Mr.Scagnattie
Bluelighter
How do you even get in the mood when you're sick and in WD's?
Yeah exactly. That's the last thing I'm thinking about when I'm dope sick.
How do you even get in the mood when you're sick and in WD's?
There's always that one super thirsty girl at rehab that you know has been run through, but in that detoxed state of mind youre not thinking right and you say fuck it. How do you even get in the mood when you're sick and in WD's?
I feel like those girls are just doing that since that's what they are used to doing, so they've obviously been around. They have been banging dudes who are their 'running partners' so they get dope for cheap/free, and in detox/rehab they aren't really fully committed to getting clean so are looking for some dude to run off with them and help they get high for a while longer.
I feel like those girls are just doing that since that's what they are used to doing, so they've obviously been around. They have been banging dudes who are their 'running partners' so they get dope for cheap/free, and in detox/rehab they aren't really fully committed to getting clean so are looking for some dude to run off with them and help they get high for a while longer.
I remember the girl I was in detox with wasn't allowed to talk to anymore guys since she was just all over everyone, and just looking to run off with the next dude that walked through the door that was willing to leave with her. It was her third time in detox in 2 months, and since her insurance wouldn't cover it her rich mother flipped the bill, which was 5-6k down the drain the day the girl got out and left with some loser that didn't even want to try to get clean either. If going to detox just to find another dude to run off with and get high with isn't your 'rock bottom' then I don't know what is, since I'm sure that she was doing some bad shit to land her in detox in the first place, let alone 3x in 2 months.
Was the girls mother funding the dope habit, too? I could see it being enticing to some dude who is there mainly because he's broke. Some girl comes up and says 'hey I can get money to buy dope if you can get it', and off they go.
Yeah exactly. That's the last thing I'm thinking about when I'm dope sick.
Ya well she was tested when she came in cuz she was scared she had hep c, but she came up clean so she was good to goDamn bro, I'd never consider banging a fellow addict in rehab/detox, let alone hitting it raw.
Sooo, there was also this ti/ me that I came up on some rigs on a work crew where me and another guy were helping this old lady move, and I go into her bathroom and shes just has this coffee mug full of rigs ,must have been diabetic or something, so I took 2 and told my friend.
He ran in rummaged though her drawer while I asked her questions trying to keep her distracted when he comes out all smiles, and on the way back to the rehab he pulls out 2, 5mg hydros. He tries to split it with me but I told him I don't want your weak ass norco ill find something worth shooting. So for the next month and a half or so i'm trying all these random drugs, and almost clogged my viens desperately trying to shoot a gabapentin.
Then one night after I come in from digging a 5x5x5 hole in the backyard cuz I got in trouble for leaving and hitchhicking to san fransisco
(which is another pretty good story where some mexican thought I was a prostitute and tried to buy me cuz I was wandering around at like 3 am but anyways haha) my homie gave me some meth when I came in that he had come up on and I did my first and only iv meth shot in the bathroom after everyone else was asleep.
My first day... ->$
I've never been to Misssissippi before. I've got a family farm in Southern Illinois, so I don't mind being in the 'country', but I'm definitely not sure what to expect down in the deep south -- Jackson, MS. I get there and I'm picked up from the airport by Ernest. I was told to be looking for a white van. I get out of the airport and theres about 4 white vans, I'm not sure exactly if any of them are for me until a big, burly man pops out of the drivers seat of the second van wearing blue hospital scrubs. I knew right away this was my ride. I'm sure most of you guys in this thread know what CA's are (although sometimes they have different titles).
