Drug Addiction Treatment
Angela didn’t trust her doctors and refused to be labeled an
expectant “grateful drug patient” that nearly died at the hospital. She is
not afraid to offer the perspective of a patient with irreverent,
eye-opening conviction. My sister’s storytelling can sometimes be
shocking, but always honest. Amy had plenty of time at the drug addiction
treatment program to reflect on thoughts she wants to share with the rest
of the world. She had to endure a nightmare with a life addicted to drugs,
alcohol and prescription medicine (mainly Valium). Her experience is
unsettling and atypical, but always unforgettable. We’re not talking about
the type-cast drug addict at a crack house that is often seen in movies
and television. Neither are we talking about a spoiled brat from an
affluent neighborhood with rich parents that you see many times at a drug
addiction treatment program. Angela spent her youth in a working class
neighborhood in Germantown, Pennsylvania outside of Philadelphia. We had a
working widowed mother that went out of her way to see that my sister and
I receive the best public school education available in Philadelphia.
Angela was a talent on the piano, a straight A student throughout her
years in school, and a skillful athlete in cross-country and track and
field. Always competitive and adventurous, Angela somehow discovered drugs
in her freshman year at Temple University. This was seven years before she
entered the drug addiction treatment program.
My mother was no different from other parents in denial before Angela’s
stay at the drug addiction treatment program. Although I did well in
school and received many awards for my art, Angela was always the one my
mother expected to achieve great things. There was no way for my mother to
believe that Angela (Miss Perfect in Every Way) was a drug abuser that
needed to go into a drug addiction treatment program. I attempted to
convince my sister to seek treatment at a drug addiction treatment
program, but she refused and scoffed at me for overreacting. My mother
tried to persuade herself that Angela was just going through a phase and
would find a way to lick the problem. It wasn’t until Angela was admitted
into the hospital for a racing heartbeat and black-outs that my mother
even mentioned the drug addiction treatment program. Thankfully, my mother
and I were there with Angela every step of the way. She is now recovered
and her health is improving one day at a time. The drug addiction
treatment program was a blessing for Angela, but it had to take her
determination, fighting spirit and willpower for her to live a drug-free
life and continue her life as an extraordinary woman.
Angela wanted to be the best at the University, but her grades weren’t as
outstanding as they were in high school. She was barely able to make the
honor roll, and for my sister that’s the same as failure (she placed a lot
of pressure on herself at the drug addiction treatment program as well). A
study partner introduced her to the effects of prescription drugs to keep
her awake to gain more study time and feel superior. The more prescription
drugs Angela consumed, the more time she had to study. She didn’t realize
she was beginning a downward spiral to the hospital and the drug addiction
treatment program. Subsequently, Angela saw an improvement in her grades
and became addicted to more than just prescription drugs. She began
abusing cocaine, heroin, marijuana, alcohol and Methadone. It wasn’t
before long that my overachiever of a sister partied her life away for
four years in college and beyond.
At the age of twenty-five, Angela was a type-A graduate business school
student (Wharton School of Business at Penn): competitive, driven and very
smart. With an exhaustive academic criteria and a budding romance with a
law student, Angela was also a drug addict. She considered going into
rehabilitation at the drug addiction treatment program, but felt that
would be an impediment. Her chemical dependency was so severe, Angela’s
heart pounded abnormally and alarmingly in her bosom, for her to lose
breath, black-out and even endure temporary blindness. Angela always
wanted to be on top of her game and felt that drugs would give her the
buzz she needed to exceed expectations. At the drug addiction treatment
program, her detoxification process was extremely difficult and I thought
she was going to die. When our family physician diagnosed her symptoms
were from addiction and stress, Angela reluctantly dropped her classes and
considered the drug addiction treatment program. Angela’s memoir is
dramatic by her amusing refusal to lose her virginity with her high
profile law student boyfriend, Seth, before marriage. My sister’s story is
poignant, harrowing and candid as she discusses her treatment journey at
the drug addiction treatment program.
It was during her stay at the drug addiction treatment program I realized
my sister wasn’t an easy recovering drug addict, with a legitimate reason.
For all the abuse her body has taken with cocaine, alcohol, heroin,
marijuana and Methadone, Angela has lived a longer than most individuals
with half as much drugs in the body. Arguably, she done more than anyone
else at the drug addiction treatment program with her storytelling to turn
lives around for the better. Angela is in the process of getting her book
published where she documents her frustrations, anger, fears and
perseverance during her stay at the drug addiction treatment program.
Angela realizes the readers expect a simpering accumulation of gratitude.
Nevertheless, she conveys a searing outlook into depression and pain,
which accompany the challenge and struggle to achieve sobriety. Yet, she
never fails to provide wit, insight and love with a courage that’s no less
than radiant. Her story about her duration in the drug abuse treatment (as
well as her drug addiction in the early years) is compelling with an
account of survival and unwavering love. My sister was always an engaging
storyteller that’s not afraid to offer an unflinching view of love, life
and outstanding courage.
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