SAGINAW

508 Shattuck Road
Saginaw, MI 48604
(989) 752-7867
(989) 752-6830 – Fax

Dosing Early: M – F 6:00 am - 7:00am

Dosing Regular: M-F 7:00 am - 12:00 pm
Saturday Dosing – 6:00 am – 9:00 am

Methadone seemed like the scariest path to recovery for me, until it wasn’t. I had

spent years struggling with my PTSD and addictions before stepping foot in a clinic. I

had quit “cold turkey” and felt the horrible withdrawals, just to go back to using. Heroin

started taking everything from me. My family pushed away from me, noting that I was

toxic. The only “friends” I had were people I dealt with dealing with drugs, and soon

heroin even tried to claim my life.

Being homeless wasn’t enough to make me want a change; either was losing my

family or employment, not even almost losing my life. If it weren’t for my husband’s

quick thinking when I overdosed, I wouldn’t have had a second chance. Yet, instead of

hitting a “rock bottom” it took a positive for me to start my journey to recovery.

When I found I was pregnant with my son I tried to quit cold turkey again. I

almost lost my son and my doctor told me I needed maintenance program of either

methadone or Suboxone to safely stop using opiates. I started a program in the Detroit

area and things were going okay at first. I was able to stop using and had a healthy baby

boy. Within a year I started going downhill, and was back in active addiction by the time

my son was a year old. My husband and I decided to move from the Detroit area to the

Saginaw area and we transferred to a new path.

At first I was shocked by Victory, it was nothing like the previous clinic I had

gone to. The first thing I noticed that was different was they allowed us to bring children.

We didn’t just have to stand in a line, like before at the other clinic. We sat in what feels

like a regular waiting room, with a friendly staff that took the time to learn my son’s likes

and dislikes. They would even play Thomas videos to keep him calm while I was in the

back dosing. When they felt one counselor was not working for me, they moved me to

another one. They kept working with me, even when I wasn’t trying my best. They

understood that recovery isn’t a “one size fits all” and each person has different needs.

I started to utilize the tools my counselor helped me find and soon I found myself

tapering out of the clinic. I had employment again, stable housing, and most importantly

to me, I was able to read that extra book at bedtime to my son – instead of rushing

through the routine to get a fix. I was scared through the process of tapering. I heard that

getting off of methadone was harder than heroin. They worked with my very anxious

mind and found the best way for me to taper. I ended up choosing a blind taper method

(which meant I wouldn’t know what milligram my dose was at or how much I was going

down each time.) I also signed a form that allowed them to placebo dose me when I

reached the end of my doses to help with my anxiety towards possible withdrawal. When

my counselor gave me the news I was done tapering, I had already been taking a placebo

dose for 3 weeks! The storm that others had promised had never come!

It has now been over 2 years since the last day I dosed. I am still clean, employed

and looking forward to what the future will bring! I can honestly say without the help of

Victory I would not be where I am today. I am forever grateful to the people who worked

with me during my lowest points to help bring me to my best!