He Collapsed My Lungs & Ended Up WANTED w/ Kristin Swan (TW abuse) | The Hopeaholics Podcast #345

He Collapsed My Lungs & Ended Up WANTED w/ Kristin Swan (TW abuse) | The Hopeaholics Podcast #345

Kristin grew up in Lakeville, Massachusetts, an hour south of Boston, in a house where disease was already present before she arrived at it. Her mother drank and went to meetings and died the day right after Mother's Day. Both her cousins are gone from fentanyl poisoning. By 15 she was cycling in and out of psychiatric hospitals, diagnosed bipolar, put on lithium, hearing voices. She hadn't touched a drug yet.

By 20 she was in a relationship with a man dealing crack out of their apartment. She saw the red flags early. She stayed anyway. It all ended in a snowstorm when he body-slammed her, collapsed both lungs, and stomped her head with Timberlands on while she was in the bathtub. She created a diversion, kicked the wall, and ran out barefoot into the snow while he searched for her. She hid in the bushes behind a neighbor's house and a man who barely spoke English called an ambulance. 

When she did find sobriety, it looked like what the promises are supposed to look like. A good sponsor. An interior design job. Things starting to make sense. Then a relapse. Now she's coming back. She's working the program again, going to bonfire meetings on the beach, building something small and clean, trying to put God first and figure out the rest from there. 

TheHopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie

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Timestamps:
0:00 - Cold Open
1:11 - Kristin Arrives
2:32 - Growing Up in Lakeville, MA
3:12 - Mom's Death After Mother's Day
4:26 - Losing Two Cousins to Fentanyl
5:13 - First Drink at 14 / Bipolar Diagnosis at 15
6:20 - Lithium, Voices, and Psych Hospitals
7:22 - Parents' Divorce / Dad's Breakdown
8:20 - Moving to Tampa
10:13 - Rebellion
11:05 - Life After Basketball
11:45 - The Abusive Relationship
14:57 - New Year's Eve in a Blizzard
15:32 - The Attack: Body Slammed, Both Lungs Collapsed
17:09 - Hiding in the Bushes / Ambulance Arrives
17:50 - Emergency Surgery / Boston Medical
20:36 - Love Addiction: Why We Stay
21:24 - First Recovery at 20 / DV Shelter
22:22 - Dancing, Fast Money, and Relapse
24:26 - The Program, a Sponsor, and the Promises
25:13 - On Relapse, Shame, and Coming Back
26:28 - Orange County Recovery Scene / Bonfire Meetings
29:13 - Therapy, EMDR, and Healing Trauma
29:53 - Building an Agency / New Beginnings
30:46 - Her Relationship with God
31:29 - Rosary Beads and Dreams of Her Mother
32:04 - The Morning Routine That Keeps Her Grounded
33:28 - An 11th Chance
34:23 - Day at a Time / Wrap-Up
36:05 - Closing / Final Message