Miss New York: My Substance Use & Recovery Story

Can anyone truly understand the struggles of substance use disorder without hearing the stories of those affected? Meet Victoria Treadwell, the 2023 Miss New York for America Strong, whose incredible journey from growing up on a dairy farm to surviving a near-fatal overdose is both heartbreaking and inspiring. Victoria candidly shares how her introduction to heroin by a teenager on her family's farm sent her life into a downward spiral. Her story serves as a powerful reminder that addiction doesn't discriminate and underscores the urgent need to challenge the harmful stereotypes surrounding substance use disorder.

We also delve into Victoria's arduous yet triumphant path to recovery, emphasizing the irreplaceable role of genuine support systems. Listen as she recounts how true friends and supportive environments helped her overcome doubts and hardships along the way. Group meetings and rehab provided her a sense of community with others pursuing a common goal of self-improvement. Victoria's unwavering commitment to her recovery journey, academic aspirations, and pageant participation serves as a beacon of hope for many. Finally, we share valuable resources for those seeking help and encourage listeners to stay connected for future episodes. Join us in this compelling episode and discover the transformative power of resilience and support.

Transcript

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Overcoming Addiction and Finding Purpose

Isabel Byon 0:00

The New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports , or OASAS , provides this podcast as a public service . Thoughts and opinions expressed do not necessarily represent or reflect those of the agency or state . This is Addiction: The Next Step .

Jerry Gretzinger 0:21

Hey everybody , it's Jerry Gratzinger , your host of Addiction: The Next Step , the podcast brought to you by the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports . And again , thanks for checking us out here . We are on both audio and video again as we continue to expand our podcast offerings here so you can listen or watch whatever you prefer .

Jerry Gretzinger 0:40

But one of the things we're going to try to do in today's episode is address the perceptions that sometimes people have when it comes to folks who are living with substance use disorder . You know , a lot of people have this perceived notion as to who those people are . Right , I mean , they have this expectation that it'll be a certain kind of person or in a certain area of New York dealing with certain types of things in their life . And today we're going to sort of upend some of that , I think, I hope , because that sort of, you know, thinking can lead to stigma and it can be difficult to , you know , have that and encourage people then to go out and seek services and treatment . So I'm going to stop talking and let our guest chime in here , because I want to welcome Victoria Treadwell , who is here . She's right now the 2023 Miss New York for America Strong . Thanks for joining us .

Victoria Treadwell 1:29

Hi , thank you for having me .

Jerry Gretzinger 1:31

So it's great to have you here and you know , for those of you who are watching , you see she's got her sash on here for us today and if you're listening now , you're encouraged to check it out , to go online and watch it . But so I want to first let people know the title you've got when you got it and tell us that part of the story first .

Victoria Treadwell 1:55

So I grew up on a dairy farm in the middle of nowhere .

Jerry Gretzinger 1:57

Where's the middle of nowhere ?

Victoria Treadwell 1:58

Little Falls , New York .

Jerry Gretzinger 1:58

All right , People know where that is, sure .

Victoria Treadwell 2:01

Out by Utica and my parents had to sell out , unfortunately . But once we sold out , I realized that I needed to start doing something more worth my time and I wanted to be a role model . I saw how kids on Instagram were looking up to these girls who were , you know , not fully clothed and dancing , and and people were all looking for the affirmation by likes and comments and shares , and I wanted to be a positive role model and I was tired of being ashamed from my past and so I found the outlet of pageantry and I competed in my first pageant in 2022 . And I fell in love with it . I was surrounded by women who all worked hard . They all want to be better versions of themselves and I was like I need to be surrounded by these girls and so I did a pageant , thought it was done , and then I found myself wanting to compete again and I found the Mrs America organization and I was crowned in Rochester last year I believe it was June 4th .

Jerry Gretzinger 3:05

Okay .

Jerry Gretzinger 3:06

Coming up on a year .

Victoria Treadwell 3:07

Yeah , coming up on a year , and I did not believe them when they said that your year is going to fly by and it will change your life .

Jerry Gretzinger 3:15

Right

Victoria Treadwell 3:15

and it did Right .

Jerry Gretzinger 3:16

That's always a way right .

Victoria Treadwell 3:18

Absolutely , and the places I've traveled , the people I've met . It's just opened so many doors and I'm here to share my story as an overdose survivor .

Jerry Gretzinger 3:27

And that's what I wanted to get into next . So you just talked to us about the pageant journey and you said you wanted to be a role model and there's so much more that kind of led to that right . I mean , you didn't just try the pageant the first time and say , okay , this is what I want to do . It was because you had so much history about a message you wanted to share through that opportunity , and you just kind of told us that it led to an overdose . But I want to take you back so that people understand the full story . You said that you're , you grew up on a farm and , if I'm not mistaken , that's sort of where this other part of the story also started .

