- Drugs
My name is Patchen. I am a 33-year-old mother of 3, I am an emergency medical technician and I am also a recovering drug addict. I stared using hard drugs by age 15 and IV drugs by age 18. For years I was a daily user but was able to go mostly undetected because I wore a uniform that people trusted. It was my job to control other peoples’ out-of-control situations yet my own life was in total chaos.
I was in inpatient treatment 5 times and went to outpatient treatment and hospitals many more times than that. I always thought I could jump right back into my “normal” life afterward and that nothing needed to change except my drug use. It was not until I accepted the fact that everything, including my passions, had to change before I could get well that I was able to begin my recovery. On February 15, 2012, I surrendered and have been fighting for my life one day at a time ever since. I realized that it was my own life that needed saving, and I couldn’t help anyone else until I got help for me. I realized that not using drugs was only about a quarter of the battle. I had to work on my way of thinking and my way of life.
Today I have 684 days of healing under my belt, and although recovery is always going to be a work in progress, I am more content with myself now than I have ever been. I love me for the first time since I can remember. I actively work at recovery now rather than thinking I can just control my addiction. Recovery is the best gift I have ever gotten or given to those around me. It is the most rewarding job I have ever done. I have many stories of saving lives but by far the best one I tell now is my own.