My sister bought me a Giving Key with the word Hope on it. Here is a little bit of my story... I am a 23-year-old addict in recovery, and my drug of choice was heroin. I began using at 15-years-old, and my first overdose was the day after my 16th birthday, which left me for dead. I was revived and sent to the ER for an overnight stay, while put on an IV drip to ensure that I wouldn't die. However, aside from the IV, my sister's CPR/rescue breathing is what saved my life. The paramedics and doctors told me that had she not given me those extremely vital rescue breaths, I would not have made it.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of my addiction. I had used off and on until I was 18, and then managed to make it through 27 months of recovery, but after a prescription for oxycodone I fell back into heroin almost immediately. My relapse lasted two years, from May 2016 to November 2016. Both my husband and I were both laying on our death beds when God graciously pulled us out and gave us one more chance, one last time. We were homeless on and off, with no motivation to live.
My last OD was November 3, 2016 and my clean date is November 9, 2016. I checked myself into the hospital on November 10th, stating I was detoxing off of meth and heroin and was suicidal. Skin torn apart, suffering through excruciating withdrawal, I wanted it to finally end (for good). But I made it out alive and went to treatment with 24 days clean, and graduated. I have 58 days (and counting) today, and I am choosing to never lose sight of HOPE again. I am dedicating my life to bringing others out of the darkness, and spreading the message of hope to those still suffering out there. There IS hope. And I can't wait to see who God places in my life to give my key to. Thank you, sis.
-Elle
