- Alcohol
Jennifer’s Story
Pretty much I had lost everything I had worked for my whole life. I was a
single parent, went to college, got a degree and worked 23 years in the medical
field. During that time, the company I worked for sent me to rehab twice. I
just kept on drinking. I lost my job because I went to work drinking and from
there I lost my youngest daughter and then I lost my house, and then pretty
much after all that I just gave up. I didn’t feel like I was worth anything, so
if I was awake I was drinking.
After I lost my job I had several good jobs,
but I would lose them for calling in “sick.” But each time something
happened I’d say, “This is it. I’m not doing this again.” I’m 42 years old
and ended up in the ER with alcohol toxicity, and it pretty much took me 10
days to detox, but I wasn’t really surprised because I’ve been drinking for 20
years off and on. From detox I went to a short-term rehab and stayed 30 days
there, and while I was there I decided that if I went back to where I came
from, the next time I might not be so lucky. I may be dead. Plus I talked to my
girls – I have two daughters ages 14 and 24 – I talked to them and I need to be
there for them. I had lost so much of that time already. That was my turning
point: I had lost so much already– my friends, my job, my self-esteem. And
just knowing that my girls still loved me, I knew I had to fight.
That’s when
I decided to go to long-term rehab. And that’s how I ended up at The Next Door.
I’ve been there four months and I can’t tell you how much better I feel. I’ve
done a complete turnarund. They give you hope. Everybody there, they’ve turned
my whole life around. Now I see a future with my family, and they found me a
job and it’s completely different than what I was doing before. Now I work for
a catering company and I love it. I get up every morning and I’m thankful for
where I’m at. I’m grateful.
The one thing that they have taught me is that
without hope, my future is only as good as my past, and they’ve given me hope
and the courage to stand. Altogether I’ve been through about seven rehabs but
this is the first time that I actually wanted to change for me. The other times
it was to keep my job or my house — material things — this time it’s for me.