It was long term drug treatment that gave Patricia’s son a firm foundation and strong recovery.
Hi my name is Patricia.
Darren came last year on May 1st and he was, he’s a heroin addict and was fighting it for a long time trying to get better. He went into a program and was there for 30 days and then from there went into sober living home for another 30 and another 30 so that’s 90 days total and it just wasn’t enough.
He started using right away and it was downhill from before and it went even worse. So, I really had to be strong and really stop enabling my son and stand aside and let him fall. It was a really tough road for the family, for me a lot of living in fear. Not being able to sleep at night. Not knowing if he was alive or not. It was hell this is a really tough one. It’s a bad disease, it’s a sickness. He needed help and he got help and he’s doing awesome and am really proud of him.
Finding VRC
His sober friend who’s 3 years sober introduced him to Robert. Robert said, “Hey you know we run the recovery center and we can help you out.”
How is life now?
It was hard for Darren you know he struggled but he overcame it and with the support from the Ventura Recovery Center and the staff and also for myself to have that was good talking to his therapist and they were always in contact with me. It was really good it was home right here and Darren now has a wonderful relationship and my granddaughter has her daddy back. But It was a road and I feel that with the 90 days it just wasn’t enough. Being an IV user, he needed long term drug treatment and I’m really thankful that the Ventura Recovery Center kept Darren for a year and he is a year sober.
I have my son back. His sister has her brother back. We’re able to sit down and have dinner together and have conversations. Do things together. It’s been so long. He has a relationship with his daughter and it’s awesome to see he’s a father and he’s standing up to the plate and being a dad. He’s being responsible. He’s always tried. He’s a good person. He’s got a great heart. He is sponsoring, he has a sponsee and he’s loving it. He just loves helping people now. He wants to do that. He said it makes him feel good. It helps him stay sober. He’s still involved he does a lot of meetings now. He’s up at 6 o’clock every morning. He goes to a meeting if he’s not going to a meeting, he’s going to work.He comes home sleeps through the night. Yeah, he’s doing amazing, very well.