Fatherhood & Recovery

Anthony’s addiction started like so many others: he got into a car accident and was prescribed oxycodone.

He soon realized that the medication didn’t just numb physical pain, but emotional pain too. When his oxycodone was no longer enough to dull the pain, he turned to fentanyl for relief. Anthony felt his opioid use disorder (OUD) quickly take over his life.

“Overdosing wasn’t enough to make me quit. Losing jobs, apartments, and friends weren’t enough either.”

When his family noticed he was struggling to balance his OUD and fatherhood, they called DHS. “I was angry at the time, but now I couldn’t be more grateful,” Anthony says, thinking back. “All I ever wanted to be was a great dad. Sometimes we refuse to see how bad something is till it completely destroys us,” he says.

The first step in his recovery was leaving his son’s mother, who was also struggling with addiction. “My biggest problem was that I felt responsible for [her] sobriety. I tried and failed for months to get her on the same page. So I took the first and biggest step in my recovery and left her.”

Soon after, Anthony reached out to Boulder Care and was quickly seen by a clinician who prescribed Suboxone, and a peer recovery specialist for extra support. In a few short months, Anthony has accomplished a lot: “I’ve finished outpatient, 3 parenting classes, and a mentor program,” he says.

But best of all, he has his son back.

“I feel like being a dad was truly the thing that saved me. I had to put my recovery first so everything I love doesn’t have to come last. The smile on his face when he says, ‘I love you daddy’ is better than any high.”

His advice to other parents struggling with a substance use disorder: “never stop fighting to put that smile on your kid’s face and hear that ‘I love you.’”