Rock's Story...Part 1

First, let me say that Rock's story is being told by me, Rock's wife and my perspective on what I have heard and learned from him the past 5 years we have know each other about his addiction to prescription drugs.  This is done with his permission.  Rock is drug free and has been for the past 7 years.

I will only be sharing his story and not his brother or sisters or even his parents story as they will need to come forth and share that when they are ready.

Second, I appreciate Rock's good friends who have shared their story, Jon & Janae Moss, to help give Rock and I the courage to tell our story so maybe through these stories and experiences others can find hope.  Somehow we feel like sharing our stories will help others and maybe help heal our broken hearts from losing Rock's brother Zack to prescription drug abuse last December. 
If this is all it does, help heal our hearts, helps other family members who are addicted and gives us a journal entry in our history/memory then so be it.  I pray though that SOMEDAY this will help someone else and bring HOPE to them.

Janae wrote: "Lots of people would bury their heads in the sand, but this will do nothing to solve the problem."  

I admit this is something I want to do...just bury my head and pretend like all is well but that will do nothing to solve the problems.

Rock's story will come in parts as it is long and I, his wife is still hearing the stories of his drug addiction.  You see he lost a lot of memory while in a coma due to overdosing on perscription drugs so little by little I have learned his story.  He only tells me when I ask questions.  Sometimes I will ask the same questions and little by little get more of the details. 
Rock spoke at a fireside with his family a few months ago and this was the first time I had heard some of the things he shared. 

Rock drank alcohol, smoked marijuana, & smoked cigerattes, pretty much through high school.  When he was 18 he hurt his back at work doing landscaping and someone gave him a perscription pill.  He remembered it made him feel good.  Not just his back better but it made him feel good.  I don't know how to explain "the feeling good" part.  This was his first experience with a perscription drug. 

A few years later he got in a snowmobiling accident and hurt his shoulder.  He had to have surgery and was perscribed pain medication.  Well, this led to his addiction to perscription drugs.  An accident led him to addiction.  He made the choice to abuse these drugs and find ways of getting more and more after his shoulder had healed, but abusing these drugs for some start with an injury and spins out of control for them.  Some it is other reasons like anxiety, depression, can't sleep, etc.  But for Rock it was an injury.

He got his drugs, oxy's, soma's, etc..I don't know all the drug names... through doctors faking injuries or through friends and other drug dealers.  He needed his pills to function.

I remember Rock's sister in law telling me recently about when the family was selling satellite dishes in Chico and Rock would tell her and his brother that he needed his pills before he could go out and sell.  He was ad omit he needed those pills.  I asked Rock about this after hearing the story and he told me it was true.  When he took those pills he felt invincible.  He didn't care what people thought about him and he didn't mind selling.  He just felt good from the high he was getting from the pills.  A few years later Rock was selling satellites again only this time he was clean.  He had a hard time.  Rock is not a sells person and he struggled getting through the day. 

He told me, "Using made me feel like everything was okay no matter what was going on around me.  The only problem, I was in bondage to a pill that was causing me to do things I would never do otherwise.  For a pill I would steal, lie, cheat, etc. Lower my values and what I knew was right to get these pills.  I needed them....my agency was gone!  Either I got the pill or else my body was going to go through HELL!