Finding Tess

A Mother’s Search for Answers in a Dopesick America

By: Beth Macy

Narrated by: Beth Macy

Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

On Christmas Eve, 2017, Tess Henry was found dead in a dumpster in Las Vegas. Tess was a 28-year-old new mother, a former honor roll student, and a high school basketball player from suburban Roanoke, Virginia, a place ravaged by the national opioid crisis. The New York Times best-selling author Beth Macy chronicled Tess and her mom, Patricia, through Tess' harrowing, years-long battle to recover from heroin addiction in her award-winning book Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America. But just as Tess was on the brink of returning to a normal life with her young son, she was brutally murdered.

Finding Tess: A Mother’s Search for Answers in a Dopesick America is a psychosocial autopsy of sorts, not just a retracing of Tess’ final steps on the streets of Las Vegas but also a dissection of what went wrong during the six-year span of her opioid addiction as well as the changes inspired by her story. This exclusive audio documentary - a coda to Dopesick - features interviews with Tess, her family, and many of those who tried to help her along the way as well as the systems and the people who failed her. By tracing Tess’ final steps as she tried so hard to make her way back to Virginia - and to her son - Finding Tess illuminates a journey shared by too many of the 2.6 million Americans battling opioid addiction, offering lessons from a cast of unlikely heroes and, along with them, hope.

©2019 PaperGirl, LLC (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC

addiction

I'm the daughter of an addict or addicts. I'm the sister of addicts. This is the truth. I have worried about finding my siblings body. I own Narcan and carry it in my purse. My children carry Narcan in their backpacks. I've lost a sibling to murder with no resolution. This speaks volumes of what a daily life is of someone that is the "sober" one in the family

eye opening

I didn't know much about drug addiction. I have a friend who has been drug free for one year. This book has helped me understand her struggles and how I can help her continue to remain drug free. And to understand her thinking. Thank you so much. Deb

A eye-opening walk through opioid epidemic!

This is a concise, empathetic, intelligent story explaining how a bright, vivacious young woman from a "good" family/ community goes from initial RX for pain to the depths of addiction which she fights with right up to her demise. An educated, well researched journalist couples with a grieving mother to walk the steps into dependency and despair. Highlighting the medical communities bias and road blocks while uncovering the underground communities that both help and hinder addicts trying to revover this is a story we all need to hear.

Highly recommend this book!

Finished in 1 day..couldn't put it down. Much respect to the author for the respect you gave to Tess' family while putting her story out there. Well done & highly recommend.

Amazing book

I have not one complaint. This book and Dopesick is an eye opener. I cannot recommend this enough!

Heartbreaking

I loved the author's narration and found the recorded interviews added to the understanding of how Tess's addiction impacted those who loved her. My only real negative is that it was sometimes so gutwrenching to listen to Tess's mother, her grief and frustration at the lack of adequate addiction treatment were palpable. As a family nurse practitioner in rural Oklahoma, Tess's life story is an all too common occurrence, throughout the U.S. Tess was right about the healthcare community needing to change in how we care for those with addiction. I have been waivered and able to prescribe buprenorphine for about a year and am fortunate to work in a clinic that is excited about treating addiction by providing MAT, substance abuse support groups, and one on counseling. After listening to Tess talking about how she hoped one day people with addiction could be treated when they ask for help, instead of being on a waiting list, along with being treated with dignity and not shamed; I thought of how many times patients coming to our clinic say they cannot believe how respectful all the staff treat them. Listening to the discussion of how Tess was treated at the rehab in Las Vegas is a story I am told by patients every day. People living with addiction do not need medical professionals to shame them, anymore than we shame someone with diabetes or high blood pressure. The opioid crisis knows no bounds or demographics that it will not permeate. Honestly, I had to take breaks from listening to Finding Tess because it was simply too heartwrenching to hear how this young mother tried in so many different ways to survive opioid addiction and how the medical establishment failed to help her.

so many feelings while listening

I had read dopesick so I was already familiar with Tess and her mother who is so fearless and yet had to make such scary decisions while trying to grasp and understand a world most people don't know exists. I hope with all my heart that this continues to encourage those in the medical field to treat addiction as a disease and not the result of poor choices, nor a socioeconomic problem.

Gripping telling of tragedy

Not just Tess's tragic story, but a window into an epidemic that is killing many.

Heartbreaking

This was such a good telling of the story of addiction. I couldn't wait to get back in my car to listen.

Heartbreaking Truths of America’s Opiate Addiction

As someone who has worked with addicts, both in recovery and active in their addiction, I was glad that someone took the time to tell Tess’s story. Until you have known someone or worse lost someone you love to addiction, it’s difficult to grasp the struggles and heartbreak families go through. I don’t think the author’s intention was to take accountability from Tess for her actions. I think the author’s intent was to expose the drug companies and doctors that are responsible for opiate addictions. I think she wanted Tess's Mom to have a voice. People who don't know about addiction and the life long struggles, for not only the addicts, but their families, should definitely listen to this audible. "You can't judge someone until you have swam in the same waters that drown them." Not sure who first said that but it's so true. This book was heartbreaking