It was February 2nd, 2010. I had just detoxed cold turkey in Chicago at Lakeshore Hospital because I was too dehydrated to be "medicated" with suboxone or methadone and also because I refused IV fluids and didn't eat or drink much. It was the world cold turkey I've ever gone through... I was getting really strong dope, and my habit ranged from 6 or 7 bags on a bad day, to 13-16 bags on a good day -- IV. I find out I'm the only IV user there, and I'm using way more dope than anybody else. The most anybody else was using per day was 5 or 6 bags, snorting. They did gave me a subutex the day that I left, since my (ex) girlfriend was coming with my parents to pick me up and I told them she was a user and they didn't want me getting high before going to MS, and I don't blame them because I would have done just that. I had gone into the detox on January 26th but didn't get admitted until after midnight, January 27th. In the car ride to the rehab, Ernest is giving me the good old AA talk. Later I would learn that Ernest and another CA named Orison, coincidentally the only black CAs at COPAC and both former marines, had a habit of "benching" patients and giving them shit, telling them everything that they thought the patient didn't want to hear in a strange attempt to "scare" us sober, I guess.
I arrive at COPAC and go through the admission process. They keep the detoxing patients in the Infirmary, which is a lot smaller than most detoxes I've been to but has much better food in the kitchen. Since I had already detoxed, it's only a matter of maybe an hour or two before I'm released into the "general population" as we liked to call it. I meet two girls in the kitchen who are both detoxing from opiates. One of them, who must have left after a month, is much more chatty than the other. She tells me that she's put the first month of treatment on her husbands credit card and he doesn't know yet. The other girl, very cute but much more reserved, is named Erica. She has a lot of tattoos. At this point I have none. I tell her that I like her tattoos and I ask her what her drug of choice was. She tells me "heroin" though I later find out it was oxycodone. I also ask her how old she is. I am 20 years old, she is 27. Most of the male patients will later admire her, I will stake a claim and say I met her first, and she will end up dating somebody who I now consider to be one of my best friends, Geoff. She will also struggle after finishing treatment -- turning to the needle, and begin using Dilaudid and oxycodone intraveinously (the only opiates readily available in Jackson, MS... if you can even call them that. Steep prices too.)
[> FORWARD >] // I will later accidently introduce Erica to another former best friend of mine, Phil, at my apartment. This is long after her and Geoff have split up. She will go to rehab and follow Phil to new orleans, where they both become strung out on dope. Phil will get arrested and go on the run, only to end up in California where he is currently incarcerated on multiple charges. Erica will overdose and die a few weeks before thanksgiving in 2013. I will carry some guilt, feeling as though she might be alive if I hadn't accidently introduced her to Phil. Wrong place, wrong time. RIP Rica. // [< END FORWARD <]
Anyway they finally let me into the general population and I'm greeted by two patients. COPAC has a buddy system, where you are assigned a buddy for your first week to help you acclimate to your new life in rehab. I'm taken from the infirmary to my room by Hawmi and Tommy, which I thought was funny because their names both rhymed. There is another new patient. We don't know it yet, but 3 days prior he tried taking his own life and he's gay (Hawmi is gay too, but I don't know it yet. Hawmi's gaydar doesn't pick up on this new guy which will ultimately end one of the greatest rehab traditions ever!!!!!).
I'm taken to my room where I am pleased to find out that I don't have a roommate - the previous person staying there has just moved to Phase III. I'm told it's too bad, because he was a great cook (we lived in houses w/ up to 10 patients per house and had to cook all of our own meals, no access to a microwave. We went on weekly personal/grocery shopping trips with "elected" shoppers. We were responsible for the $ for our personal shopping, but each house was given $50 for each housemate for the grocery shopping.
Tommy is my buddy and he tells me that there is a big book study in M1 at 6:30 (the houses were labeled M1, M2, M3, and M4... and there were 2 houses that were not open and would only open if they needed more room for male patients, although one was used as a group room for small group). I have my own big book, so I meet the other patients. Everybody seems cool, except for this one crazy guy named Daniel who is a cutter and habitual liar. I watch them play some ping pong and I smoke a few cigarettes. I thought my parents had given me a carton, but they'd only given me what was left of my carton - 3 packs. Damnit.
