Rehab Mike: A Journey to Sobriety
This is my daily account of life inside rehab—the wins, the withdrawals, and everything in between.
My Journey to Recovery
Don’t let the scenery fool you. While the photos might suggest a fancy getaway, the reality is far from a vacation. My days are a 12.5-hour marathon of emotional and mental labor. From 8:00 AM to 8:30 PM, I am locked into a relentless schedule of intensive therapy, group sessions, and AA meetings. There are no “days off” here; it’s a full-time job where the work is rebuilding a life from the ground up, one grueling hour at a time.
I’ll be posting daily updates to take you along with me, but because the work here is deeply personal and confidential, there are things I won’t be able to share on the internet. I’ll give you everything I can, while keeping the “inner work” where it belongs.
Welcome to My Daily Rehab Blog
Day 14: Building Community and Support
Morning I woke up at my usual time, but I was still a little sore from the previous day and we had an early start day so I would have to rush my regular morning routine, so I decided to sleep in until 6:45am and call it a rest day from the gym. 2nd Street AA...
Day 13: SMART Meeting
Morning I woke up at my usual time, but I was still a little sore from the previous day and we had an early start day so I would have to rush my regular morning routine, so I decided to sleep in until 6:45am and call it a rest day from the gym. 2nd Street AA...
Day 12: Smashed
Got up early and did the usual routine. Started to add lifting weights into my gym routine. Attended a zoom AA meeting in the morning. Mom and Barney came to visit at 9am. Went to the Crown Point AA meeting. In the afternoon, we focused on Internal Family Systems...
Day 11: Hiking and Visits
Same morning routine. My sister came to visit at 9am. We took the Druggy Buggy (its a Kia Carnival minivan) up to Three Sisters Falls going the back way - 8 miles of badly maintained dirt roads. Did some hiking and head back down to the Villa through Julian. It was...
Day 10: AA vs SMART
Woke up just after 3am and couldn't get back to sleep. Took a lot of effort to get to the gym and do a mile on the treadmill and sauna. Sad day in the house... the other guy has left the villa this morning. We had a good session going over the difference between AA...
Day 9: The Anonymous People
I got 3 miles on the treadmill in the morning before my first meeting. Today is the last day for the other guy at the Villa. It's exciting for him, but very sad for the rest of us; but we pan to keep in touch and meet up once I'm in PHP. That brings it down to just 3...
Day 8: Post 30 Days Planning
Slept great again. Woke up at 5am had some coffee. I had 2 loads of laundry to do and then hit the gym and sauna. Got my laundry folded and hung up right away. We had a calmer/slower yoga session that matches the vibes of the morning - it was raining. I met with my...
Day 7: Cognitive Distortions
The new medications worked great. I fell right asleep last night and didn't wake up throughout the night or have night terrors. Went to the gym and sauna before breakfast. Throughout the day we worked on hacking "feel good" hormone, talked about cognitive...
Day 6: Stages of Recovery
4:30 AM Once again, despite the copious amount of drugs they have me on including 2 Tramadol, Vistaril, Gabapentin and Valium before bedtime, I had trouble going to sleep, staying asleep, and was wide awake at just after 4am. I went down stairs for some coffee but...
Day 5: Beach and Visitors
4:00 AM Despite the copious amount of drugs they have me on including 2 tramadol, Vistaril, Gabapentin and Valium before bedtime, I had trouble going the sleep and was wide awake at just before 4am. I read for an hour in bed and worked on getting caught up on my blog...