One Day at a Time: In Recovery in Baltimore

In this final episode of the series, Theo reflects on his two years as host of One Day at a Time, he shares some exciting personal and professional news, and he gives some timely advice for listeners who are struggling with addiction. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Luke and his big brother didn't get along, until they started smoking marijuana together. But what started as a bonding experience became a slippery slope for Luke's addictive personality. Next came pills, then heroin. Luke is about to celebrate seven years clean, and he talks with Theo about what he's learned along the way. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When he was young, John recalls that the other kids around him had normal aspirations. But he says that, as far back as he can remember, his only goal was to get drunk and high. John talks with Theo about the toll of his long-term addiction and the lessons he's learned in his past six years clean. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chrissy stayed clean for 23 years, and life was good. Then one day she popped an extra prescription pill, and things went downhill fast. She's in recovery again and working to rebuild her life. Peppy spent a year clean, but a relapse put him in long-term recovery, where he's focusing on surrendering and accepting help. Theo talks with Chrissy and Peppy about their winding roads to recovery. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Theo talks with his guest, Bill, about relapses, humility, and lessons learned from the example of a lost love. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a ten-year stretch of multiple relapses, Michael remembers saying to God, “Either take my life or change it.” Michael talks with Theo about his long journey out of addiction and his ongoing efforts to deal with the wreckage of his past. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For Joe, drugs were a convenient escape from childhood trauma, but when he was introduced to crack cocaine at age thirteen, he slipped fast into the grip of addiction. By age 17, Joe was sent to prison for robbery and assault. When he got out, eight years later, he discovered a new addiction – fentanyl.  Joe talks with Theo about the near-death overdose that ultimately spurred him into recovery, where he finally had to face a lifetime of unresolved personal pain. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Theo's guest, Sheila, suffered an abusive childhood that led to shyness, depression and low self-esteem. In high school, she found a way to an escape and feel comfortable in her own skin: alcohol, marijuana, and then heroin. Her addiction kept her from graduating high school. She ended up getting pregnant, and finally as a young mother she realized that she needed to get clean, for herself and for her son. Sheila talks with Theo about what it takes to break out of what is comfortable and move on to what's meaningful. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lee Ann spent many years as a functional addict, abusing alcohol and marijuana, but when a neighbor introduced her to crack cocaine, her life crumbled in a hurry. She lost her job, emptied her 401k to pay for her habit, and her house went into foreclosure. Lee Ann talks with Theo about her humbling road to recovery and what it's taken to put her life back together. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Mike got out of the Army, it was at the height of the US cocaine epidemic. He was already abusing other drugs and alcohol, but when he started shooting cocaine, he lost control of his life. Mike lost his marriage, his job, and kids, and his home, and he ended up of the streets of Baltimore. Mike joins Theo to talk about his long road to recovery, his lessons learned, and his 31 years clean. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Robert Kanter is an international recovery and family advocate. When he talks about addiction, he speaks from experience. At one point, Robert's drug and alcohol use had destroyed his life. After he recovered, he almost lost his daughter to an overdose. Robert talks with Theo about his family's own journey and the work he does now to support other families suffering from addiction. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fun and freedom went hand in hand with marijuana and LSD for Elaine when she was a teenager. Then came the amphetamines, which her doctor prescribed for a weight issue. Add to the mix alcohol, and then heroin, and Elaine found herself locked into a 30-year cycle of addiction. Elaine is clean today, and she talks with Theo about what keeps her that way

Mary felt invisible when she was a kid. She was a middle child in a family preoccupied by multiple illnesses. She knows now that she was clinically depressed, but at the time, all she knew was that illicit drugs provided her some relief. After years of addiction, she got clean, had a good job, and a family, but a relapse threw her into a tailspin. She’s starting over now, again, with 20 months clean, and she talks with Theo about the highs and lows of her ongoing struggle.

At the beginning of each day, Rodney James says, "I'm going to save someone's life today." Rodney works as a peer recovery coach at Saint Agnes Health Institute, steering others onto the path of recovery. He's traveled that path himself. Rodney talks with Theo about denial, shifting blame, relapse, and the importance of surrounding yourself with people who have your best interests at heart.

Mike was introduced to alcohol by his older siblings and their friends at a party, and he fell in love. From there, it was on to illegally prescribed pills, until Mike's addiction almost destroyed his liver and brought him to the brink of death. Mike got clean, but he relapsed after 14 years. He's in recovery again today, and he shares his experience, including his daily mantra: There’s only one drug you can't do: The first one.

Jack was introduced to heroin at age nineteen. At the time, he was behind bars serving a prison sentence. He talks with Theo about the early manifestations of his addictive personality, his multiple incarcerations, and the progression of his disease over three decades.Jack's moment of clarity came only after he'd hurt those closest to him and ended up alone and invisible to the world around him. That's when he finally embraced his higher power, learned humility, and began to turn his life around.

Nina was a college graduate with a successful corporate job. She was also bipolar and abusing alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. Things came to a head when she lost her job, foreclosed on her house, and crashed her car. Intensive outpatient therapy gave Nina a new start, and she talks with Theo about lessons learned and the challenges and joys of living clean.

Theo and his guest, Al, originally met over a chessboard when they were incarcerated. Today, they’re both addiction recovery veterans who are passing along their wisdom and experience to a younger generation. In this episode, Al speaks with Theo about stubbornness, suicidal ideations, and what he calls, ‘The gift of desperation.’

Theo’s guest, Todd, talks about the crutch of denial, the importance of staying humble, and the cold truth that recovering addicts just might have to work harder than other people to make a life for themselves.As Todd says, ‘The bigger the dream, the harder the grind.’

Theo talks with Warren, whose addictions progressed through alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and ultimately heroin. Today, Warren is a certified addiction counselor, and he shares his experiences and offers words of wisdom about learning how to let go and surrender to the recovery process.

Theo switches it up and talks drug policy with University of Baltimore President and former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke, whose political career suffered in the late eighties and nineties on account of his controversial ideas about addiction as a public health issue, not a crime problem.

Theo’s guest, George, went to jail at a young age. While he was incarcerated, his father killed his mother. When he got out, his brother-in-law got him hooked on heroin. In the years that followed, he was shot, stabbed, and jailed multiple times. He sold dope, he stole, and he did whatever it took to get drugs. Today, he’s 34 years clean. George and Theo discuss the challenge of boredom that can come with sobriety, the temptation to replace one addiction for another, and the philosophical differences between abstinence and medically-assisted harm reduction approaches to recovery.

Theo welcomes Laura, who recounts the story of her struggle with heroin and crack cocaine. The resulting addiction cost her a nursing career, a house, her freedom, and her relationship with her parents and kids. Theo and Laura discuss anger at God, Jackpot Prayers, surrendering to addiction, and the importance of asking for help.

Theo makes his debut behind the mic, introduces himself, and shares his back-story of addiction, detox, and recovery. Theo’s guest, Glenn, talks about his own introduction to alcohol and drugs. Glenn got hooked on heroin at age 15 and spent the next several decades alternating between homelessness and incarceration. In 2008, he went into treatment. He’s been clean 10 years. Theo and Glenn talk about the concept of ‘unlearning,’ the challenge of dealing with cravings and drug dreams, and the benefits of service.