First there is Melanie

Her personality is vibrant.
And she carries herself like someone used to attention.
She’s also not afraid to speak first.
“You ask the questions and we’ll answer them,” she said.
Her chin had been raised slightly – it told anyone watching ‘don’t mess with us and we won’t mess with you.’
Melanie Beardy is one of five women attempting to kick their addiction to oxycodone or oxy, a narcotic used to relieve pain. It produces an opiate-like effect similar to morphine.
It was their first week in the Mamow Against Drugs Healing Program – a community project driven by the sheer will of a small group of Kitchenuhmaykoosib members.
Most of the women are still going through withdrawal five days into treatment.
The Chekebesh Youth Centre is providing a temporary home to the community’s healing program.
Beardy is 29 and mother to four – two boys and two girls, the oldest being 13.
She went into treatment Jan. 3.
“I was using at least half an 80-milligram (tablet) a day or more,” she later shared about her addiction to oxy.
Beardy needed the drug to function. It was the first thing she reached for when she woke in the morning. It was something she snorted between one and four times a day.
Her addiction also demanded a heavy payment that had nothing to do with money.
“Oh my God,” she says, “it affected my kids emotionally, physically, spiritually.
“I wasn’t there to nurture them. I wasn’t there to comfort them when they cried.
“I don’t even remember the last time I lay down with them to read a book.
“I’ve neglected them and neglected their feelings.”
Beardy is quiet for a few moments.
“I was a good mother before oxy,” she continues, “I thought more about my family than myself. I was a good employee and now … .”
She trails off and gazes out of a small window to her left. Her hands clasp and rest on her lap. Her near topaz coloured irises catch the light and seem to brighten.
“I broke a lot of bonds between my family and work. It’s like I don’t care about them. I care more about myself and the next fix I need to get.”
She stops and smiles.
“I didn’t care about anybody except myself,” she continues.
“I just needed that next fix just to function. And once I did get that I looked for another one. That’s how bad it was.”
Beardy sold all her personal possessions to feed her habit.
Her home doesn’t have furniture.
She spent at least $300 each day and didn’t pay her bills.
All of her income went into keeping a steady flow of oxy.
Beardy started out as a dealer. It’s how she got used to having oxy when she wanted it.
“I dealt probably four or five times a year. I started dealing early and when I first started I wasn’t really into them. I occasionally took a line here and there but when I started dealing, I started doing more and more.”
Beardy wants to end her addiction to oxys for her children.
She wants to change her life.
And she willingly suffered to begin her new life.
The fourth day into treatment, Beardy’s withdrawal symptoms kicked in.
“It was horrible,” she says.
The physical pain burrowed deep into her bones making it impossible to sleep. The restlessness she experienced only added to the exhaustion. And then she cried.
“Everything just came to me. I wanted to go home. Everything started to be clear to me.”
That’s when Beardy realized what her addiction had taken from her.