Addiction in Carson City: a mother’s story of heartbreak, and a daughter’s struggle for recovery

Miranda grew up in Carson City, went to Carson High School, lived a normal childhood. She is the second oldest of four siblings, and grew up with loving parents. But her life changed forever when she became addicted to drugs.

Her mother, Kristi, has been fighting to keep her daughter alive since then, facing numerous near-death scares.

While Miranda and Kristi’s story is heartbreaking, it’s unfortunately not rare. According to Samantha Szoyka from Partnership Carson City, every year in Nevada, a Youth Risk Behavior Survey is conducted through UNR CASAT and the Nevada coalitions.

The following statistics are for high schoolers in Carson City:

- In 2017, 5.1 percent of students say they have tried heroin sometime in their life.
- 15.5 percent of students said they have tried prescription pills without a doctor’s prescription.
- 4.7 percent of students said they have injected any kind of drug sometime in their life.

According to the National Institute on Health, 72-88 percent of all opioid users (which includes heroin users) relapse within 12-36 months of getting clean.

“People don’t want to talk about addiction, and they want to hide it,” said Kristi. “There’s a lot of stigma associated with it. It’s easy to assume drug addicts are homeless, they’ve never worked a job, they don’t have good families; I just want people to know that it’s normal, it needs to be talked about and it can happen to anyone.”

Miranda had medical issues as a child, and doctors would give her codeine because she was so small and in so much pain, said Kristi. She hadn't shown addictive tendencies toward the medicine while growing up.

However, when she got into high school, Kristi learned she had started getting Oxycodone pills from someone at school.

“It all started in someone’s parent’s medicine cabinet,” said Kristi. “I was naive to drugs and I was naive about the way drugs have changed since I was young.”

Kristi was in a lot of denial. She thought, "my daughter wouldn’t do that." They took proper steps and put her in counseling.

“After, she seemed fine, so we thought everything was fine. We brushed it under the rug, no big deal, end of story.”

Miranda got through high school, but seemed to be hiding things, and was engaging in self destructive behaviors. She was hanging out with friends who dabbled in meth and other drugs.

One of her friends, who was younger, got in trouble and was sent away. At this point, Miranda was 18.

“It spiraled out of control in our home,” said Kristi. “She’d leave, use drugs and come home. We got her into a two week program in Carson City, and she wasn’t willing to go but we told her if she didn’t go she couldn’t stay with us.”

Kristi, like most parents, had no idea how to handle her daughter’s addiction, or what signs to look for.

“I was clueless. I hadn’t had any counseling on that sort of thing. Life was crazy, I had younger kids, my husband and I both work full time. We thought it would be enough.”

However, when she got out of the two week program, she didn’t follow through staying in a recovery program, but she was doing good — for a while. She met a boy, they got together, she became pregnant.

As far as Kristi knows, during that point, Miranda was clean for three years.

“She was doing good,” said Kristi. “She went to WNC and took classes and became a CNA. She had her baby in 2015. When the baby was almost a year, I started noticing things. She wasn’t coming around as much, I wasn’t being invited over as much. She started working two jobs as a CNA at two different places, including a night job.”

During this time, Kristi said, her boyfriend wasn’t working because he’d lost his job. Miranda told Kristi he was sick all the time, and couldn’t work.

Miranda began working more and more to support her family. Finally, she lost one of her jobs but kept working the second overnight. They kept switching her hours, said Kristi, and Miranda suffered sleep deprivation.


“I think she was looking for a way to stay awake,” said Kristi. “I think that’s how it all started.”

When she didn’t contact Kristi for days at a time, she knew something was off.

“We finally found out she was doing heroin,” said Kristi. “The boyfriend had had a problem with heroin before and had gotten through it, and had been clean for a long time, but now both of them were using.”

Kristi had to make what she said is the most difficult decision of her life: She had to go to court and take their baby away from them.

“It was crazy the way things were spiraling,” she said. “When he was 20 months we took custody and we’ve had him ever since.”

Miranda and her boyfriend would try to come around and visit at first, but it was inconsistent and stressful. They were always late, would make excuses.

“Up until last year, the hardest thing I ever had to do was take their baby away from them,” said Kristi. “Heroin does things to people, it’s not who they are. She said terrible things to me, and all I could think was, ‘this isn’t my girl.’”

Kristi wouldn’t let them see the baby anymore once it got to a point where it became negative for him. Soon after, they were evicted from their home.

“I saw the inside of their house, and I couldn’t believe the things I saw inside of that house,” said Kristi. “They had a car at some point, but they lost it. They stole a car, and left town. We had very limited contact after that.”

Miranda and her boyfriend went to Sacramento in the stolen car. They were caught. The boyfriend was driving, was arrested and went to jail.

Miranda, having nowhere to go, and no one to turn to, was out on the streets.