Before I know it, it's time for the 'mandatory' 6:30 big book meeting. My 'buddy', Tommy, shows me to the meeting. It's a bit strange. Some people are wearing short shorts, and two guys come in a minute or two late holding hands. They open like any other meeting, reading How it Works, the 12 steps, and then say they are going to continue from where they left off -- page 69 in the big book. Hawmi is leading the meeting. He reads a little bit from the book, about sex obviously since thats what page 69 deals with, and he starts the sharing. Oh yeah... before the meeting, it is customary to go around in a circle and introduce ourselves and our addictions to any new comers. It was me and one other new guy, so we are both nervous. Strangely, in addition to giving their drugs of choice, almost everybody says that they are sex addicts. They give their sobriety dates, and the dates that they were saved by "Our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ". In my head, I'm thinking... oh no. I've been sent to some strange bible camp. This is going to be interesting....
Hawmi is sharing about his sexual escapades in Chuck E Cheese. He says that the male restroom in Chuck E Cheese in his home town is a meet up spot for on the down low gay men. He talks about how ever since he accepted Jesus Christ as his lord and savior he has become straight, and he knows there is no such thing as gay in God's eyes. Next, a guy named Matt shares. He shares that he is no longer gay, after being saved by Jesus Christ, but that he struggles and still has been 'relapsing' by sticking all sorts of foreign objects up his butthole. This continues, and the stories get worse and worse. Then come the confessions. A guy who introduced himself as Crackhead, a cool guy named Chris from Miami, starts sharing. He confesses that last weekend, when he went "Personal Shopping" at walmart, he found himself in the toys/bikes isles looking at little boys and fantasizing about them. He too, is no longer gay thanks to J.C. lol. Everybody seems to know "theres no such thing as gay" and this rehab has made them all straight.
Now I'm thinking "OH SHIT!". Not only did I get sent to a bible thumping rehab in the deep south, I was mistakenly sent to a rehab meant to turn gay drug addicts into straight sober people!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!!! The stories get worse. The sharing isn't going around in a circle, we are encouraged to "speak when the spirit moves us". At some point two guys get up and go to the bathroom together. Hawmi shares again -- there is an urgency in his voice and he sounds very anxious. "Guys, theres something I need to get off my chest.... Bradley didn't leave for a medical reason -- we got caugth relapsing in my bed. I'm not supposed to speak about it, but it was Bradley's 3rd time getting caught and he had to go... I'm sorry!" --- there is an awkward pause, then one of the patients gets up and starts screaming "YOU SLUT! FUCK YOU! I LOVED HIM! WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE TOGETHER WHEN WE GOT OUT OF HERE!" and an argument ensues... Hawmi starts crying. I decide it's my turn to share. I tell Hawmi that everything will be okay, and try to console him and let him know it's not his fault - he can't control other people. The past is in the past, and he can move forward. Finally, the two guys make it out of the bathroom. There is no toilet flush, and they're both wiping their mouths and zipping up their pants. I'm living in M3 and somebody shares about M3 being where all the "Queens" live.
The sharing gets gayer and gayer, and turns fire and brimstone with religious speak. Finally, it's time to close the meeting. Hawmi was chairing it, so he closes it with "the Queens prayer". It was all improv and I can't remember the whole thing, but it was something like this:
"Oh Girl [instead of our father],
blah blah blah...
Keep us off of our knees and our butt's free from disease.
Amen! Praise his name!"
I've already been told that newcommers aren't allowed to make any phone calls for the first week, but I'm ready to call home and get the fuck out of there. This place is not for me. Then, in unison, everybody yells. "HAHAHA! YOU'VE BEEN PUNKED!". And thus, we were initiated. I thought it was hilarious. Apparently this initiation had been going on for months. Nobody was gay, except for Hawmi, and that's why he chaired the meeting. Instantly I felt relief. These guys got me good, but I was glad to be there again. Didn't seem like a bad bunch of guys at all!
