Summary: Our show today will focus on how families are affected by the disease of addiction and how understanding that it is a brain disease can be help eliminate the shame and guilt that are often barriers to treatment. Sheryl has been married for 41 years, a retired middle school science teacher,. Born in Australia and grew up in New Jersey. I was a stay at home mom, working from my house so that I could be with my boys while they were growing up. It wasn't until they were older that I worked outside of the home When Scott was 17, he was offered a hit of cocaine by his bandmates and it was all downhill from there. He was instantly hooked. In 1986, crack cocaine was just coming into prominence and I would have long talks with both of my boys about the dangers of this drug. I read all I could about it and passed the information along to my boys, telling them what I had learned. One of the things I learned was that in some people, the very first hit of cocaine can kill you.