“I would do my best, I was driving myself crazy trying to find her, trying to make sure she was okay,” said Kristi. “It’s so hard as a parent knowing your child is out on the streets, with nothing, no friends.”

Miranda met someone who became a friend, and he made sure she had a place to stay, had clothes, could shower, eat, but he didn’t enable her drug use. He’s still a family friend today, said Kristi.

“She finally got ahold of me around Christmas and asked if she could come home. We told her what she needed to do, and she couldn’t.”

For addicts, it’s not something they don’t want to do, said Kristi, it’s something that they can’t do because of their addiction.

“I sent her messages constantly, telling her how much I loved her. I tried to encourage her to get help, to come home and be with her baby.”

Miranda didn’t come home for Christmas.

By February, it had been a year since Miranda had seen her baby, which to Kristi, was heartbreaking. At that point, the baby didn’t know either one of his parents.

“I kept trying to find her,” said Kristi. “I messaged friends. She’d go back and forth from Sacramento to Reno, and people would let me know sometimes when they’d see her. There were things she was doing that were heartbreaking for me to find out. The way (addicts) live, I don’t know how they do it. I don’t know how they can choose the drug all day long, all night long. It’s all they do.”

On April 19 of 2018, Kristi received a message from a friend of Miranda’s who said Miranda was in the ICU at UC Davis.

She was able to find out Miranda was suffering from an infection.

“I didn’t know if I should go or not,” said Kristi. “I was very cautious about it, I didn’t know if she wanted me there. My coworkers encouraged me to go, because if something happened and I didn’t go, I’d regret it.”

Kristi’s oldest daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend drove her to UC Davis.

She had no idea what she was walking into, but what she found in the hospital room ripped her world apart.

“I went in and saw her and I was appalled by what she looked like,” said Kristi, who appeared visibly shaken by the memory. “Her skin was peeling off her face. She was so tiny, she was just skin and bones.”

Miranda was in the ICU for an infection she’d had from the needle use in her arm. They cleaned it out, said Kristi, and they thought everything was okay; that she was going to be okay.

Kristi stayed with Miranda through the first night and noticed her daughter’s breathing was labored and didn’t seem right. A nurse said she was detoxing, it was normal, and that she was just fighting the infection. She was moved out of the ICU to continue her detox.

Kristi gave her Gatorade while the nurses pumped her small body with fluids. Her husband arrived the next day, and Kristi kept telling the nurses something was very wrong.

The next night, Kristi and her husband got a hotel room nearby, but were woken at 1 a.m. by the hospital. They said she had been moved back to the ICU because her blood pressure had dropped dangerously low.

Later that night, she had had to be intubated, which is the process of putting a breathing tube into the mouth, through the throat and into the lungs. They found out she was suffering from full blown sepsis in her system.

“At that point, they couldn’t even tell us she was going to make it,” said Kristi. “Her lungs and blood were infected. Her body was shutting down, and she was swelled up like a balloon from the fluids. She was knocked out for two days. We had no idea if she was going to live or die.”

After two days, she woke up.

“She was on the ventilator, awake,” said Kristi. “It was horrifying. She wanted to pull it out. It was terrifying. She’s a small girl, only 120 pounds normally, but with the fluids, she weighed almost 200 pounds.”

During the first few days, Miranda suffered panic attacks caused by the withdrawals.

“Panic attacks are horrifying to watch,” said Kristi. “I thought she was going to die, it was terrifying. But the staff at UC Davis was amazing.”

Miranda stayed in the hospital for six weeks on IV antibiotics.

“Aside from taking her baby away from her being the hardest thing I ever had to endure was seeing her in the ICU hooked up to life saving machines,” said Kristi. “When I found out she had been put on the ventilator I fell to my knees crying and praying to God to save my baby girl.  Speaking with her doctors the days during and after her days on the machine, they couldn’t give me any idea of whether she would live or die.”

Miranda had 5 teams of doctors who specialized in different area of her care. She was diagnosed with sepsis, which lead to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).

The mortality rate for someone in the condition she was in is very high.

During the six weeks at the hospital, she still wasn’t getting better. She kept getting fevers, so they had to figure out what else was going on.

Soon after, Kristi was told the tricuspid valve in Miranda’s heart was infected. She had her first open heart surgery the day before her birthday to replace the valve with a pig valve.

“They kept telling her, you cannot do this again,” said Kristi. “If you go back to the drugs, you will die.”

She stayed in the hospital for another month.

Afterwards, she came home to a local nursing home for rehab because she was on a PICC line (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) for her antibiotics. A PICC line is a hollow tube inserted into the vein for long term IV use.

The weekend before the fourth of July, she ended up in ICU at Carson Tahoe for another infection. Toward the end of July, she was sent back to UC Davis.

On Aug. 8, she had her second open heart surgery where her valve was replaced with CorMatrix ECM Tricuspid Heart Valve, which is an experimental valve that only a handful of people in the world have.

