I will be forever grateful to the Lisa Walker Center for the life they gave me.
They made life worth living once again.
I am Alyssa McGuffey from Hustonville, KY. I am 41 years old and my sobriety date is October 2, 2020. I have battled addiction for 28 years.
I was raised in a great family. However, at the young age of 13, I began consuming alcohol on the weekends. By high school, my weekend drinking habit had turned into drinking many nights a week. Despite my drinking habits, I was able to graduate in the top 15% of my class, earn a 4.2 GPA, and serve in the National Honor Society.
I never seemed to feel comfortable in my own skin and rarely felt like I fit in anywhere. That feeling became worse when I started college. Likewise, my drinking also worsened. My habit turned into drinking nightly and by age 20 I had become a functioning alcoholic. As if drinking weren’t enough I began to experiment with cocaine.
After leaving college I began factory work. In 2006, I injured my back from the physical labor of my job. A physician prescribed me Lorcet 10’s which introduced me to opiates. A few years later I would begin taking Oxycontin and Oxycodone 30’s. After the death of a close friend my addiction only grew worse.In 2013, I began using methamphetamines on a daily basis. It was almost as if I fell in love with it. However, in less than a year I lost custody of my children and I began using that as an excuse to continually get high. The addiction helped me numb the pain of losing my children. Not only did I lose my children but, I also was arrested 14 or 15 times. My addiction took every ounce of personal power from me. Little by little I watched everything I loved begin to slip away.
In 2016, I brought my third child into the world. Being in treatment helped me maintain the pregnancy and deliver into the world a happy baby boy. However, within a month of his birth, I was back in the stranglehold of addiction. I was helping care for my grandfather who was in hospice care and my grandmother who was suffering from dementia. I used this responsibility as an excuse to continue to use drugs. By December of 2016 my grandfather had died, I was back in jail, and had lost custody of my five month old baby.
Once again it was as if everything I loved had slipped away.
The next few years would bring more pain. My best friend of more than two decades passed away. My grandmother lost her battle with dementia and a chapter had closed in my life that I wasn’t prepared to deal with. The pain worsened to the point that I needed something stronger to numb the pain. My addiction took it’s deadliest turn to heroin and fentanyl. This was when I had hit my absolute lowest point. I was real sick. My skin looked grey. My body was for real about to shut down when in the fall of 2020, I very reluctantly agreed to go to Lisa Walker Center.
Entering this program was the best decision I have ever made in my life. The program was truly amazing. It was truly life changing! I traded a 28 year addiction for a 28 day treatment program. They showed me a way to forgive myself, let the shame and guilt go and most importantly they re-introduced me to Jesus Christ. In the end, Lisa Walker House even provided me with a job.
God has blessed me immensely in my sobriety. My relationship with my three beautiful children is restored. I’ve reclaimed my place in my family and my community. Not only am I a functioning member of society again, but I belong to a wonderful church. I’ve purchased a car and even have leased an apartment.
I will be forever grateful to the Lisa Walker Center for the life they gave me. They made life worth living once again.
I didn’t think there was any way I could take my life back, but I did.
For those of you suffering with addiction, please take the step to get help. If I can do it, anyone can! Isaiah House not only saved my life, but it helped save my soul!
