TDA Salute

"I've lamented his death every second since he died and will live with it the rest of my life." So says Gary Neal referring to Harrison, his seventeen year-old son, who died of an overdose while abusing prescription painkillers.

With the second anniversary of Harrison Neal's death approaching, his father still has a lot of questions and doubts. "Could I have done it better? Could I have done it different? Would the results have been different? You never know the answers to those questions because you never get a second chance. ~ CNN

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Thing 1 and Thing 2 are the mixed breed black cats I’ve had since the first full year of my recovery. If the names don't ring a bell I suggest a little Dr. Seuss to refresh your memory, they earned their names early on in life to the detriment of my first apartment after treatment. I picked them up from an animal shelter in 1995 choosing these two over all others not because they were cute and cuddly, but because they were hanging upside down from their cage not content to lie around in their own poop all day- they wanted something better.

As a nonjudgmental support team, they have played a vital role in my recovery so much so that I have referred to them before as my sober cats. Especially for those new to sobriety, I think pets are a much better idea than people relationships because of the unconditional love they offer and absence of any emotional backlash or personal problems that may threaten the priority of recovery. Always home, happy to see me, and willing to listen… cats (and dogs) have little downside.

But as the title suggests, I have been saddened lately because the end is near for Thing 2.

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It’s been a particularly long and trying week for me as I have spent the last week on the West Coast presenting mid year review and projections. Long hours, tedious reports, and obligatory dinners… it’s good to see my colleagues from the other side of the Rockies but I am seriously worn out this week. So you would think that after a hard day’s work that when I open up the TDA mailbag just to find out that a total stranger is calling me a tool that I would be upset, but I’m not. In fact, I’m grinning ear to ear.

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The Discovering Alcoholic Salutes are a special recognition I like to bestow upon those in recovery who have overcome long odds, achieved great things, or added significantly to my recovery or the community in general. In the past I have honored a wide variety of individuals including an actress, astronaut and even my own dentist.

Tonight I would like to honor a fellow recovering alcoholic and addict, Frankie.

I am a 45 year old ex-con, recovering alcoholic/addict who was recently released from prison. I am finally getting a life for myself after so many years and it has been rough. ~ Frankiecon.blogspot.com

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“Captain, that’s not logical.” Dr. Spock said it often to Captain Kirk, but Leonard Nimoy also said something similar to William Shatner before his wedding.

He said just one sentence, 'Bill, you do know that Nerine is an alcoholic.' I'm not sure what Leonard expected me to say. 'I know she is,' I told him. 'But I love her.' Leonard didn't speak for a minute and then he said, sadly, 'Well, Bill, then you are in for a rough ride'."~ The Age

Nimoy was not channeling his Vulcan character, as a recovering alcoholic he knew first hand the potential pain Shatner could face. Nine years later Shatner came home to find his floating face down in the pool, dead from an overdose of alcohol and valium.

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I am really impressed by the Pennsylvania DUI Association and its ongoing effort “to address the DUI problem in all of its many stages -- from prevention to enforcement up to, and including, adjudication and rehabilitation.” They produce there own public service announcements, raise public awareness though special events, and offer a huge range of training and certification courses. There is a massive amount of info and links available on the Team DUI website, but one of the coolest things you will find there is the Safety Bug.

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Saint Apollonia is the patron saint of dentistry and of those suffering from tooth aches and dental ailments. She gained martyrdom during the age of the Roman Empire when a drunken mob of pagans took her captive. They brutally busted out all her teeth and threatened to burn her alive if she did not renounce her faith. Rather than commit blasphemy, she willingly embraced the flames.

While probably not as bad as a pagan assault, a generally poor lifestyle and the neglect from years of alcoholism had left my teeth in very bad shape. During my first year of recovery in the mid 90’s I was suffering from what turned out to be a severely impacted tooth and my new dentist was out of town for the weekend. He had arranged a prescription of painkillers to help me get by until he could see me, but did not realize the severity of my condition nor the fact that I was fairly adept at abusing pills. I did not fill the prescription, and proud of my discipline I prepared to tough the pain out (embrace the flames)… and failed miserably.

Around midnight I had caved and called my sister who is a pharmacist to see where I could get the prescription filled at such a late hour. She didn’t know of an all-night pharmacy, but mentioned that one of her friends from college was a newly minted dentist that was living in the same apartment complex. Maybe she might help me if I was truly suffering that bad. So at Oh-my-God it’s early in the morning I went knocking on the door of this dentist and with a little urging from my sister she actually opened it. She did more than just let me in; she loaded me up in her own car, opened up the office, and extracted the offending tooth. Oh yeah, did I mention she did all this for free.

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It’s been a good while since I’ve made an advocacy update on my activity with the Governor’s Substance Abuse Task Force in Alabama, so here’s a report on today’s monthly meeting.

The mission of the task force is to enhance and promote substance abuse and addiction prevention, treatment and recovery. The group is made up of 22 very talented members from different fields of prevention, treatment, recovery... and one simple-minded blogger. The meeting today covered two main topics, the planning of quarterly community outreach programs and National Recovery Month (NRM) activities.

The outreach programs focus on reducing the stigma associated with substance abuse and addiction, discussing treatment and funding sources, and to allow those in the community to voice their concerns. Not only do the experienced task force members attend, but local law, judicial, and community leaders are also invited to attend and speak. My intentions were to plan a community outreach program in my home county in July but the travel schedule for my job that pays the bills was just too unpredictable. Even though it is later than I had hoped, today we set a concrete Dec.11th date for the program in my home area.

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A friend of mine sent me a link to a local news report when the Project Prevention van visited her area. I had initially titled this piece “An Uncomfortable Subject” because to be honest I’ve been sitting on this story for over a week now trying to figure out an official TDA stance on the issue and that was the best I could come up with… it’s uncomfortable.

In a nutshell, Project Prevention offers a cash reward to drug addicts and prostitutes if they will go on long term birth control like an IUD or be sterilized. The goal of course is avoid pregnant substance abusers and children born that have to be withdrawn from drugs.

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Taking advantage of a story about Jamie Lee Curtis and her battle with pain killers that popped up on my news feed this morning, I went hunting for a good picture of her to use for the TDA famous alcoholic feature.

I though it would be cool to get a shot of one her characters that earned her the title “the queen of scream” from the horror movies like Halloween, Prom Night, and my personal favorite, The Fog, but ran across something far better. The photo to the right is of Lindsay Lohan five years ago presenting Mrs. Curtis with an award for helping troubled teens… especially those dealing with alcohol problems. Now that’s a scary picture!

"Being a teenager is really tough," Lohan admits. "But I also see how hard it can be for parents like Jamie. While we were shooting she told me she worked with Teen Line, and I immediately thought that it was amazing that people my age have a resource to turn to. Someone they can call their own age to talk to and get help." ~ USA Today

Ms Lohan may no longer be a teenager, but it would probably do her a world of good to give Jamie Lee a call these days.

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