug addiction has changed so much, we all need to recognize it and call it like it is. The gateway for our kids to experiment with drugs is sitting right in most of our own medicine cabinet. It sure is in mine.
Over the last 10 years, I’ve had an Achilles repair, two babies, three hernias repaired, and an abdominal surgery. With each one of those procedures have come large quantities of pain killers. I’m lucky - I’ve always been terrified of drugs - if you listen, you know that I was the quintessential DARE kid. Signed the pledge and everything and that fear has stuck with me into adulthood. I’ve never partied with pills, and I’ve also been fortunate to have healed after all my surgeries and not needed pain pills for long - but it easily could have gone a different direction.
I wish I could remember what documentary I watched years ago that followed suburban moms from pain pills to heroin, but the story has stuck with me because I can see how it happens - pain pills can get hard to get, heroin is cheaper, and it also makes you do things you never think you’d do - like heroin. But through the years, I’ve watched Fentanyl and opioid overdose become a bigger problem everywhere both for kids and adults. Last year, several high schools in our area suffered great loss of life after a bad batch of pills was secretly laced with Fentayl and killed several kids. Which brings me to my interviewee today, Ryan Oftebro.
Ryan Oftebro and I recorded this episode a little over a month ago - I’d wanted to interview Ryan over a year ago about this topic because Ryan is Principal and CEO of Kelly-Ross Pharmacy group here in Seattle. Kelly-Ross remains one of the few independently owned pharmacies in our area and Ryan, as the incoming president of the WA State Pharmacy association, has some unique visibility into the number of opioid prescription and overdose in our state. I knew generally that Ryan had lobbied in Olympia to fight Opioid addiction, and that he was somewhat of an expert, so he became my guru in my quest for education.
As Covid slowly took over, he and I had talked at length (meaning I would grill him when I saw him) about the effects of having people in isolation, unable to use their regular drug dealers, how this would impact addiction and overdose. A year ago he told me that it would be catastrophic and as it turns out, he was right.
I woke up this morning and looked at the headlines as is my morning ritual, and today, July 14th, the headline of the Seattle times is: US overdose deaths hit record 93,000 in pandemic last year.
Ryan was right. A 29% increase in death over the course of a single year all thanks to Fentyal and heroin - and a poisoned drug supply which we’ll cover in the episode.
We had to wait to record this because Ryan was busy figuring out how to distribute the Covid-19 vaccine in our state, thank you Ryan and all pharmacies out there - but this interview was worth the wait. Ryan is a prime example of someone working miracles in a community right in front of my face. I thought I knew what he was up to when we coached t-ball together, but little did I know the passion or the scope behind his work in fighting opioid overdose. I won’t spoil the story, but Ryan has devised a way to prevent death by overdose in a way that we can all participate in - through a simple, free Narcan kit that can be carried by anyone who watches the training video. We don’t have to be completely powerless, we can also actively educate our kids, and Ryan is leading by example that one persons passion and genuine care can save lives.
A huge thank you to Ryan whose compassion shines through his entire body as he speaks about his work. This interview is one that honestly kind of rocked me because as I said, Ryan and I are genuine friends and I was still surprised at how humble he’d been about his mission. Like we all need any more reminders, but honestly, here is a prime example of someone who, just through a few more curious questions, revealed a part of themselves that has actively made me a better, more educated person. Please, go get a free Narcan kit to keep in your car. Keep one in your house. Get one for your kids’ car - teach them how to use it. Please be bold in your pursuit of educating your children. There’s a chance they could save a life. Thank you Ryan for having the bravery to convert sadness and grief into action - that is true love and we are all better for it.