Drug Addiction Stories & Info

An alcoholic since his teens, Zach Skow was at the age of 28, suffering terminal liver disease as a result of his alcohol drinking. He lives in Tehachapi, 130 miles out of Hermosa Beach in the State of California, sharing a 16 acre mountainous property with his father, and the dogs of Marley’s Mutts.

In 2009 Zach by his own admission had no will to live. End-stage liver disease made Zach feel anxious, afraid, nervous and he couldn’t sleep. At the age of 28, he was wracked with abdominal pain, bloated, bedridden and wasted, and often hospitalized. Zach was offered a liver transplant, but for that he would have to remain six months sober, and get himself more fit.

Zach had no hope – “I knew I was going to die, I knew I had no future – even if I survived the liver disease, I knew I had no future as a productive human being. He began walking his father’s rescue dogs for the exercise that he needed.

“I started getting better and better each month. Walking dogs every morning kept me alive.”

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Marley’s Mutts is named after Marley a rescued rottweiler-pitbull mix that Zach adopted and walked with in 2009, now his second in command, who keeps the dogs in order and brings new pups into line, at the Marley’s Mutts academy for dogs. To recover from his alcoholism, Zach kept walking, adding dogs and finding homes – eventually setting up Marley’s Mutts as a formal non-profit organization.

Marley’s Mutts came to the attention of “O” Magazine, which featured an article on Zach and his remarkable feat of recovery in March 2011.

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Zach specializes in rescuing and placing larger dogs, and has also helped to raise funds to save two pups badly burned in a fire, placed in the care of a local vet. With the publicity generated by “O” magazine, Marley’s Mutts has got recognition in many articles published on internet, and has it’s own website.

But as the site warns – if you want to contact Zach it is best to phone – Zach is out and about, looking after his dogs, not spending too much time at the computer.

Zach helps abused and neglected dogs to feel comfortable with humans again, the dogs learn to trust and to become ready for new homes. Zach says that his dogs are “throwaway dogs”, which is how he once felt as a human being – the dogs experience a metamorphosis – and so have I.

From alcoholic to “O” magazine, means having stayed sober for over two years, and having rescued and found new homes for hundreds of dogs during that time. Marley’s Mutts is dedicated to finding loving capable homes for needy down on their luck dogs.

The history of a man and his dog, as being the best of companions goes back for thousands of years. It is a somewhat mystical bond that cannot be quite defined. Dogs are used to help the blind, as companions to the sick, the frail, the aged and people with mental disorders.

There are many stories about the loyalty and devotion of dogs, to their owners, and as family pets, that can put human beings to shame. There is no doubt that if you treat a dog right, it will be a most trustworthy and affectionate companion.

It is said that actors should never share the stage with children or dogs if they want to play the leading role. Marley’s Mutts has so many rescued dogs looking for new owners that it is easy not to see Zach in the picture at all – only the many dogs that he has re-habilitated and trained to be taken into new homes.

For Zach the dogs of Marley’s Mutts have helped him along the road to recovery. Through the dogs Zach was able to find a purpose in life, integrate into the community, open lines of communication, and restore his health.

Zach was able to seize the moment of opportunity, when life seemed only despair, and turned his life around. Recovery from addiction is less about belief but about sheer determination, when perhaps there is nothing else, only the will to live.

Recovery from addiction is no easy thing and for many it can be a slippery path, paved with good intentions – an article in Hermosa Beach Patch calls Zach a hometown hero.

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Narconon in California, and in Quebec, Canada provides residential comprehensive support for people wanting to overcome and completely recover from alcohol addiction. The benefits of using a comprehensive, professional alcohol addiction recovery program are that you will be supported and guided through all of the steps that are needed for full recovery. 

In particular attention is paid to complete detoxification – as residual toxicity, in the body, can be a major cause of cravings and relapse during the course of recovery. This why exercise is so important in addiction recovery – in that it promotes a return to good health, and eliminates residual toxicity.