They told her again, if you go back to drugs you will die, said Kristi.

She came home, was taken off the PICC line, off the IV. Everything seemed like it would be fine, and that they had left her problems with addiction in the past.

But that wasn't the case.

“She went back to using,” said Kristi. “She was using while in the nursing home. It was disastrous.”

Kristi and her husband had bought Miranda a tablet so she had something to do while in the nursing facility. She said she wanted to share her story, to let people know what addiction had done to her. So, they got her a tablet to start writing her story.

“One day, she left her messenger open, and I saw the messages.”

People had been delivering her drugs to the rehab facility that she had once worked for as a CNA.

“She began going to counseling, began going to meetings,” said Kristi. “I thought she was doing better. She was staying with her grandmother at that point, because we wouldn’t let her back in the house because of the baby. He was very confused.”

Once again, she went into a rehabilitation in-patient program in Carson City, where things went sidways.

“She almost died in the rehab in Carson City because they gave her too much of a medication and she overdosed,” said Kristi. “She was terrified. I thought that would be it. She thought she was going to die, and now things would change.”

In the months that followed, Kristi thought she was fine and doing great.

However, by December Kristi had a feeling something was off. At that point, Miranda had been welcomed back into the home so she could be with the family and her son.

Soon after, however, signs began appearing that things weren’t as they appeared.

“She was leaving a lot, she didn’t really want to be around her son,” said Kristi. “We finally figured out she was doing it in our home. She was on so many medications, heart medication, blood pressure; at least 20 bottles worth of medicine designed to keep her alive. I was terrified she was going to mix something and she would die. I was doing everything I could do to help her, but I could only do so much.”

They decided to get through Christmas for the sake of the family, and for Miranda’s son.

However, on Christmas Eve, Kristi’s husband confronted her, she said, and told her, “Your mom has a feeling you’re using in the house,” but Miranda swore she wasn’t using.

“I could smell her cooking it,” said Kristi. “I was fed up, and she knew it. We waited so we could get through Christmas.”

The day after Christmas, she disappeared.

However, things began to change for the better. In mid January, she said she was looking for rehab facilities to get into.

“She finally contacted me and said she was detoxing on a bus to Arizona,” said Kristi. “Even still, I know she ended up getting something while she was out there because she couldn’t do without.”

She was on her way to stay with her high school friend in Arizona who had gotten sent away years before. She had gotten clean and sober and had put her life back together.

“She called and said she didn’t know if what she was doing was the right thing,” said Kristi. “At this point, her mind was exploding, she felt like crap, but she was lucid enough to ask me for help.”

Miranda felt uncomfortable about staying with her friend, she said, because she wanted to control everything. Her friend told her when Miranda got there she would take her money, drive her to and from counseling meetings, and keep watch over her at all times.

“I told her if it didn’t feel right, don’t do it,” said Kristi.

Kristi told her to get a bus ticket to Las Vegas, which had been the original goal to get to Las Vegas Mission to undergo rehab.

“She had taken the medication she knew would keep her alive,” said Kristi. “It’s interesting, the hospital kept her on Ativan to keep her calm and to help her sleep, but you can’t help an addict by giving them another chemical to alter their brain. All she took with her was her heart medication, her baby aspirin, her blood pressure medicine, the things she really needed to stay alive. It’s funny, they know what they need to stay alive even in their altered state.”

Miranda got to Arizona, and got a ticket to take her back up to Las Vegas.

Kristi was able to get her into the West Care Facility in Las Vegas on a Friday night. They took her in, but her insurance would only take her for three days.

“I called everyone in Vegas all weekend to find her a bed,” said Kristi. “I left so many messages. I was praying to God someone would call me back and tell me they had a bed.”

On Monday morning, Miranda called Kristi and said they had released her and she had nowhere to go. She was back on the street.

Kristi was panicked. The facility should have facilitated getting her into another program, but Miranda said they’d told her her insurance had run out, and that was that.

“A friend had bought her a bus ticket to come home, and I told her, you cannot come home. You have to do this,” said Kristi. “She started making excuses, and I knew it was because she was sick from detoxing and felt terrible.”

Kristi got a message from Salvation Army, who said they were actually doing intake that very day and they had a bed open.

Kristi tried to get ahold of Miranda, but she wasn’t answering any of her calls. Kristi thought she had lost her again.

“Finally, she called me and said she had missed her bus, and she thought she’d done it on purpose because now she was stuck and had nowhere to go,” said Kristi. “The Salvation Army took her in. I thanked God for saving her.”

Miranda is still in the program at the Salvation Army in Las Vegas currently, and is set to graduate in July.

At first, it was difficult for her. For the first few weeks, she wanted to leave, but they helped her through it. At one point, said Kristi, someone came into the facility with heroin, and it was very difficult for Miranda. But she stayed strong, and the person was caught and kicked out. They have to work 40 hours a week in their stores as a part of the free, working program.

