Christian Hospital’s Recovery Center Helps Patient Reclaim Sobriety

My name is Brian. I’m a recovering addict. I’m a walking testimony that anyone who has reached their bottom due to substance abuse can recover and get a new outlook on life at the Christian Hospital Recovery Center. 

Here is my story.

Before coming to the Recovery Center in 2005 after a 27-year addiction to alcohol and crack cocaine, I was a functioning addict. I carried my addiction through four years of undergraduate and two years of post-graduate school, later recruited by the world’s largest pharmaceutical company. My addiction was there throughout my 20-year career. As my paychecks tumbled in, it only fueled my addiction and fulfilling the dark pleasures I sought.

It all came crashing down around me in spring 2005. After night after night of drugs and drinking, I began to call off from work for several days at a time consecutively — too high to show up for work in the morning.

One morning, while calling in once again, I realized I was on thin ice with my job and they probably suspected that I had a substance abuse problem. So I preemptively went to my boss and came clean the following day. Surprisingly, he and some of the management team who attended that meeting didn’t fire me on the spot, but suggested that I visit HR, who may be able to connect me with the help I so desperately needed. This is where I was first introduced to the Recovery Center and a new way of life.

When I first arrived at the Recovery Center, I was an apprehensive, spiritually broken shell of a person on the inside. But as I proceeded to check in, I knew I could not turn back — the dark secret was out. To my surprise, I was greeted by a very warm, non-judgmental staff. The staff and facility quickly made me feel safe and secure and that they were sincerely there to help me. I later learned that I suffered from the disease of addiction, a concept or condition that I was not at all familiar with.

I can distinctly remember the first tool the Recovery Center provided me with on my first day. They told me, “One day at a time.” Well, “one day” later turned into a week, a month, then a decade of sober living until I would later relapse. I relapsed because I got complacent and stopped doing the maintenance (attending meetings, staying connected in some way to recovery) necessary to maintain my sobriety.

In recovery, it’s frequently said, “One is too many and a thousand is never enough.” I had opened my Pandora’s box again and my addiction quickly brought me to my knees in only 90 days. One drug-fueled night cut my bank accounts in half and nearly maxed out my credit cards from all of the cash advances. Thankfully, my wife and pastor had gained emergency access to the hotel room I was using to get high and found me with drug paraphernalia strewn around, blitzed out of my mind, talking incoherently and barely able to put one foot in front of the other. Hopelessness and despair filled the room. I’ll never forget that morning.

Two hours later, after getting myself presentable enough to go out in public, I found myself back at the starting line and back at the Recovery Center to get help arresting my addiction and getting my life back on track.

Fast forward a little — it’s been 18 months since that day and it was the last time I got high or had a drink. 
I never want to experience the whooping my addiction gave me during that 90-day binge. Ever!

It took a lot of work to get back on track, but I was determined to reclaim the peace I once enjoyed during sobriety. Thankfully, the support and recovery tools provided by the Recovery Center once again got me back on track. Just thinking about it makes me tear up.

I can never thank the staff of the Recovery Center enough for saving my life not only once, but twice!

The Recovery Center at Christian Hospital provides outpatient treatment for adults, ages 18-60, dealing with depression/anxiety, substance abuse and chronic mental illness. If you or someone you know needs help, call 314-953-8100 or learn more here.