Shoal Creek... A Pain in the A**

Shoal Creek for Detox.  Wow, what a place. 

Now that song tells it all.  My brother and my daughter admitted me to Shoal Creek for detox.  Now remember that I hadn't had a drink in two days at this point.  It was about 9:30 p.m. when we got there.  The main thing that I remember is that they kept asking me what day it was.  Hell, I had been writing the date on every piece of paper that they had put before me, but they kept on asking.  They finally got me though, because one of the last times they asked me, it was after midnight, so it was the next day. I had kept saying 11-9-2010, but it was finally 11-10-2010.
Well, my brother and daughter finally left me there at the hospital.  It was about 2 in the morning.  At that time, I got the first shot of vitamins.  I had to take the shot in the butt.  It felt like they were sticking me with pure fire.  That son of a gun hurt.
More about Shoal Creek.  I was in a ward with about 15 other people.  Most of them were really coming off some hard drugs.  One guy was laying in the hallway when we got there.  He was later throwing chairs all around.  Turns out he was coming off of oxicotton.  Real heavy doses. 
The others were walking around in pretty much of a daze.  Bruised and battered for the most part.  I was getting my first taste of what it was like being around a real drug addict.
Played some dominoes with  some of them.  Kind of crazy playing dominoes with people that are spaced out.  Never know what is coming next. 
The last night that I was there we were playing dominoes real late.  I have forgotten to tell you that the common area was open 24 hours a day.  You could make coffee, but after noon all you could make was decaf.  Ok.  Well that night, we decided to make some more coffee and it was after 11 at night.  The night attendent said that we couldn't make decaff after 10 at night.  I asked why and he just said because.
The next 30 days I would hear that a lot.  It didn't have to make sense, it was just because.

I got to Shoal Creek late on a Tuesday, on Wednesday night much to my protests, I find out that I was going to inpatient rehab the next day out in Wimberley, Texas.  God's country.  Like Rodney Atkins sings, If you're going through hell, keep on going. 

Mike