Victoria Treadwell 3:59

It's exactly where it started . We had a young teenage boy working on our farm . Exactly where it started . We had a young teenage boy working on our farm . Him and I were very similar in age and he kind of had that bad boy appeal that all these young , sweet , innocent girls want and every father's fear . And I of course , wanted to play with fire and I loved that thrill . And I did not know what drugs were , I didn't even know what marijuana was , I just knew that people would like smoke it at parties and I was clueless . I was this young , innocent girl in high school . I was in student council , I did drama club , I did sports , you know , I did everything . And then I let this boy think that us spending time together and bonding was doing drugs . And one day I finally let him inject heroin in my arm in a Walmart parking lot .

Jerry Gretzinger 4:52

Wow

Victoria Treadwell 4:53

and I thought that would be the last time .

Jerry Gretzinger 4:56

And how old were you at that point ?

Victoria Treadwell 4:58

I believe I was 18 , 19 years old , okay , and I was like I'll never do it again and then never do it again turned to like every two weeks , just once , and then a couple of days a week , and I was a waitress at the time too , and I was spending all my money on him just so he could go get his fix . And I didn't realize how severe his addiction was and I also didn't know that I was enabling him so long . You know , fast forward , june 26 , 2016 . I overdosed on heroin in the front seat of my car on a back road . My parents had no idea . That's the other thing .

Victoria Treadwell 5:42

Addicts or people who are experimenting with drugs , they can hide it well , and I was looking for this acceptance and I thought he was giving me the love that I was looking for and it wasn't . And I'll never forget when that state trooper looked me in the eyes after I overdosed and he goes why are you throwing your life away ? And somehow that stuck with me and I was like , oh my gosh , this is not who I am . And that's when the shame came . And I remember my dad crying , looking at me , going where did we go wrong raising you ? And the truth is they didn't do anything wrong . You know , I was just trying to fit in with the crowd .

Jerry Gretzinger 6:24

and that's you know . So you just said , and I was thinking as you've been telling the story, this is , you know , one of those examples of a young person who you know gets in with a crowd and you know is looking for acceptance , like every teenager does at that age . Right , and you find somebody who you connect with and , whether it's peer pressure or what else , you know by yourself .

Jerry Gretzinger 6:52

Would you have thought about trying experimenting with this ? Maybe not , but you did , because the situation was there and one thing led to another .

Victoria Treadwell 6:55

yeah , and they tell you it's safe , it's okay , I do it , you know , and and all . When you're that young girls want that guy to , you know sweep them off their feet , right ? Yeah , you're like oh , I have to do everything he wants me to do , and it's so not the case .

Jerry Gretzinger 7:06

All right , so that happens and you hear that from the state trooper . What was the journey like going forward ? Because you talked about you know you had him injected the one time and the one time led to two times , and then I won't do it as often and to the point where you overdosed . So , coming out of that , how, what was the journey like going forward to get yourself to a point where you're like okay , I feel like I'm in control of this and now I now I want to be somebody who can speak about it and inspire and be a role model .

Victoria Treadwell 7:34

So I had to do six months of outpatient rehab at this facility called the Beacon Center . I did it in Herkimer and there I taught . I was taught how to surround myself with people who positively influenced me , and it was hard , but I got rid of a lot of friends . I stopped partying . I don't know how I did it . I would party during the week and go to school .

Jerry Gretzinger 8:01

It's not easy . No one says it's easy right .

Victoria Treadwell 8:03

And you're just like wow . But I removed myself from these people who I realized they had no good intentions for me and I finished school . I became a surgical technologist .

Jerry Gretzinger 8:16

Good for you .

Victoria Treadwell 8:17

And I found myself when I was surrounded by these surgeons , who all have reached the highest level of education and they are superior at their fields of work , I was like I need to be someone like them and I was positively influenced by these people and one of the orthopedic surgeons I work with . He became a father figure in my life and he has been teaching me how to fly airplanes . Um , you know , he helps you do surgery like never did . I think I'd be drilling , you know , in someone's knee you know , and um .

Victoria Treadwell 8:53

I now work for a world-renowned endoscopic spine surgeon as well ,

Jerry Gretzinger 8:56

that's great

Victoria Treadwell 8:57

and these people just they make you want to push your boundaries

Jerry Gretzinger 9:02

you're being inspired , like you're hoping to do to others to others

Journey to Recovery and Success

Jerry Gretzinger 9:06

.

Victoria Treadwell 9:06

I want people to you know it's okay to let go of the people who you think are your friends , but you'll find out the people who are your true friends will stick by your side and support you and , you know , encourage you to be the best of yourself .

