As a mother of a heroin and polysubstance addict I have lived with and fought for my son's life. Unconditional love would not let me or my husband give up on our child. In the beginning of our fight for his life we were lost, we were uneducated to what was happening and how to help him. We learned very quickly in our state that there was no help with detox only replacement therapy. The multitude of events we were dealing with was suffocating. We were dealing with crimes, police, detectives, probation officers, court rooms, lawyers, DA' s, judges, jail time, visiting hours, a court ordered treatment facility, drug induced psychosis, strangers coming and going from our home at all hours, fighting with our loved one, hurtful words being said, holes punched through walls, broken hearts by ALL who loved him and every time he would scream at me to "leave me the **** a lone!" My response remained the same, "I'm not going anywhere because I love you."
Frustration and fear of "That dreaded phone call" was always first and foremost in our minds 24/7. Slowly we began to get educated. It started with realizing that there was no "one" single answer to such a complex disease. After meeting with NAMI, police officers, Dr's, counselors, ER Dr's, more frustration, more road blocks, high cost help, lack of insurance help, we just started talking to anyone who would listen to us. Talking to the local police, state police and staff in the emergency room was a huge step. Our son was young, strong and NOT thinking clearly. Why talk to all these people? We saw too many young people being shot and killed because of erratic behavior. We were not going to allow that to happen to our son. I feel this also helped them see our son, the addict, in a different way. He came from a loving home and he was a great person who was hurting and needed help. As the days, months and years went by we continued to learn more and more about addiction. With help from a family friend we began our journey seeking help from out of state Rehab facilities in Florida. We used a few different facilities over the course of a few years. I believe we all learned something positive from each one. The most important advice I got was, relapse is part of recovery and we had to focus on getting back to recovery and put our focus there and not on the relapse. With hearts breaking we continued to push forward. With lots of prayers, tears and perseverance we refused to give up. From Maine to Florida and many phone calls we kept getting him back into treatment and each time we felt we all learned, grew and experienced something good and not just the bad. Even as we closed in on our last recovery facility we had days and nights of terrible fears. He was removed from a facility for breaking rules, moved to another, he left there refusing to go back.... After work, late that night, when he was angry that he had no place to go I finally agreed to let my husband book him a room with the stipulation that in fact he did have a place to go and he was to go back there in the morning. Principles Recovery was that place. We prayed and they were answered, he went back! He connected with a female counselor who he was able to truly relate to and we watched him grow. Principles is a small facility that has people who truly care about the wellbeing of the addict. To Principles the addict is part of the family. January 4, 2018 will mark 2 years of living a clean and sober life!! We still live one day at a time, however, our sons growth continues through his work with Principles Recovery. Both my husband and I highly recommend trusting Principles with your loved one, and we pray that your loved one will finally be able to see the glimmer of light out of their darkness with the love and help of Principles Recovery! Never stop believing in hope. Signed, a grateful mother, father and family of an addict ❤
