What I learned the hard way

I’ve been a participant at the Walker Recovery Center for a little more than two years now. I was desperately in need of help when I first came to the clinic. I was an opiate addict that had reached the “end of the line”. My life had fallen apart and no longer belonged to me. At first I tried to blame someone or something else for my addiction. That did not matter now. I had a reality check. It did not matter how or why any more. I needed help.

Since I have been in the recovery program I have been given my life back. I no longer need a pill to function in day to day living. My recovery at the center allows me to live a normal life and go thru recovery at the same time. I will always say that the program has become my savior (if you will) and the staff at the clinic is my lifelines. I have matured a lot over the course of the last two years.

During recovery you can reach a part of the program that allows you certain privileges. You do have to earn them. I almost lost all of these privileges by committing a careless mistake.

In the past years I have held onto prescription medicines (prescribed to me) whether I needed it anymore or not. At the time it seemed practical. The next time I needed the medicine I would have it, or some of it. I did this with several medications. I had a large bottle in which I would put my prescription drugs in to store and put away.

During one of my visits to the clinic I had to submit to a drugs screen. I did not think about having to take a test. After all, I was accustomed to this being a part of my treatment. The following week I received a call from my counselor. She told me that a controlled substance, other than methadone, had shown up on my drug screen the previous week. I could be stripped of my privileges until further notice. I was in shock.

After going over and over the scenario as to how this could have happened, I came to the conclusion that I had taken some of my old medicine the week in question. I had taken it from the bottle I kept put away. I took the wrong medicine and did not realize it at the time.

I could not believe that I could have been so careless, but I was. I should not have had the bottle of old medicine. Someone else could have taken it. I shutter at the thought that my three year old cold have taken the medicine. The outcome could have been devastating.

Needless to say, I will not have old or out of date medicine in my home. This was a hard lesson learned, but an important one. If you are not taking it, don’t keep it.

I’m still working on getting back all the privileges I had prior to the “old medicine” incident. I will continue with my recovery and I’ll be fine.

I’m very proud to say that I’m “opiate free”. I’ve worked hard to get here. It has been a long road but I will eventually get to the end.

[This client is currently on a voluntary dose reduction.]

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