My Family Intervention
When I walked into the living room that night, I was puzzled as to why everyone was sitting there. My pastor was there, my wife, my children. My brother and his wife were there and so was a young man I did not know. My pastor told me they were concerned about me.
A few months earlier, I had hurt my back at work. With the crazy economy, I was worried I would be out of a job. Several people had been let go for “minor offenses” in order to save money so unemployment would not have to be paid. I had three kids and could not take that chance so I made sure the pain killers my doctor put me on were on me at all times. I doubled up on the dosage several times to get through my shift at work.
When my doctor refused to refill my prescription yet again because he was concerned I was taking too much, I went to another doctor both here in town and one just over the state line. I could not take a chance on losing my job and I needed those pills to get through the twelve-hour shifts without the pain.
My wife became concerned and so did my brother. I had arguments with both of them. They were right, though, and as I looked into my children’s eyes and saw how scared they were because Daddy was always mad these days or tired, I knew I had to do something, if not for me, then for them.
The young man was a counselor who suggested a residential drug rehab and I went with him that night. I was addicted to my prescription medication and I needed help to get through it. I hugged my children and my wife and promised them I would take care of my problem.
It has been nearly a year. I did not overcome my addiction on my own. It was hard and at times I raged and stressed but the professional staff at the rehab center helped me get through it and I learned to take responsibility for my addiction and to successfully beat it. Yes, I did lose my job but through the help of my family, especially my brother, I was able to get on with his company. I look back at that time in my life with gratitude. I did not realize how addicted I had become and I am so grateful my family cared enough to confront me with it so that I had to deal with it.
I hit a snag with the next appointment, Dr. W’s office. Seems I had gone to that one too often and he was starting to notice. He said he’d give me one more prescription but if I still was having trouble after that then I’d need to go to pain management and physical therapy. Dr. number 5 flat out said no. He recommended …blah, blah, yadda, yadda. Yeah, ok doc, thanks. I went to 4 different pharmacies to fill the prescriptions and held onto one of them. I went home with my treasure and called my friend Sheila to tell her I struck gold. She said she’d be right over. While I waited, I went through the stack of unpaid last notice bills and notes from the kid’s school. I figured I’d get to them sooner or later but now it was time to enjoy my score.