Getting into back into the community, and being able to deal with personal issues, without dependence on drugs, is at the core of complete and comprehensive addiction recovery. 

Whether you are at day one in making a decision to stop drinking, or have been doing it on your own, for all the professional help you might need to ensure a complete recovery, Narconon is there to provide advice, and all the assistance that you might require – to make your recovery complete.

 

I have been in bands for years. Music is my life. I love it. Even now, I have band equipment set up in my guest room. Might as well. Sure don’t have any guests. I have lots of great memories, playing with different bands and seeing different places. Met several of the old greats in my time: Johnny Cash, Willie, Conway Twitty just to name a few. Women flocked around me. 

Yeah, those memories are great but they don’t do me a lot of good now. I have two grown sons who live four states over and want nothing to do with me. It’s my fault. All I wanted was the music and the beer.

I am an alcoholic. Even now, I drink. My buddies and I get together and play music and once in a blue moon one of them crashes on the couch. The rest, well, they make it home somehow. Not my problem.

Till Scotty had his stroke. Now, being as I’m in my 60s, my friends having a stroke shouldn’t be a surprise. Only Scotty isn’t in his 60s. Scotty is only 34. He likes that old time country and loves to play with us. He parties hard, drinking and probably indulging in a couple of other recreational drugs but still, his stroke hit me hard. He is 34 and I am 64. The doctors say he will never recover. He had a bad one.

I see him at the hospital and he can’t talk, he can’t hardly move, he just lies there and tries to smile, saying something indecipherable. He’s being moved to a rehab center soon and we hear he will be moved to a long term facility because his mother can’t take care of him at her age.

I am 64 and my sons won’t see me because I chose alcohol over them and their mothers years ago. I should be grateful they at least know each other since they came from different mothers. Still, I look around my small house and wonder what I really have? A rented place and friends who come to have a place to play music and get drunk.

Why not me?  Scotty has his whole life ahead of him.  Or he did. 

I realize I was luckier than Scotty. That could just as easily been me which would not have been a surprise at my age. Scotty has a mother who can’t take care of him. We both made bad choices, Scotty and I. But maybe, just maybe, miracles can happen. I put my beer down and pick up the phone to make a call.

“Son, it’s Dad. How are you?”

When she moved back to town I was so excited.   I had been crazy about Chelsea all through high school.  She ended up marrying a boy who was training at the Air Force base close to town, though, the summer after high school.  Now here she was, seven years later, divorced and back home. 

We ran into each other at the mall and made plans to go to the park a couple of days later.  As we walked around the lake next to the park, we caught up on each other’s lives.  I told her I had always had a crush on her.  She told me she had always liked me, too.

Chelsea and I started dating after that day at the park.  It was not long however, before I realized that Chelsea was drinking heavily.  She finally admitted it was the reason behind her divorce.  On top of the drinking, she had another secret just as serious.  Chelsea was a cutter. 

I knew Chelsea’s brother and called him.  I told him what was going on with his little sister.  He called his parents and their mother got in touch with a  local crisis center.  She explained what was going on and arrangements were made for a counselor to help us with an intervention.   Due to Chelsea’s cutting, it was assumed and then confirmed later that she had what was called a dual diagnosis with the alcoholism and some emotional problems. 

Chelsea was upset that I told her family at first.  During her treatment, though, she called me and said thank you.  The counseling helped Chelsea and her entire family went into family counseling as well so that Chelsea would have continued understanding and support. 

That was six years ago.  Today, Chelsea and I are the proud parents of a beatiful little girl who looks just like her mommy.  Chelsea has been sober all this time and has also declared victory over the issues that led to her becoming a cutter.  Chelsea is even a sponsor herself down at Alcoholics Anonymous and I completely support her need to help others just as she was helped.

My dream of marrying Chelsea came true and the only regret I have is not speaking up when I had the chance in high school.  What I do not regret is going to her familyabout her drinking and her cutting secret so that they could help Chelsea when she needed it the most.  Every time I look into my young daughter’s eyes, I know I made the right decision for Chelsea and for all of us.