“She’s able to go out now,” said Kristi. “There’s a 30 day lockdown period where they can’t leave or make phone calls. After that they can call people, and we can write letters to her. Now she has to go out two days a week to go to a meeting. She attends five meetings a week, three in the facility, two outside the facility. If she stays for phase two, they’ll pay for her schooling, which would be great. But she wants to come home and be with her son now.”

For Miranda, the health issues haven’t stopped. She’s been in and out of the hospital at UC Davis while in treatment in Las Vegas, one time was because she was suffering from sepsis again.

“You think once they’re on their death bed, that’s it,” said Kristi. “I have a hard time fathoming it. I think it’s different for someone who overdoses and is brought back. There’s no pain, no terror that comes with having a heart attack. They don’t feel it. But she felt all of it, the sepsis, the machines, the tubes. I can still hear all the machines even now. I’ve learned a lot through all of this. She was on heroin for a little over a year. I can’t wrap my head around people who have been on it for 10 years, 20 years, chasing this drug every day.”

Kristi’s goal now is to help kids to stay away from it.

“I’ve become a lot more compassionate toward addicts,” said Kristi. “I used to be one of those people who said, ‘Oh my god that junkie. Why can’t they take care of their children?’ And honestly I still do say, ‘How can you choose this drug over this little baby,’ but now that I’ve gone through it, I know it’s more involved than that.”

Miranda is still fighting for her life. Doctors found a sack of fluid behind her heart that will need to be operated on at some time in the future to drain it. But she’s doing better, said Kristi, she’s just very tired.

“It takes a long time for their body to overcome the addiction, let alone open heart surgery and sepsis.”

Kristi is still very cautious about letting Miranda back into her home with her son.

“I want to say I would let her back in if she came home, but I think she has a lot of proving to do.”

Her advice for parents now?

“It’s hard on working parents. I’ve got four children of my own, and now her son as well. As a working parent its hard to stay that involved when they get older. I’d say watch for signs that are out of the normal. The fact that Miranda wasn’t contacting me, that she stayed away when, normally, we’re really close — those were the signs. The signs for us was that she was staying away a lot, not making contact, and coming up with crazy stories. A lot of those signs now are in hindsight. As a parent you want to believe them, they’re your children, you don’t want to think they’d lie to you. But as an addict, they’re always lying. But they can grow out of it, as I think Miranda is.”

Miranda’s son is doing well with Kristi, but at some point, she hopes Miranda will be able to be a mother once more.

“When we first got her son, we were very worried the court would place him back with them while they were still using as long as they were hiding their addiction,” said Kristi. “I fought so hard. I had to start all over, since my children are older. Then it was suddenly back to diapers, daycare, preschool. I was terrified they would take him away from us. But (Miranda and her boyfriend) took care of it themselves by being inconsistent. If they want custody of him, they’ll have to go through the Ron Wood Center and supervised visits, and that won’t be happening anytime soon.”

“I do want her to be able to get him back and take care of him. I consider him my child, my kids consider him their sibling. They all fight like siblings. He’s been with us longer than his parents had him. I get sad when I think about that, and that he can’t have both of his parents in his life.”

As far as how much her other children understand about what Miranda has gone through, Kristi said they now know. Her son, who is now in high school, had a difficult time handling his sister’s addiction. He was angry.

“My son is adamant about staying away from drugs,” said Kristi. “He doesn’t even like to take over the counter medicine.”

They tried to hide it as much as they could from their youngest daughter for a time, but after Miranda was placed in the ICU, they had to discuss it with all of their children.

“They’re mad at her,” said Kristi. “But they did go to Sacramento and see her when she was sick.”

Miranda’s struggles have been a lesson to all of her siblings, said Kristi.

“I do worry about my youngest daughter because she reminds me so much of Miranda, and she’s having self-esteem issues now that she’s becoming a teenager. It’s scary to think about.”

According to Szoyka: “A couple signs that parents should look for would be skipping school, lowered grades, borrowing or stealing money, loss of appetite, not wanting to be around people and not caring at all.”

If you or someone you know is looking for resources to help with addiction, the Life Change Center in Carson City is focused on medically assisted treatment for adults and they also offering counseling for adults and youth.

“The Life Change Center has a 75 percent success rate on helping people get off of opioids compared to the national average which is 55 percent,” said Szoyka.

As far as parents becoming educated or wanting support on their children’s addictions, Kristi said that Partnership Carson City will be reinstating support classes for those dealing with a loved one’s addiction.

For the time being, Miranda remains in treatment, and Kristi remains hopeful her daughter will finally be able to overcome her addiction and return to her life.

If you are looking for information or resources on addiction, call Partnership Carson City at (775) 841-4730