02/13/2026
💥 From Surgery to the ICU to Advocacy: My Recovery Story 💥
I’m a disabled Army veteran, and in 2015, a surgery for a service-related injury changed my life.
Not because of the procedure itself — but because I developed an opioid addiction during recovery. I didn’t choose addiction. It happened quietly, like it does for millions. I was in pain, and no one told me there were safer options.
But when I found my way out… I decided to make it mean something.
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💡 I turned my pain into purpose.
I became a Certified Addiction Recovery Coach, and I founded a nonprofit called Setbacks to Comebacks to provide free recovery and life coaching to people and families impacted by addiction.
A few years later, I connected with Voices for Nonopioid Choices — and got involved in national advocacy to make sure others don’t fall into the same trap I did.
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📢 One of my proudest moments?
➡️ Helping advocate for the NoPain Act, a bipartisan law that expands access to non-opioid pain management options.
So many surgeries are planned, but pain care conversations still get skipped. The NoPain Act opens the door for education, alternatives, and real choice.
Visit: https://nonopioidchoices.org/resources
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⚠️ But recently, my world flipped again.
I had an emergency surgery. There was no time to prepare, no plan. I woke up in the ICU after two surgeries, in extreme pain… and realized I had been given morphine and fentanyl — again.
As a person in recovery, it was terrifying.
But this time, I knew how to speak up. I worked with my doctors. I tracked my meds. I communicated clearly. I began reducing doses and eventually switched to Tylenol in between. 💊
Every provider who walked into my room?
💬 Became an opportunity to educate about the NoPain Act and point them to the Voices website.
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🌱 This is what recovery looks like now:
✔️ Advocating for veterans and women like me
✔️ Helping pass smart pain care policies
✔️ Sharing my experience with providers, nonprofits, and families
✔️ Building partnerships with groups like FAN (Families Against Narcotics) and America’s Warrior Partnership
✔️ Creating free tools like my trauma-informed recovery journal
✔️ Offering free coaching through Setbacks to Comebacks
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🗣️ I’m here to say: You are not alone. If you have any recovery needs contact me with my information below.
If you’re a clinic, veteran org, court system, or community partner and want to work together — I’d love to connect.
📬 [email protected]
🔗 www.setbacks-to-come-backs.com
📎 Non-Opioid Resources: https://Nonopioid choices.org/resources
📎 Free Therapy Journal: https://www.setbacks-to-come-backs.com/journal
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“You’re not broken. You’re becoming.”
— Kimberly Robbins, Veteran | Peer Recovery Coach | Founder, Setbacks to Comebacks