“Next time you see an addict on the street and you think they’re just a junkie or piece of garbage, please remember that’s someone’s family, someone’s dad, someone son, someone’s sibling, and they were someone before drugs or alcohol took them over. My dad may be an addict, but he never stops trying.”
‘My dad is the town crackhead. He cried when he met my son for the first time. Every year for my birthday, he gets me a present.’: Daughter to addict urges ‘he was someone before drugs’
‘Mom said, ‘You aren’t coming home.’ My sexuality was a sin. I was punished for making eye contact. The chance I’d pull through was slim.’: Woman survives accident, cancer, ‘I’m ALIVE for the first time’
“I was topping the scales at over 650 pounds. I pulled up and asked him if he was okay. A rush of cars started coming and they weren’t slowing down. Then I heard brakes screeching, the glass breaking. I flew through the air. I’d have to have my entire tongue removed.”
‘My parents broke the news. ‘You were adopted at age 2.’ For the first time, I understood my parents had left me behind, forever.’: Adoptee overcomes addiction, ‘I needed to fall in love with myself again’
“I felt unloved. I tried to prove my worth and acted out to get attention from loved ones. At 14, I started experimenting with drugs. I continued on a rampage until I found heroin at age 15 with the help of an older boyfriend. ‘Please let me come home,’ I begged. I tried to stop many times. Then, one day, I found out I was pregnant. That little heartbeat was the sound of a chapter of my life closing forever.”
‘Something’s wrong. Get help.’ I went numb. My sister found me fighting for my life on the kitchen floor.’: Woman survives 2 strokes in medical mystery, ‘You have to trust the process’
“My neck was a little sore as if I’d slept on it weird. Within seconds, it felt like someone spun me 180 degrees. I couldn’t move my arms or legs. ‘Why are you on the floor? Are you drunk?’ All she could see was her baby sister struggling.”
‘I hired a private detective. ‘For a few hundred more bucks, I can bring you face to face with your mother.’ Every time the phone rang, I hoped it was her missing me.’: Woman details life with addicted mother, ‘I vowed to be the best mom I can be’
“The doorbell rang at 6 a.m. I opened the door to see my mom standing between two policemen, muddy and handcuffed. She’d call me ‘Bucky,’ knowing I was self-conscious about my teeth. When I was 19 and getting married, no mom. When I was 20 and having my first baby, no mom. I had the same phone number for several years, but she never dialed it again.”
‘I needed to relapse just ‘one more time’ so everyone would like me. The verbal abuse continued.’: Woman battles 7-year eating disorder, ‘I decided to put myself first’
“I needed to lose weight. I would have a ton of friends and finally be brave enough to go to the pool in a bikini. I would root for other people and tell them to eat abundantly, but would never do that myself without ‘getting rid of it’ afterward.”
‘Starved for love, I made disastrous decisions. Eventually, I turned to food. I weighed in at 391 pounds, my body just as unhealthy as my soul.’: Survivor details battle with demons, ‘I am a beautiful disaster’
“Frozen in fear, you lay in your bed with that twisted knot in your stomach. There is always the question: who protected the little girl with the big, brown eyes? The answer? A resounding no one. I was a little girl.”
‘Honey, can you come pick me up? I think something is really wrong with me.’ I felt strong vibrations all throughout my body.’: Woman shares tips for managing anxiety, ‘I used to think self-care was mani-pedis and face masks’
“I pulled over. I was sitting on the side of the road, shaking as I held my son’s little hand – completely unaware of what was happening. Cars sounded louder, the sunlight brighter. The back of my neck felt like a claw squeezing me. I could no longer take a deep breath. I was holding on for dear life.”
‘I was sleeping 16 hours a day. I felt someone squeezing my lungs every time I took a breath. ‘You’re fine, just go home and rest.’: Woman battling Lupus urges ‘you’re capable of crushing every obstacle in your path’
“A group of doctors huddled at the end of my bed. I overheard them say, ‘She’s so incredibly sick, we just can’t figure out what’s wrong. She isn’t going to make it.’ I spiked a 104 fever. I was writhing in pain, grunting, moaning, begging for it to stop.”
‘My hair fell out. I hadn’t had a period in 9 months. My daughter said with tears in her eyes, ‘I’m scared you’re never going to get better!’: Personal trainer overcomes alcohol addiction with exercise
“‘You have very little time left.’ I was non-responsive, my alcohol level was 0.32. It was not-so-silently killing me. I was fighting to survive.”
