My Simple (!) Story

Nurses Recovery

Published

My story is kind of simple, and isn't so very different from most folks who find themselves in this **** storm! However, I think that my referral to TPAPN probably did keep me from heading down a terrible path (eventually). I had a family member refer me to TPAPN because they were "worried" about my alcohol use OFF HOURS! I was drinking progressively heavier than what would be considered "normal" drinking when I was off work/on weekends. I was using alcohol to sort of cope with the VERY recent deaths of my dear baby sister and cousin.

My sister had been extremely ill for over 12 years, and was placed on Hospice. She died while I was standing there trying to call the hospice nurse because her temperature suddenly spiked to 108.6 (NOT a JoKE!). By the time the hospice nurse finally called back, my sister was dead. This was my baby sister who inspired me to go to nursing school, who introduced me to my husband, who Married us, and who delivered my daughter. Then my cousin, who helped me deal with the death of my sister died almost 9 months later from a renal carcinoma. Yeah..sucks...BUT...who DOESN'T have a terrible story about why they ended up in monitoring?

My referral was deemed "credible" thus the monitoring began. I am now 1 year in to a 5 year monitoring program. This could have really been handled better by me, and could have certainly been handled within the family rather than being referred to TPAPN. So, because of the referral, I lost my job, have almost lost my home (It is currently on the market), and I have had to literally move 10 hours across the state to get a job. PLUS I, my daughter and husband no longer speak to this family member.

However, I really feel fortunate with the hand I have been dealt, compared to many of you on this message board! I only had to do 5 weeks of individual therapy, didn't have to do in or outpatient treatment, and I was able to find a (actually great) job 6 months after starting this crap! So, I'm just trying to get by day by day. I want you all to know how much reading your stories have inspired me and given me strength. I thought I would share as well.

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Why Did this family member report you to TPAPN? Why not do an family intervention and send you to a regular rehab where the board would never know?! You could have gotten the help you needed without the board being involved.

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Wow. I would send every bill for every drug test and the therapy, and maybe a "lost wages" bill to that family member! And then I would find a way to report them for something in their own lives that would get them fired....just because that's the way I roll.

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What a horrible story!!!! I'm sorry about that & have seen things like this before. Stuck in a monitoring program with ZERO proof and never being impaired at work. I would never speak to that family member again. God picks your family but you choose to deal with them or not

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I would have told TPAPN that the family member was a liar and bitter and we didn't get along. I would have been very matter of fact and told them she is always doing things to harass me and cause me problems! Then I would have went to the police depart and took out a restraining order on said family member to further validate me story! Yeah, no that ***** would have been sorry for ever screwing with me!!!

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Wow. What the heck? Yes, I would have denied denied denied. Crazy that you are in TPAPN just for a family member referring you. 5 years, you must be an NP? That is a terrible story. :(

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So the family member who reported me was one of those people who holds a certain set of standards about alcohol and drugs...I think we all have those people in our lives who think they "know what's best" and by gosh you are wrong if you don't see things their way. She is the teetotaler who thinks every drink leads to alcoholism. She reported me to TPAPN thinking it was the equivalent of an "Employee Assistance Program", one that would help me get "counseling" Ha Ha! And I felt like once TPAPN was involved, there really wasn't much I could have done, other than go before the BON, which I definitely DID NOT want to do. I think there have been enough stories we have seen and heard regarding vindictive spouses, ex-spouses, or HR departments reporting people to Monitoring or the BON, that I felt like I had no choice but to follow through with the monitoring contract. But...again...I think I was most definitely heading down a terrible path eventually if I continued using alcohol as a crutch to deal with my grief. What I really needed was grief counseling, not a monitoring contract. And yes, I am an NP....how embarrassing!

But I can say my TPAPN advocate is pretty great, and my TPAPN case worker is very helpful and supportive. And although I have had to move to Buttcrack Texas to get a job, I am now working with wonderful people, and this job has been one of the best experiences I could have hoped for! I am a real believer in karma, and that things happen for a certain reason. So maybe this experience was to keep me from turning into a full-blown alcoholic, or it was to send me to help the people in this little town who really need care. (And I'm sure the Karma Gods have a special gift planned for this family member at some point!)

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Buttcrack Texas, I love it!!! I've gotten really tired of living in large cities, even though it's suburbs outside the city, it's still city. So I'm considering looking around for my own "Buttcrack" town when I'm done with monitoring! A small town sounds good to me. I'd like to be able to walk up and down a Main Street to get from the cafe to the little grocery store and the maybe a little bakery or coffee shop. I'm probably idealizing small town life, but it sure sounds good compared to my view out my apartment window of a two lane super busy road, speed limit 50 mph, a stop light and intersecting 4 lane highway, with all the gas stations, Walgreens, car wash and self storage business.

A small town Main Street sounds awesome. Except not much for an ER nurse to do there I guess.

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Recovering,

My ButtCrack TX town is very small compared to what I'm used to. And when I say what town, lots of people are kind of like "wow that's a terrible place", but It's really growing on me. It's not a super tiny town though. I just had to move all the way across the state, and it's located in an area I would definitely not have considered if it wasn't for this monitoring contract. But we have 2 malls, and plenty of shopping, 3 hospitals, and a LOAD of free-standing ER's. So don't discount the small(er) town life just yet. The main street life is super cool and artsy, and lots of new hipster restaurants and there is a University in town as well.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Women's Health, LTC.

Sounds perfect to me!

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