An addict fell in a hole and couldn't get out. A businessman went by. The addict called out for help. The businessman threw him some money and told him to buy a ladder. But the addict could not find a ladder in this hole he was in. A doctor walked by. The addict said, "Help. I can't get out." The doctor gave him some drugs and said, "Take this, it will relive the pain." The addict said thanks, but when the pills ran out, he was still in the hole. A renowned psychiatrist rode by and heard the addicts cries for help. He stopped and said, "How did you get in there? Were you born there? Did your parents put you there? Tell me about yourself, it will alleviate your sense of loneliness." So the addict talked with him for a hour, then the psychiatrist had to leave, but he said he would be back next week. The addict thank him, but he was still in the hole. A priest came by and heard the addict calling for help. The priest gave him a Bible and said, "Ill pray for you." The priest got down on his knees and prayed for the addict, then left. The addict was very grateful and he read the whole Bible, but he was still stuck in that hole.
A Recovering addict happened to be passing by. The addict cried out, "Hey, help me, I'm stuck in this hole." Right away, the recovering addict jumped in the hole with him. The addict said, "What are you doing? Now we're both stuck here. " BUT the recovering addict said. "It's okay, I've been here before, I know the way out."

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I have read this, or something like it before..This time it really stood out!
It just goes to show, that it takes another addict to help another..SUPPORT!!!
Amen!

Yep!  3 hard yrs and I am still a babe in the woods!

I usually only Journal when I need Support or when I want to go Back in yrs later and read what I had said. This way I can either remind myself how it was, or so I do not fall down.

Sometimes I go on a Trip about Life! I came clean at the age 56 & now I am 59. Life just goes by so fast. This is why we got to hold on to all those Precious Moments.

There is a lot of us on here that come form the 60-70s when the Vietnam war was going on. These times brought on many Heartaches but it was also the time when many bands like Motown music and the Beatles, Rolling stones and so many more brought out the BEST Music ever. Those were the Time that the Hippies, Flower-power, Communes, Woodstock, Martin Luther, Peace, Love and all above came in & SO much more.

We (hub & I) come from a small creek/canyon in CA. Everybody knew everybody and the old & young partied together. I took my first hit of pot when I was 13-14 and got into those Bennie whites (cross tops) and now & then would drink a Beer. We Hiked and Camped out all the time. Go to school and come home and take off hiking. Then that orange sunshine came around and we would put it in a Bota bag with wine and go lay out in the sun back in the Mountains or Creek bed/waterfall. Those types of drugs I did not care for like Mushrooms and Buttons so forth. Of Course, I had to try it just like anything else, I gave it a try. Upper, Downers and all Around. Through out those yrs, I would still dabble in some Mushrooms now & then but not a lot. There was so many different Substance I tried that I can not even remember. The whole STRANGE thing about it is that I did not think it was wrong. I kind of new but it just seem to be the thing to do. Even at school we would go and smoke pot in the orange groves or out back.
Sure you would here about Heroin-Junky-Heroin-Junkie. Well WTF is the difference, is what I see now. A drug is a drug is a drug!  When I was in my early 20s I had someone give me a shot Coke and I had snorted a speedball once (heroin & coke) in my Dancing days of making a living. Thank my God that I am so afraid of needles. Who knows what might have happen. Can give a shot but not take one..Ha!
I look back now and can see how DUMB it was. Just not even thinking about drug addiction and/or what it does to the Brain at that age, let alone the Body parts.

