A decade ago, Ken Lewis almost lost his arm to an intravenous (IV) drug addiction. Twice he developed cysts in his veins that exploded in the hospital. When he came out of surgery the doctor prescribed painkillers. So he traded his meth and heroin for the prescribed opiates.
"I was at my wit's end. I mean I was mentally gone, dead," he says. "Spiritually, I didn't believe in a god. Emotionally, didn't realize I was hurting people or hurting myself. Physically, I probably should've been dead."
A judge finally ordered Lewis to rehab. He went to Native American Connections. Indian Rehab, as it's called, is an old two-story house in the middle of downtown Phoenix.
"The lady behind the desk came out and she gave me this big old hug. And inside I'm cussing her out," he says. "And she told me, 'it's going to be OK.' And I was more mad because nobody told me that in a long time. I hadn't heard those words. People gave up on me."
The recovery program combines western practices like the 12-steps with traditional indigenous healing ceremonies. Lewis, an Akimel O'odham member, says the God talk didn't work. It was the sweat lodge that gave him the hope he so desperately needed.
[For more of this story, written by Laurel Morales, go to http://www.npr.org/2015/05/20/...ffects-of-heroin-use]
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