Vista Bay Graduate, Jason M.
Completed the Program in 2007
Before I came to VistaBay I was so dependent upon drugs that I was suicidal. I was humiliated and degraded and I had lost my dignity. I had no hope. My father showed up and offered me the opportunity to go to Vista Bay on the day I had planned to OD. Anything was better than killing myself, and I had nowhere else to go, no other way out. So I agreed.
I had been to treatment so many times before without success. I really didn’t think that I could learn anything new at VistaBay – certainly not anything I hadn’t heard a thousand times before. But I thought that maybe 3-4 months in a protected environment would help me to help myself. I was extremely pessimistic about the whole thing. I had a bad attitude, but I kept an open mind out of pure desperation to survive.
I must admit that when I was told what the Vista Bay treatment program entailed, I laughed out loud. I refused to believe that a sauna would help me kick my drug addiction! I thought it was ridiculous. Boy, I couldn’t have been more wrong!
About 2 ½ weeks into the sauna treatment, right out of nowhere I suddenly felt super awake. My eyes were wide open, I was clear, and I had a lot of energy! I knew I never wanted to lose that feeling. It was a better feeling than any high I had ever experienced.
The courses were all about learning. There was almost no talk about drugs. I was really learning a lot. The information was a godsend. I could see how everything was interrelated. I could see how previous relapses were connected to choices I was making in my life that seemed harmless at the time. I had suffered for so long out there, along with everyone around me. I have finally learned a new way to evaluate my condition. Now I know how to make choices that will continue to improve me. I feel like VistaBay is not about drugs, so much as it is about learning how to live. After 20 years of failed attempts in 12 step groups, I thought nothing could teach me that.
The staff is extremely well trained, professional, patient and understanding. This program and staff saved my life, and I am so grateful!!
- Jason M.
I came to Vista Bay in April of '07. I was a drug dealer as well as an addict. I knew the lifestyle I was involved with would either lead me to jail or death.
Not long ago, I honestly thought I was going to die. I was hopelessly addicted to pills, and maybe a few other things. I was so out of it that I really had no idea what I was putting into my body after a while.