I kind of regret that I wanted to go up so fast. I left home when I was 17 and finished high school up in Lake Tahoe. From there on out I had Always worked to Support myself. Many of us had fake IDs so we would get off work and go to the Lounges and drink while we listen to some great music. Then we went straight to school with no sleep. Och!  The drinking became more & more but NOT every day. Then another set of drugs would come through and I just had to try them like a dumb ash. Pot was always in the picture. As I got older I had cut back on this, but still drank here & there. By the later 70 & 80s is when I got some what, hooked on the Crank (meth). I usually got it from people who got it from the Hells Angels, so it was strong. Weaver told me that the reason why they called it Crank is because the Boys would carry it in there Crank Shaft on their bike. As time went by I lived with a few boy friends but left, or made them leave because they would not work like I did. I had seen no Future. Pot and Beer was the only thing we did in most of my Relationships. However, if the Coke/Crank came around then I would go for it. Again I thought nothing was wrong about this..Daaaaa!!!

My little brother died on Christmas day & I went back home. This is where I KNEW I was in trouble. I would Drink and do Crank to ease my pain away. It was Bad!  Then I ran into my Hub, who was more of my lil brothers friend at the time. Even if we road the school bus together since grade school, I still did not talk to him, as I was closer to his big sis & bro. We got together and he told me that it was either him or the Crank so I gave it up for good. Still drinking and still crazy in my head. There is SO much more in between these yr but I am older and do not want to write a book. LMAO!

Now yrs later I had to have some hydos for pain issues after a certain foot surgery. I did them right and when they were down, I was done. NO W/DS from any of these drugs, as of yet! I ended up on them again, but at a very little dose each month for female cramps. I had been Nursing at the Time and this is where it all Started too. I had a client that I had to see on a daily bases. He had the hydo/oxys and would push them over to me. He knew that I would stay longer or come back and visit. Sometimes I would even stay on his couch if he did not feel well. We ran out and I was experiencing something I had no clue about..W/DS..This was in the late 90s-2000. Then I knew I had a issue for sure and went to a treatment only to last one week and run back to the drugs. By then my Pain had gotten worse, so I played the game to get the Methadone Prescribed. Someone had turned me onto one and it seem to be the ticket. Right! 12 yrs later and so spun out. Playing all the games to get more.During that time I had a complete hysterectomy and I knew I was going to be cut off. We got down from a high dose to 30mg. I was running short every 2 weeks. This is where the trouble got worse. I had been turned on to a Adderral. ( do not have ADHD) so this I would mix with my Dones and snort it. It was just like my crank days, but without grinding my teeth. Snorted though out the day and was working in the nursing field. Come home and be so Tweaked out that I would hold a flash light and pull weeds in my Gardens until 3-4-5 am. Took a Benzo to come down. This went on & on & on for yrs.

Finally a family member, who I did not see that much, knew something was wrong..Daaaa! SO again I reached out and got help and went c/t off of all three. It was NO walk in the park. I had so MANY curve balls during my first few yrs of recovery. From loosing both parents, my Boy dog and other family members & Friends in a 90 day period. I stuck close to this site for Support and also had to add some more out side Support in my real world. The calls I made to some of you out here, made a Big difference too & still does to this day. It was SO SO hard because all my Life, when I had lost someone, I would go and drink or get high! It is/was easy to get anything!  The Brain was still healing and trying to balance back, so this just made me flip back to a detox state, like it was when I first started to come clean.  Then out of know where comes the Heart issue. This one through me so off. HOW OR WHY?? I could not understand because I had always Exercised and Ate Healthy! Never had High blood pressure or been told about high cholesterol. OK! I had ask my God Why?? Well it ALL just made me Stronger toward Life! I have to Work hard every minute, hour of the Day to stay on the right track.
Today and Just for Today I am so BLESSED to have what I got.

AMEN!

PS. I want to think each and everyone of you who went into my post about becoming a CL. That made me feel good. Still the same person and nothing has changed except I have to Read more now..Ha! This will do me some justice since I missed out on those English classes and do not write so good/well. LMAO!

WE R ALL IN THIS TOGETHER! Team work all the way!
Bless U ALL
My screen name (now) was picked out by some people on here. Lots of Love!
Vickie
vvic..Mooselips/kiss..Mountainmama and a few more names that people had said. Ha! Got to love those Screen Names.

