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| January 10, 1986 |
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Matthew surprised us being born a little early and very quickly. He was 3 weeks early and labor was less than 3 hrs! Aunt Rhonda and Granny thought they had plenty of time and were taking care of business before coming to the hospital (like Granny grocery shopping at Kroger). So they missed when Matthew made his appearance into this world on January 10, 1986, at 6:24 pm. He weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz. and was 20-1/2 inches long and was such a true miracle from God! He was named Matthew because it means "Gift of God" and that is exactly what he was. |
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| 1989 |
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Started St. Paul Lutheran Church Preschool at age 3 - Wonderful Mrs. Thompson was his teacher. He loved her! |
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| Spring 1991 |
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Started his first Art Classes at Jaguar Fine Arts (no longer in business). His first teacher there was also one of his art teachers in college! |
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| Fall 1991 |
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Started Kindergarten at Criss Elementary School in Parkersburg, WV. His first teacher was Mrs. Rasmussen (the kids called her Mrs. R) and the assistant Mrs. Hasbargen (who was Mrs. H). He was an excellent, well-behaved, loving student. |
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| Fall 1998 |
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Matthew started 7th grade at Hamilton Junior High. Although junior high started out very well, by 9th grade Matt was being plagued with medical problems, including teenage onset-epilepsy. |
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| Fall 2001 |
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Matthew started his high school years (10th grade) at Wood County Christian School. We felt with the medical problems and epilepsy, that a smaller group setting and Christian atmosphere would be more supportive of his condition. |
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| January 2003 |
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Matthew transferred to Parkersburg High School. As well as he liked the Christian school, he missed the kids he had grown up with and the school curriculum that he was accustomed. His grand mal seizures only worsened the 1-1/2 yrs at PHS and he spent most of his time with the school nurse, Julie, who was like a guardian angel for us. We will be forever grateful to her and how she helped Matt through such difficult times. |
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| June 2004 |
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Matthew graduated from Parkersburg High School!!!! |
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| Fall 2004 |
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Matt started classes at WVU-Parkersburg over the next year. He did very well the first semster, but the spring semester in 2005, his grades started dropping, and we could see the changes in Matt's personality. |
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| Spring 2005 |
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Matt came forth and admitted his addition to prescriptions that had previously been prescribed for him. We immediately sent him through a detox program and 28-day rehab. Matthew relapsed several months later but started taking painkillers. He went into detox in December, but no rehab program was available, so he immediately relapsed again. |
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| January 2006 |
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Matt made the decision again to get away from the prescriptions. He went through detox, and this time we forced them to keep him until he could be placed somwhere. On February 27, he was placed in a half-way house in Beckley, WV. He stayed there for approx. 6 months. |
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| July 2006 |
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Matthew made the decision to return to college, he had written goals and was very focused on his future. He had to decide whether to enroll his fall semester in Beckley or Parkersburg. I believe he was leaning toward Beckley, until Meghan's birthday on July 14 and he wasn't here. He started thinking about missing the upcoming holidays with his family and made the decision to return home. Matthew returned from the half-way house on July 19, 2006, with over 6 months drug-free under his belt. |
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| July 30-August 6, 2007 |
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After coming home from the half-way house, Matthew's so-called "friends" quickly reappeared in the picture. I warned, I lectured, I threatened, but the temptation was too great. Matthew relapsed that quickly. But he didn't hide it from me, he came to me and told me; he was SO disappointed in himself. At first I was disappointed too and said really mean things to him. I left the house then and I prayed, not even sure what to pray for. So I prayed for guidance. When I returned home, I went to Matt's room and apologized, explaining that parents don't always say the right or the smartest thing, they are not always right, and I was wrong in what I had said to him. Then I took him, looked him in the eye and said "What can I do for YOU?" How can I help YOU? That was when we started researching on the internet about other types of rehab and came across Methadone. I searched many sites, and from everything I read, if it was administered in a controlled, clinic setting, it was perfectly safe. Here was our answer!! |
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| August 7, 2006 |
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This was the initial appointment with the Methadone clinic. The appointment started at 6AM through around 10AM. His father and I both accompanied him. However, we were not allowed to go into all meetings with him. We were with Matt when he was examined by the doctor. He stated starting Matt on 30 mg, increasing by 5 mg per day. Matt's father Bob questioned the dose since Matthew had been clean for 6 months and only taking opioids for one week. The doc assured us with his "conversion table" this would be fine. |
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| August 8, 2006 |
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Matthew returned to the clinic to get his second dose, which was now at 35 mg. Matthew mentioned to the nurse that he was itching severely and his throat was swollen. They told him it was a normal side effect. By later that day, with the increase dose, Matt was itching so bad, he was using a hair brush to scratch himself and was going crazy. He called the clinic and told them again, and they again told him it was normal. |
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| August 9, 2006 |
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Matthew went to receive his 3rd dose. He asked if they would PLEASE not increase it since he was having so many side effects. They said they were only allowed to administer what the doctor had ordered, which would be 40 mg that day, and of course the dr was not there to change the orders. Besides the nurse, Matthew also talked to his social worker at the clinic about the side effects, and she told him his body would "adjust". He also complained about the severe nausea. Someone contacted the dr and he said Matt's PCP could call in Phenergan and it would be ok for him to take with Methadone (along with Xanax and anti-depressant). |
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| August 10, 2006 |
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Matthew went for his fourth dose on Thursday, August 10. He was supposed to see the dr that day and was looking forward to getting his dose decreased and having the dr check out his side effects. Up until then, nobody had even taken time to look at him. When I talked to Matt later that day he said the dr was not there, and when he asked the nurse again about not increasing his dose, they once again said they could not. They administered 45 mg and shuffled him through with all the other patients. |
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| August 11, 2006 |
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Matts father picked him up and took him to the college to purchase his books for the fall semster. Then they went by the clinic where of course they increase his dosage to 50 mg. I never got a chance to talk to Matt to see if he asked about not increasing it, but we know the answer would have been the same. Matt's dad dropped him off at our house (about 9am), and my parents were there with the garage door repairman. They talked for a few minutes with Matt and didn't notice anything unusual. I called Matt around 10am and Matt's speech was extremely slurred and he didn't make sense, however, Matt had seemed hyper through the week and did not sleep at all Thursday night. I assumed Matthew was completely exhausted and told him to go lay down, that he needed some rest. I didn't hear from him the rest of the day. When I returned from work on Friday around 5 pm, the house seemed very still. As I walked through the house calling Matt's name, I found him in the hallway. Dead. He was in a sitting position, back against the wall, with his head slumped forward. At first I thought he was tricking me, then I thought maybe he had JUST collapsed. But when I laid his body down flat on the hall floor, my brain recognized the truth that my heart will never be able to handle. He had probably died right after I talked with him. I called 911, his face was purple splotched and swollen due to the position of him being slumped forward, and when I tried to start CPR, his mouth and jaw were stiff and rigid since rigor mortis had already set in. The paramedics were soon there and pronounced him dead. I was by myself. My son was gone. I could not go back and have them adjust the dose. He was gone forever. I know the clinic immediately altered their records so they look squeaky clean. But I hope it haunts each and everyone one of them that blew him off or had some part in murdering him; I'm sure they would look at it differently if it was their child. But it was mine. My beautiful, loving son Matthew. I feel blessed that he was my son, no matter what we went through. It just made me love him more. He had true grit strength and I am so proud of him. May he be in peace at God's side as I look forward to the day I meet him again. |
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