Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Multiply by 50

I remember when my kids were young, people would tell me horror stories about their kids.  I remember thinking "My boys would never do that."  I thought if I raised them right, got them involved in sports, lived in good neighborhoods, had a close relationship, I would get through it.  I was so wrong.

A nice man recently told me "If your kids are messing around with drugs, take what you know and multiply it by 10."  He was being nice.  Take what they admit to then multiply it by 50.

The signs were there.  His appearance changed, stomach aches, missed school, scratchy throat, mood swings, missing money, missing clothes (that's a new one to me), theft and strange odors in the basement.  I thought it was just pot and I could steer him in the right direction.  We saw counselors, changed schools, started hobbies, hockey, you name it.  For 2 years I was fooled.

Thank God for tough love.  I finally managed to toughen up.  But I was not prepared for what I was about to experience.  My son is addicted to drugs.  Take what they admit to and multiply it by 50.

 Detox- don't think LDS Hospital or Psychiatrists are there to help.  They took a kid who went in for detox and loaded him up on legal drugs.  After 7 days in detox, I was given back a zombie.  The staff informed him on a regular basis, that he was an adult and didn't need to have me involved in his care.  So he left with 7 prescriptions.  1 of them was very addictive.  He also met several new "good" friends.  Thank goodness a pharmacist gave us the "OHMYHELL" look and confirmed our concerns about his drugs.

Select Med thinks 4-5 hours, 4 days a week of out-patient rehab will do the trick.  He must fail twice at out-patient care before they will pay for in-patient help.  After several days of research we found a rehab we were comfortable with.  I'm trusting that the professionals will do their job.  My son's problems are much bigger than me.

I saw a text message from one of his friends that said "If you give me a ride, I'll give you a Xanax."  Ahhhh it's nice to have good friends.

Stay in touch...this should be a fun ride!
Queen Mother

2 comments:

hannie bailey said...

Karen,
I admire you for being real. For not trying to hide behind a perfect picket fence that doesn't exist... not for any of us. Thanks for sharing, not because I feel it is my place to know the "gossip", but because, in exposing a very difficult trial, I respect you even more, I see a different dimension of what you are dealing with, and in turn, I know on a deeper level what I can pray for. For you for strength from that higher power, and that the same power will intervene into his life and assist in his recovery. I'll see you soon, but in the meanwhile, know that I am in your cheering section!
xoxo

Julie said...

You are a great mother Karen!! We love you and support you in this process...hope everything goes well:-) Keep us posted.