“The severely criminal charge was, in fact, a reference to my 24-year-old. I never imagined that term would apply to him. An unexpected call helped me through his transfer to prison. It had been weeks without contact when I answered the unfamiliar number. I fought back tears. He told me how much my son loved me.”
‘I heard two words: ‘fugitive felon.’ I caught my son’s eye. His shackles made my stomach flutter uncontrollably. His public defender smoothed her beige suit, and approached him.’
‘I woke with a softball size lump on my neck. I couldn’t breathe. They looked at me like I had 3 heads. Without saying a word, the doctor packs the wound and sends me on my way.’
“I fell asleep. The blood from the gauze had dried to the pillow. When I rolled over, it pulled the gauze out of the fresh wound. I panicked. I went into the bathroom. This was the most insane moment of my existence.”
‘I had my first alcoholic drink at the age of 10. I deployed to Afghanistan in 2015. I drank to calm my nerves. The drinking kept escalating.’
“I returned to the States. I started drinking even more. My marriage was falling apart. When I woke up from the coma, I was still hallucinating. The VA had no inpatient treatment facility spot open for me.”
‘I had gone to Cotillion and Girl Scouts, went to Catholic school and had a family who loved me. Now I was a junkie, using needles to inject anything I could fill it with.’
“I was 29 when I found out I was pregnant again, this time with twins. I continued to use every 4-6 hours.”
‘I got incoherently drunk at my grandparents’ Christmas party. A family member walked in on me trying to breastfeed my son, despite the fact I was passing out.’
“I got arrested for DWI on a Tuesday afternoon shortly after picking my daughter up from school, with my son in his car seat in the backseat. I have never been so frightened in my life.”
‘Drug addict by day, mom/wife by night’: Woman’s journey from hiding pills in her bra to becoming ‘The Healing Junkie’
“I started experimenting with drugs at the age of 13 — smoking pot and drinking, until someone gave me a Percocet. I still remember the warmness that came over my body as the surge of dopamine flooded my brain… I was in love.”