Jerry Gretzinger 9:19

So you know I said a minute ago when you were saying how it was , it was difficult . I said nobody says it's easy . And it's true because you know you start that journey , you know in treatment , hoping to get to recovery , and it is . It involves work and I'm sure at the time you must've thought to yourself I don't know if I can do this , is this really worth it ? Talk about that piece of it and then when you came around to say yeah , it's worth it .

Victoria Treadwell 9:48

I try to remind myself and stay humble , because I now know what rock bottom feels like . I know what it's like to be alone and feel that no one loves me and to feel so ashamed and like my invasion of privacy was taken away . My parents , you know , I'm 19 , 20 years old and I have to give my phone up at 8 pm , you know , and I have to tell them where I'm going , and I had people tweet about me . I know Twitter doesn't exist anymore , but I had people

Jerry Gretzinger 10:15

some version of it .

Victoria Treadwell 10:16

Some version and , and you know , on Facebook they all talked about me and it was embarrassing , but then I realized that going to these group meetings and rehab , being surrounded by people who were trying to better themselves , it really it helped me . You know , be like it's okay , like we're all going through something and it doesn't matter what you look like . I can tell you , in rehab there was people my age and there was people in their seventies and they all had different lines of work and you know , we all had different backgrounds and we all have a little bit of different stories , but we're all trying to get to the same goal of being healthy and , you know , bettering ourselves .

Jerry Gretzinger 10:58

Yeah , and that's what we want to encourage . You know , you talked about feeling ashamed , and one of the things that we really hope to encourage people with is that we don't want people to feel ashamed when they're seeking treatment , when they're looking to start that road to recovery . We want to cheer them on and root them on , because it's a long journey , it's a tough road , but our tagline is every step of the way . That's our slogan , because we want to be there for people every step of the way , and I want to thank you , Victoria , for being here for this step along the way , because what you're saying , what you've lived through , what you've experienced , hopefully people will hear that and say you know what . She's right . I'm going to do this , too , and I'm going to make a phone call and I'm going to start that journey .

Victoria Treadwell 11:40

Start it my plan originally when I met with a counselor was three months but I had to do six months and it's okay . And then , once you graduate from rehab , you kind of start finding yourself and you have to put the inner work in . I'm still putting the work in what , seven years later now ? And that's why I'm here . I'm here to heal , but I'm also here to help and know that it's so worth it .

Jerry Gretzinger 12:04

Yeah , recovery , not a destination , right , it's a continuing journey .

Victoria Treadwell 12:08

Exactly .

Jerry Gretzinger 12:09

So I want to get back to what's next for you . I know we were talking you've got until June , right , and so what's the future hold for Victoria ?

Victoria Treadwell 12:20

So the future holds ? Graduating from the University of Albany with my bachelor's in sociology , my goal actually is to either go to physician assistant school or anesthesia assistant school . I haven't decided yet , but I , you know , I work in healthcare now and I want to continue that and I want patients to feel like people and I feel like that's so important . And then I am handing up my crown June 2nd and then I'm competing for a different Miss New York title at the end of June .

Jerry Gretzinger 12:49

Great .

Victoria Treadwell 12:50

You know , it's not about the title that you get . One girl's going to get that title at the end of the day . It's the work that you put in , knowing that you put that in and meeting new friends , and I can't wait to see all the women that I haven't seen in years . But we all , you know , kind of hype each other up over the years on social media and I also just love getting glammed .

Jerry Gretzinger 13:11

And I got to tell you , if you are listening and not watching , you're missing the sparkle in her eye when she's talking about this process and I just I think it's so great . Again , you shared the story of where you were , what you went through to kind of to get back to where you are right now , and I think it's an encouragement for everybody . You know you can be in a similar position . I mean , you're graduating from UAlbany , you're going to be , you know , competing yet again and looking forward to that . So that's great . That is a tremendous message and , again , we're so thankful that you were here to share it with us .

Victoria Treadwell 13:43

Thank you for having me . This is I'm so happy to be

Addiction Treatment Information and Contact

Victoria Treadwell 13:45

here .

Jerry Gretzinger 13:45

Keep us posted on how things go with the next competition , all right .

Victoria Treadwell 13:49

Will do .

Jerry Gretzinger 13:49

All right and good luck , Victoria Treadwell , everybody joining us here on Addiction: the Next Step . I want to let you know , too , if you are looking for treatment or you're looking for a facility that can help , or any type of services at all , or have questions . You can obviously go to our website , oasas dot N-Y dot G-O-V oasas . ny . gov . You can also find us on social media . Just look for O-A-S-A-S and we will be there , and we will be here for the next episode , which we certainly hope you will check out . I'm Jerry Gretzinger . We'll talk to you soon .