Tonight is Friday Sept 11 2015. I wanted to put this in my Journal, so when I am feeling down, depressed or flat ash want to give up, I can come back and read this again.

First I want to say I am NO better then the next person. Sometimes my Confidence can be low too. I also can get my feelings hurt just like the next person. I have some of my own insecurities just like others. However, it seems as I age the more confident I get. I sure am not on no high horse by no means. ( I used to ride a horse high) LOL

Something happen at the meeting tonight that made me feel so Good and so Proud of myself. I have picked up SO much from MH. Sometimes I will take what I picked up from here and share it at a meeting.

Tonight I shared a few things about my own Recovery, but I also shared about the Gratitude Post that was put up. I shared a few things that people had put in. SO between what I had to say about me and that post (mostly the post) all the people in the room clapped and clapped when I was done. Lots of Smiles and Looks came my way. It was so Awesome because no on ever claps unless someone announces there Days, Months or Yrs. They did not Clap for anybody else tonight, but they always smile and say think you nice job. This has never happen to me like it did tonight. It was the most Beautiful and Inspirational feeling I have ever felt. I OWE it to ALL of YOU out here in MH Land!!

Thank YOU MH and all the PEOPLE that has made my Recovery possible!! This site is one of the BIGGEST reason I have made it this far!
I will always smile down at this site even if death do us apart..Not Yet I know..I only just begun!!!!!

Bless ALL of YOU!!
Vickie
VIC

Hello my Friends. Most of you know my story for the past 2  and a half or more yrs. After those family losses so close together, I had to go through a lot of Heart Testing. I found out that some time in the past I had a small heart attack and I had two blocked arteries that lay over the Heart. 9 months ago I had seen a Dr out of town and he did put one stent in the artery that was 98% blocked. He told me I could be OK or I might still need the Bypass down the line.

After 9 months I went to a DR up here. He was really, really good and made me understand all of this better then any other. We did all the testing again from the ekg to the echo gram to the nuclear stress test. I did pass the stress test but he did see something different, that was done from the other Dr. WELL...

God Bless You Dr Jenkins in Sandpoint Id!!!

It pays to make sure you discuss everything with the Dr. I had him even call me back 2 days before I was to have the cath go up my 100% blocked one. We talked about all kinds of things and he explained to me why he wants to go up himself in my Heart. I made him promise me that he would not let me be in pain while I am there. After I go home I will be fine. I discussed all my concerns and he kept his promise.

This DR went WAY ABOVE & BEYOND his expertise. It took 2 and a half hours to try to get that one unblocked at the end just a little. He went behind, on top, on the bottom, he used dyes, different sizes of wires. As his team was telling him it is not going to work and pull out, he would NOT give up!!! He did get a small wire in but it would not push the balloon it would bend.He finally got a thicker wire that was able to push the balloon in and then he went further and further. He finally got a very large stent in. GOD BLESS ALL YOUR PRAYERS!! There is nothing better then the POWER of PRAYER!!!!!!!

So now I am Breathing better and my skin seems to be getting some better color in it. Our whole BODY needs OX so I am going to be just like a new person. I have been living with this disease for yrs and did not know because I was always jacked up on something.

I just stayed in the Light for all these yrs since I came clean. It was a very painful past from going through them losses, parents, friends and my Boy (whiteface) and others, to one heck of a detox to hitting a BAD mental in my 7th m all the way until my Brain Chems and such did flip back over and started to fire up. This did take a couple of yrs. I know 40yrs of using, even if it was off & on was enough to knock the brain out of whack.

I want to think ALL my MH Friends who have been with me all the way for Years..NOW it is all going to be good..I am going to be BORN AGAIN!!!

I want to put up a BIG PRAYER for our Lesa. This girl has seen more Darkness then anybody one this site!! My prayers our out to you LADY..I will get into your Journal soon..Have to rest, like I am sure you are too..lol

BLESS US ALL
Vickie