Over the past 14 years, I have had five foot surgeries, seven lower back surgeries and two neck surgeries. Before my first neck surgery, I was a drug addict. I used my surgeries as a way to get any medication to feed my addiction. This had the effect of prolonging the healing and kept me saddled with an opiate addiction.

Then I went to treatment.  After treatment, I had my second neck surgery. The noticeable difference this time is that I am sober.

I was tired of living the life of an addict and wanted to changed so it was not as difficult as it may seem. I have found that when you take the meds as prescribed, they actually work. The human body can tolerate more pain than we think it can. I have thought about all the surgeries in the past and realized how much easier it could have been for my family and myself. I just didn’t want to do it to right way.  I wanted to keep feeding the beast.

The way to get through recovering from surgery is to find a group of people that are willing to work with you and get you through it.  Then you will get a sense of accomplishment, knowing that you are not hurting yourself or anyone around you.  It is a great feeling.

The point is you don’t have to completely and solely rely on meds to make you feel better. It’s all up to the person to do it for them self. You have to make sure you do everything the doctor has told you to do. This will give you a better chance at recovering quicker and feeling better than you did before.

Here are my five tips on making it through after surgery recovery without relapsing.

• Have someone take control of your prescribed medicine and administer it to you per the doctor’s orders.
• Do exactly what the doctor tells you to do and make sure your support team area aware of doctors’ orders.
• Ask for help when you need it. You will likely hurt yourself if you try to do certain things without help.  Swallow your pride and ask for help.
• If you start getting stir crazy, get out of the house. Take a walk or got to the store. If you sit in boredom too long, you will start getting introverted which will likely lead to depression or worse than that, cravings.
• Turn to your support group. The only way that people will understand what’s going on with you is if you tell them. This will help them to know how to assist and encourage you and will also let them know when you are having a rough time so they can help you to handle it.

Please call today if you are suffering from any sort of drug or alcohol addiction for help. One of our registered addiction specialists will be happy to help you find treatment.