My Substance Use Disorder: Out of Control

Basem Attum, MD, MS

Five months after being diagnosed with femoroacetabular impingement, I had surgery to remove bone from my femur that was impinging against my acetabulum. I was still in my third year of medical school. I used opioids and sedative hypnotics for a month after surgery and then stopped. At this point, stopping was easy; I did not even think about it. I thought that because I'd had the surgery, the source of my pain was gone and eventually I would feel like myself again.