I Had A Degree And A Career While Secretly Addicted To Fentanyl - Rise Above with Kevin Lanning | Lyssna här

On paper, Ava Garcia was the kid who had it together — straight-A student, captain of the varsity basketball team, an artist, the responsible firstborn. Underneath it, she was raising herself in the chaos of two parents in active addiction, competing for attention with a younger brother who needed all of it, and by 13 she was already using. She sold Xanax to fund an opioid habit while keeping her grades near-perfect, convinced that as long as she was checking every box, she couldn't really be an addict.

Ava's story is a decade-plus odyssey that most people wouldn't believe: opioids that gave way to a ten-year battle with an eating disorder running in parallel, a chapter living abroad in Israel with a partner deep in his own addiction, alcohol that took over at the end, and a series of treatment centers and relapses. She's remarkably, sometimes darkly funny about it — but she doesn't flinch from the hardest parts, including the night she nearly lost her life and the rock bottom that followed.

What finally turned it was a moment of total desperation, a prayer, and a phone call she describes as nothing short of a miracle — her mother showing up at her door to take her to treatment. Now four years sober, Ava has her life, her health, and herself back, and she's using her story to reach the people who are still where she was.

This is a raw, honest, and ultimately hopeful reminder that no one is too far gone.