- Alcohol
- Faith
- Friends & Family
- Mental Health
I was a licensed interior designer, designing million-dollar homes. Life as I knew it ceased to exist in a matter of 24 hours. I developed encephalitis in the temporal lobes of my brain. It left me with amnesia, seizures, and paralysis of all emotions. This later turned into chronic alcoholism that took me to a point where I would have welcomed death.
I was once so drunk that I ran into a piece of furniture and it fell on my head. I spent a night in the hospital, and was told I was not allowed to go home. I could either go to treatment or pack my bags. I had no choice. I either had to get sober or die a miserable chronic alcoholic death.
Eventually, I landed in my second recovery center, followed by a halfway house for three months. I continued outpatient therapy for an additional year. Now, four years later, I still chair their Tuesday night meeting.
I had brain surgery in 2001 to remove debilitating seizures coming off my right temporal lobe. I had a brain pacemaker (also known as a VNS or vagus nerve stimulator) implanted in 2011. It is sending battery powered electricity to my brain every three minutes. It enabled me to start feeling emotions again. I fell in love with life for the first time in my life that I remember anyway.
I don’t remember meeting or marrying my husband, I don’t remember being pregnant or giving birth to either of my two children, I don’t remember my college education, and I don’t remember the first couple years of my two children’s life. My short-term memory today is very slim to say the least.
Once I got sober I started exercising. I wanted to see if I could run one minute nonstop along with Wii Fit. Well, four years later, I am running marathons. I also have been doing five days of workouts a week at a CrossFit gym. I am still pretty active in my recovery program. My relationship with my family is very strong again. Also the local news station and Woman’s Running magazine did a story on me. There is so much more to my story, but this is pretty much it in a nut shell.
My sponsor always spoke of having a life beyond her wildest dreams. When she would say this she would always tear up (and still does). When I first heard that, I knew I wanted what she has.
My suggestion to others is to always stay connected with your recovery program. Even if it is just for the simple fact of remembering where you never want to go again.