Although Makowski has health insurance, she still struggled to find treatment programs specializing in adolescent drug abuse with the proper credentials. Read this post, you will learn how to help your child to get the monkey off.
"You just can't go in willy-nilly to get them in a place," she said. "Check them out. It might cost a little more, but there are certain things you can't cut corners on." Makowski took Wyatt to Talbot Hall at the Wexner Medical Center. (The group program is no longer available, but the center still sees adolescents individually.)
He and his family met with counselors three times a week for six weeks and had weekly follow-up appointments for months.
Still, that following summer, Makowski began to see track marks on her son's arms. Friends of his left notes telling her that he had relapsed.
When she tested him for drugs, his urine was clean - but it was also cold, leading her to believe that the test couldn't be trusted.
"You will go to desperate measures (to hide drug use)," she said, referring to abusers.
During the ensuing year, Wyatt relapsed twice more before Makowski got him in a program at Children's with Matson. He began taking the prescription drug Suboxone, which curbs cravings and reduces the high.
"Don't make it easier on them," she said. "Don't be afraid to drug-test. Tear things apart. If they have a cell and you're paying for it, it's yours. Go through book bags. Check with friends."
Essentially, she said, she was in her son's face often.
"He told me that 'Sometimes, mom, it was just easier being clean.'"
Her son also told her that his drug problem was not her fault - that she wasn't a bad mother and that he didn't have a bad childhood.
"Parents need to get over themselves and realize that no matter what you do with this, it is on the child," she said. "Be an advocate. If they're young, get them into help, because once they're 18, they'll tell you, ‘I'm 18, and I don't have to do anything.'"
Wyatt, now 20, has been clean for more than 26 months and no longer takes Suboxone. He is taking online college courses, has a job and is considering renting an apartment with friends.
"It's been a battle," Makowski said. "It's not over. I have people say he did it, but I still worry."
Which is why she celebrates each Oct. 18 - the anniversary of the start of her son's recovery.
Makowski's advice? She would tell other parents that they're not alone and to keep fighting for their child.
"It can be done."
In order to protect our children better, we need to take measures.
1. Early detection
2. Advanced signals
3. Parental action
4. Treatment options
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