By: Kayla C., Transformations Alumna
Before coming to Transformations, my life was a mess. I was a sad, broken, hopeless little girl living in a woman’s body. I didn’t know how to take care of myself, much less my daughter, and I showed no signs of slowing down or changing my life. My family, in particular my grandmother, stood up to me for the first time in my life. She gave me an ultimatum that likely saved my life. Go get help, or get out. My choices were to continue living life in the misery I created for myself alone, without my daughter, or go take a chance at having a better life.
I was terrified but I knew I didn’t want to keep living the way I was, and I definitely didn’t want to lose my daughter. So, I took a chance and my first leap of faith—though I didn’t know that’s what it was at the time, and I went to Transformations. So many times while I was there, I wanted to take the easier way out and give up. The staff sat with me while I cried and listed all the reasons why I should leave to go back home to Pennsylvania. They talked me off the ledge and helped ease my fears and anxiety. Looking back, the staff at Transformations played a huge part in my getting sober. I started to build a network of sober people that had already found a way out and were living a better life. I heard their stories and I knew they had been exactly where I was in that moment.
Little by little, I started taking suggestions from others who weren’t still living the nightmare I was trying so desperately to escape. Fast forward to now, I am 7 years sober. I have wayyy more good days than bad days. I can truly say that I am happy. Not only am I a mother to my daughter that I didn’t even know how to take care of when I first went to Transformations, but I also had two more children in sobriety and married my best friend. I was able to get back to nursing and even go on to become an RN. Now I work in a pediatric ICU and am actually going to grad school at Johns Hopkins and am in a DNP program.
To look at pictures of myself before I went to Florida and see how far I have come and how my life has changed is unbelievable. I still have to pinch myself sometimes to make sure I’m not dreaming. It all started with an ultimatum from my family and a leap of faith to take a chance on myself and life. I am eternally grateful for Transformations and the monumental role everyone there has played in giving me a chance to love myself and live an amazing life!
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