Dr. Logo's inspiring story of recovery and success

From Success to Addiction to Rock Bottom.

From Rock Bottom to Recovery to Success.

Today is December 12, 2023 and I am 145 days clean and sober after a 15 year long drug addiction. Over those 15 years I have lost everything. A home that was bought and paid for, a successful business that saw profits increase each of the 7 years I owned and operated it and my entire family and circle of friends. When I hit my “rock bottom” 145 days ago, I was left homeless, jobless and in possession of little more than the clothes on my back.

Where I am now is nothing short of miraculous.

I’m not a real doctor and my real name is not Icon Logo. That is a pen name I will be doing business as.

Only 22% of IV opiate addicts completely recover. Only 2% of IV opiate addicts completely recover without relapse. Of that 2% that do fully recover without relapse, have been IV users for a short period usually a year or less. They would live the first 30-60 days in a detox facility, in a warm, clean bed. They would be surrounded by people who support them. They have friends and family encouraging their efforts and helping with their struggles.

Four and a half months ago I went to my local addiction clinic seeking help. I was messed up. Scruffy. Slattern and disheveled. There was nothing left of me. Metaphorically. I had weight on me. I had a belly, but inside I was gone. I was once a good person. I had proper morals. I loved and respected. Everytime a good person watches themselves do something bad, it chips away a little tiny bit of their self worth. Mine was all gone. I was effectively dead and I had been for a couple years. Waiting for my body to expire was just a formality.

I’ve been an opiate addict for 20 years. Prescription opiates. I swallowed them for the first 2-3 years. Then I started to crush and sniff them. Then 8 years ago, I started injecting. That's when life really took an ugly turn for me. This story however, is about my recovery, not my addiction.

July 20th was my last fix. A nurse at the addiction clinic placed me on a medication specifically designed to treat opiate addiction. I won’t mention the name of the drug but for me, it surpassed any expectations. It instantly turned my cravings off.

The nurses, counselors and staff at Addictions Nova Scotia claim my recovery (without relapse) is incredibly rare especially with all the adversity I have been facing:

For the first three months of my recovery I was homeless, sleeping on the floor of the shitty, moldy, rat and insect infested home of my old drug dealer. My drug of choice was always within my reach while I was there. All I needed to do was hold out my hand. He would have given me the pills and then taken me to get the needles to shoot them with. The two guys that live there are evil. Horrible people. The absolute bottom rung of society. How I was able to endure those three months is mindblowing. Another story, another time.

My entire family has chosen a “Tough Love” method to deal with my addiction and recovery and have no contact with me. I understand they have every reason and right to be mad as hell. I was a thief, a liar, manipulative and conning. Are these not forgivable offenses? I didnt rape or murder. I was never violent. I just don't feel the punishment fits the crime. My family won’t even accept a phone call. The addiction also ate away at every friendship I had over the years. At rock bottom, my only friends were other drug addicts. Aside from my three sons, whom I do not burden with much detail of my addiction and recovery, I am completely alone.

I have been unable to find gainful employment. I live in an economically ill area. We have 4,000 foreign students attending the local university and they have put a major strain on the infrastructure here. I have applied online and passed in resumes to approximately 60 businesses in three months and still have not yet received a single call or email for an interview. I was surviving on $380/month from Community Services. I have been using that money to keep myself presentable and make small purchases that assist me in the progress of my recovery. I bought clothing (instead of food) that hardly fit me now because I haven’t been eating enough. I do find that funny.

After 145 days clean, I often stick my head up and look around at my life. In all directions there is shit. Behind me there is grief and regret, to the left there is poverty and homelessness, to the right loneliness and temptation. In front of me is fear and the lifelong task of repairing all the havoc my addiction has caused.

But there is one very narrow path that I am on. There is one direction ahead of me that leads to redemption and absolution, happiness and success. My focus is laser sharp. I am flushed with motivation and ambition, just chomping at the bit to get started.

And the strangest part of all of this, is that I am the happiest I have ever been in my life. I have discovered that no one truly appreciates life and everything it encompasses. The last three years of my addiction had taken a black turn. The state and condition I was in had me convinced I was effectively dead already. There was no coming back from where I was. And, even if I could get there, I would not have the willpower in sobriety to stay clean.

However, the medication I was prescribed during my recovery has not just completely turned off my addiction. I seem to be cured of the crippling mental health issues I suffered from for my entire life, stemming back from a single traumatic event in my childhood. Crippling bouts of depression that would last far too long for the events that caused them. I always thought I was just shy, now it's introversion or social anxiety. Whatever it's called, it made life very challenging for me. Depression and anxiety I am now almost immune to. I wouldn’t say that I am now extroverted, but whatever was wrong with me, is fixed.

Now, here I am. An inspiring personified phoenix. The man that is emerging from the ashes of the dumpster fire that was my life is quickly becoming a fiercely undeniable individual.

I have created a business model, marketing strategy and brand and have almost secured $14,000 from a government program to start my new business, Dr. Logo Brand Strategy. I’m picking up a little bit ahead of where I left off with my past profession in my past life.

I really must make haste. The niche I have uncovered will eventually be filled by someone and I will have missed a golden opportunity. After losing 15 years of my life, I need to work double…no, triple-time to just get my life on par.

Now, what I need.

I will receive $380 at the end of December from social assistance. My rent is $650.

I need $300 immediately to finish paying for December’s rent. I will need another $650 for a full month of rent at the end of this month. The $380 I receive from social assistance is sufficient for me to survive the month. It will cover my phone bill and groceries, I should be receiving the first payment from the business start up program by the end of January. I won’t need any handouts or any social assistance after that. I may even have found a job by then.

I have made incredible progress in the face of incredible adversity. The business plan, marketing strategy and brand identity I have developed are a surefire recipe for success. Dr. Logo will be positioned as a world renowned graphic designer and a highly sought after brand strategist.

After being effectively dead for three years, I have a new love and appreciation for life and everything it encompasses. Is life just playing a cruel trick on me? To dangle all this sobriety and potential success in front of me just to take it all away again?

If I can't pay the $300 rent by Friday the 15th, I have to be moved out of here at the end of the month. I fear I may lose all of this progress I have made. It took me over two months to find this room I am renting (remember the influx of foreign students I spoke of earlier). My past friends and family will not even hear my struggles let alone help me with them.

Can someone please help me with $300 now and $650 end of month?