Drug Addiction Stories

I became addicted to Oxycontin my senior year in high school following a football injury that gave me a broken collarbone.  Even after my doctor stopped prescribing it, I was able to get my hands on it thanks to a dealer at school.  This happened in September and in May, my family sat me down and got me into a drug treatment program.  I was able to make up my last bit of coursework following my stay at the drug rehab center and began getting my life back together.  I lost the football scholarship I was aiming for but planned to enroll at the local college.

I had just been out of treatment for a few days when my mother had a minor stroke.  It surprised the family as she was incredibly healthy, a non-smoker, athletic and never sick.  When her neurologist said it was most likely stress induced, I was beside myself with guilt.  I took care of her religiously.  I helped her when she got out of the hospital and I fixed meals for her.  My uncles and their families helped, too.  I was just really scared I was going to lose my mom.

I drove her back and forth to physical therapy during those weeks she was on a walker.  I had so much guilt inside me.  I felt like her stroke was my fault.  By Thanksgiving, she was getting around on her own but my guilt was so great that I had to fight the desire for Oxycontin even more.  I just wanted to forget but I knew I could not let my mother down again.

We have a tradition at Thanksgiving to go around the table and say what we are grateful for.  Several said they were grateful my mom was okay.  When it was her turn, she said she was grateful to have a son like me who was there to help her when she needed it the most.  I broke down and turned to her and told her she would have never had the stroke if it weren’t for me to start with.  My grandfather said that wasn’t true and so did my mom and the rest of the family.  We all helped each other when a family member needed it the most just as we always had.  The family helped me with my addiction so I could be there to help my mother.

When it was my turn to give thanks, I said I was grateful to have the smartest mother in the world to get me in touch with a successful drug rehab program so I could be there for her when she needed it.  That was six years ago.  Now I counsel other drug dependent kids. And my mother? She is doing great and just as proud of me as I am of her.