Unfortunately, the other new guy didn't have the same sense of relief. He was gay. Hawmi hadn't picked up on this, his GAYDAR must have been broken that night. Not only was the new guy gay, but he had come straight from a psych ward after trying to kill himself 3 days earlier. He was furious and he wanted to leave. Hawmi tried talking to him, explaining that it was just a joke and coming out to him as gay himself. The guy didn't care, he wanted to leave. Two days later, he packed his bags and did just that. He alerted the staff of the bogus AA meeting that was being held for newcomers and that big book study was banned. It's a shame, it was a great tradition.
Eskimo brothers unite
Or of course, the time when two men... from two different states, who both lived in Austin, TX for a period of time realized they had both fucked/dated the same girl. In fact, the girl left one of the guys for the other guy and the guy never knew who she left him for... until he met him in rehab. This sounded a little fishy, and they were in phase 2 with no access to the internet to verify a picture of her. I was in phase 3 so I was able to use a computer "to look for a job" and I bypassed the filters, went on facebook, and went to the girls profile using the name they provided. Damnit, it was a private profile. I friend requested her hoping to get a better look. The profile picture was her with another girl. This was perfect, since I had no idea which one she was. I printed off the picture and showed it to both of them. Low and behold, they both picked out the same girl! So I guess they really had been with the same girl, and she really had left one for the other.
Harbor house was the "cheap" state run rehab that they threatened to send people to if they misbehaved and were kicked out. After coming back to Chicago and relapsing, I decided to go to Harbor House. It was much different than COPAC and nobody there got drug tested at all, they just took you for your word that you were a drug addict. At this point I was a "poly substance abuser" and not just a heroin addict.
Well, my friend Pembroke -- funniest and goofiest guy I've ever met in rehab, whos older brother would later sponsor me for a week before I called it quits and relapsed -- yeah, back to Pembroke. Pembroke always had different jokes/sayings that would catch on. He wanted to leave so many times. We would get to watch much more TV than we could at COPAC, and we did just that since there was much less to do than at COPAC. Well, we would always see these Enterprise Rental Car commercials where they said 'Call Enterprise -- we'll pick you up!'.
Pembroke started joking, "Fuck it, I'm leaving! I'm calling enterprise -- they'll pick you up!". Of course, he never did that. The joke picked up and everybody got a good laugh out of it and repeated it when they felt like leaving. Unfortunately, some guy -- a really nice, nice guy from Georgia -- actually did end up calling Enterprise and having them pick him up. Hahaha... oh, what a life.
Oh, one more thing before I post this. At the time that I went to COPAC (for the first time, I did Harbor House's residential the second time because it was only 42 days as compared to 90-120 days but then went to COPAC's Phase IV [intensive outpatient] where we lived in a shitty halfway house privately owned by the owners of Copac that was way over priced and the apartments were shabby at best) Tiger Woods had checked into a rehab in MS for sex addiction. On COPACs website, I saw that they had a sex addiction program and I wasn't sure if maybe he went there. Unfortunately, he went to a place called Pine Grove. But I did get to be at COPAC & at Harbor House with some former celebrities. I'll tell those stories later. Grammy nominated/winners I believe.
Anyway, this young kid transfered to COPAC after getting kicked out of Pine Grove, where Tiger Woods went. We asked him if Tiger was there, and he said no. But there was another celebrity who was there. DWIGHT!!!! From The Office!!!! He was there for an addiction to Hookers/Strippers!!! Go figure! So much for anonymity!
- Woke up to a doctor telling me G'day mate. I was in rural Georgia.
- Later found out that I was the only guy who got a testicular examination by creepy doctor.
- Felt like I was an extra in Half Baked during an AA meeting where this guy said he was addicted to weed. Everyone died laughing.
- Went to my first AA meeting hundreds of miles from home and saw my main drug dealer.
- My main friend in rehab was this 300 pound redheaded meth addict that looked like Haggrad from Harry Potter.