INDEX

» Struggle to fight heroin a reality in Lodi, county

» Heroin trail: From Mexico’s mountains to veins of Lodi addicts

» Lodians talk about their dangerous dance with the needle

» Methadone treatment more than heroin replacement

» Acupuncture helps heroin-hooked moms, babies

» Lodi police officer journeys into nether world of heroin

» The ancient origins, different forms of heroin

» From the beginning: The chronology of heroin use

» Celebrities succumb to heroin addiction

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Acupuncture helps heroin-hooked moms, babies

“I get really bad cramps in my stomach. I get cold, but then when I put on a sweater, I sweat.”

	(Jerry R. Tyson/News-Sentinel) Japanese acupuncturist Yoshiko Kage, left, inserts needles into Melaney Kraus as part of her treatment for alcohol addiction.

The words come from Deborah Hensley, a 21-year-old mother trying once again to kick her heroin habit.

Hensley is a mother fighting to clean up her life. She’s doing it for herself, but also for the sake of her baby boy, Gabriel.

They’re proof that adults aren’t the only ones hooked on heroin in San Joaquin County. Mothers are hooked. Teenagers are hooked. And, so are babies.

For the past two years, a center in Stockton has been reaching out to the mothers and babies. Using acupuncture and counseling, workers at the center have one goal: To give the families another chance.

Last year, Hensley went on methadone, a drug that has been used to treat heroin addiction for the past 50 years. Even the methadone was not strong enough to keep her from returning to heroin.

Now Hensley is back on methadone, but she’s doing more this time. She’s also undergoing acupuncture and counseling in an attempt to free herself of the drugs that have been part of her life for so long.

Her brown hair is pulled up into a ponytail, and she’s wearing jeans and a T-shirt. She barely looks old enough to be a mother, and she certainly doesn’t look old enough to be a drug addict.

But when she smiles, it’s almost as if a part of her doesn’t smile. The depth in her light-colored eyes tells the story that began six years ago. She’s led a long life, and she’s only 21.

At 15, Hensley began dating a 37-year-old man. He’s the one who introduced her to heroin. That man is no longer in the picture, but he left the heroin habit behind.

Last summer, despite methadone treatments, Hensley relapsed and began doing heroin again.

Shortly after relapsing, Hensley contacted Family Ties Perinatal Residential Program in Stockton, a program designed to help mothers and children break free from addictions. She did it for her son, Gabriel.

Before Gabriel was even born, he was addicted to the Methadone his mother was taking.

Workers at Family Ties cared for 5-week-old Gabriel while his mother attended classes and counseling sessions. Each day, they rocked him and fed him as they gradually decreased his daily methadone doses. The tiny little boy, dressed in blue with a matching hat, is now like other babies his age.

“Yesterday, he had no methadone, and he did really good,” said Melanie Newman, who has been in charge of the baby care room at Family Ties since 1990.

Nearby, other workers volunteered their time by changing the diapers and rocking the babies of drug-addicted mothers.

On a recent morning, acupuncture specialist Yoshiko Kage entered the room. She knew all the mothers and babies, because she is helping each one of them conquer their drug dependencies.

Kage, a licensed acupuncturist for Pacific Complementary Medicine Center in Stockton, has been practicing the treatment for 20 years.

Not only does Kage treat adults, but the soft-spoken woman also specializes in acupuncture for children. Her methods treat everything from infant crying to digestive troubles, and her philosophy is to get to both the symptoms and the source of the problem, she said.

Using a small, metal tool used in acupressure, Kage gently moved it over the body of 11-month-old Sierra Mae Allen. Though Kage barely touched her, the baby responded by sitting still and contented.

Kage has known Sierra since before she was born. Allen’s mother, Joann Haisch, was addicted to heroin when she became pregnant with Sierra.

When she discovered that she was pregnant, Haisch had to do something. Once before, Haisch had been pregnant while on heroin. She’d lost her baby that time, and she did not want it to happen again.

That time, Haisch quit the heroin habit “cold turkey,” she said, and though she survived the withdrawals, her baby did not. What Haisch didn’t known is that heroin is a drug babies simply cannot withdraw from on their own, according to Newman.

Haisch went on methadone and wound up at Family Ties. There she met Kage, who made all the difference, Haisch said.

“She detoxed the baby in my womb. The doctor was baffled,” Haisch said.

Doctors were baffled because Kage used acupressure. Not only did she treat Haisch with acupuncture, but she was also able to make a difference in Sierra’s life.

By the age of 11 months, Sierra has become an active, normal baby. She showed no signs of the heroin and Methadone that had once threatened her very life. That’s the goal, said Vi Martin, who coordinates the Family Ties program.

Through counseling, classes, acupuncture and acupressure, the program tries to give mothers and their babies hope — and a future.

“It gives a woman a chance to take a look at herself and her family and make some decisions,” Martin said.

While the county offers methadone treatment to heroin addicts, Family Ties also offers the acupuncture treatments.

In 2000, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors approved a $126,000 agreement with Pacific Complementary Medicine Center of Stockton, to provide acupuncture treatment for the Family Ties program.

After studying acupuncture and its success rate for three years, the county’s Office of Substance Abuse determined that it really did work for drug addicts. And, the women themselves can attest to that.

Several times a week, the mothers at Family Ties sit in a circle and talk about their addictions. They fill out a chart that asks such questions as how well they’ve been sleeping and how they feel on that particular day, and then Kage moves quietly from one woman to the next.

Looking at the chart, Kage softly speaks with the woman, asking her how she’s feeling. Following acupuncture protocols, Kage then places five small needles in each ear. Depending on the chart, Kage may add more needles to the top of the head.

It doesn’t hurt, the women said, and for each one, it provides a sense of peace.

“It relaxes me, centers me and helps me to sleep,” Haisch said.

The acupuncture alone does not cure heroin addiction, though. Many of the women live in areas where drugs are a way of life, so Family Ties also provides transitional housing for the mothers, Martin said. Counseling is also a key.

With enough support and counseling, people can kick the heroin habit without going on methadone.

“When you look at the statistics, a hard-core heroin user needs to be on methadone for five straight years,” said George Feicht, alcohol and drug program administrator for the county.

Approximately 35 to 40 percent of those who go on methadone successfully conquer the heroin habit, and acupuncture seems to be at least as effective, if not more so, he said. In a county-sponsored test, 17 of 40 people kicked the heroin habit through acupuncture and counseling.

The counseling is a big part of it — and that alone is sometimes enough to help people become heroin-free. Working one-on-one and in groups, the drug addicts talk about both their past and the future.

“With a lot of support, they can do it. They’re going to have to suffer the pain of withdrawal, but sometimes that’s a good thing because they don’t ever forget it,” said Maribel Speth, program co-ordinator for Galt-based Building Bridges.

Building Bridges offers group counseling and emphasizes a complete change in diet, exercise and environmental influences. The program tries to replace old hangouts and friends, and tries to get drug addicts onto a regular schedule so that they don’t find themselves with extra time and nothing to do, Speth said.

The county also provides residential programs for those who need to get away a drug-filled environment. Each case is different, Feicht said, and the programs range between three and six months.

Kicking the heroin habit, whether through methadone or through acupuncture and counseling, is not easy, counselors and addicts agreed. For the addicts, it’s a day-by-day process that becomes easier through time.

“The worst part of it for me is that I feel like the bones in my skin are going to take off running,” Hensley said.