Chelsea’s Story of Getting Treatment at Our Center
I spent a lot of time missing school after my parents split up and it was always “one thing leads to another.”
I grew up here in Santa Clara and then spent some time on the streets of Berkeley until for some reason I moved to Las Vegas. I had 2 friends and we were getting high all the time and we were old enough to work in the casinos as waitresses so we went.
The thing was that I wasn’t one of the ones that seemed to be into Oxys, Vicodins, and the other drugs like heroin. I was into marijuana. BUT, in Vegas that was a lot less common and instead we started using a little meth for our long shifts and then OxyContin (or whatever) to come down after the shift.
After a while… I got really hooked on the Oxys and then when “P” came out (sticky OxyContin) we couldn’t get high off of it (although I think I came close by freezing it and snorting it). I was actually suicidal because of my cravings and so I did heroin.
Finally, I got my 3rd DUI (very easy to get in Vegas) and also a possession charge. I was finally ‘ready’ for the first time to get clean. The judge cut me a break with my Mom in the court when I promised to go to treatment here.
It was physically hard at first to be clean and sober. I had a hard time during the initial detox and I was really sad and distracted during all the activities. But The Camp has become my home. I think the serenity of the location has helped me find serenity in being clean. I am a recovery dork now and I say all those quotes like “I used to be a hopeless dope fiend but now I’m a dopeless hope fiend” – because quotes like that mean a lot to me.
There is a different speaker every night and I remember one of the first nights, this guy came in and he was talking about how he felt left out of life, “like everyone is in a bubble that he wanted a key to get in.” I can definitely relate to that story.
I have 80 days sober now and in 10 more days I finish my time at The Camp. I am going to move to a sober living house in San Jose and start work at my old job – they are letting me come back.
That’s how it is when you get sober… doors just open for you.
- Chelsea