Reaching out: Hingham resident survived his own struggle with addiction and is now helping others

July 11, 2019 By Carol Britton Meyer

This is the second story in a series sharing different perspectives about how the current opiate crisis affects our town and ways people with ties to Hingham are reaching out to others to provide support and help to those who are fighting substance abuse disorder.

Michael Cavallo, who grew up and lives in Hingham, struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for 20 years.

After seemingly endless years of chasing his next high, suffering from acute withdrawal symptoms, emergency room visits, more than 30 detox efforts, numerous recovery attempts, and even jail time, he finally came out on top.

Cavallo is now sharing his message of hope with others, in large part through his music.  “This is an epidemic. When you’re struggling with addiction you think it will never end, but I would say from my own experience, ‘Keep on trying.’ A little bit of willingness goes a long way,” he said. “Despite feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, shame, and remorse [and regardless of what’s happened in your past], YOU ARE WORTH IT. When I say that to people struggling with addiction, their eyes often light up and I see a glimmer of hope. It’s one day, or event, one moment at a time when you’re in recovery.”

Affects all walks of life

Statistics show that the current opioid crisis is affecting people from all walks of life, regardless of their age, economic status, background, or address -- including residents of Hingham, Cohasset, Hull, and the entire South Shore.

In Hingham alone, there were nine overdoses -- two of them fatal -- in 2018, and six at-risk individuals were identified.  These statistics include residents and non-residents.

Hingham residents were involved in seven overdoses or at-risk events in and out of town in 2018, including one non-fatal and two fatal overdoses and four individuals identified as being at risk, according to Plymouth County Outreach statistics. (See related HPD regional recovery effort article here.)

To say Cavallo's journey has been extremely challenging is an understatement. "I didn't realize I had a problem until it was almost too late," he said.

Between Dec. 2017 and March 2019, 12 of Cavallo's friends and acquaintances — “people whose phone numbers I had in my cell” — died from overdoses. “I was a pallbearer for one, I did the eulogy for another — I cried a lot, got angry, and wondered if I should be out there helping people with addiction issues 24/7,” Cavallo recalled.

Losing so many friends to addiction and realizing that overdosing is currently the “number one cause of accidental death in the country, surpassing car accidents,” Cavallo decided to dedicate his life to helping others who are struggling with substance use disorder.

The Hingham CARES substance misuse prevention coalition hosted a meeting recently about current substance use trends and the challenges presented by the opioid crisis.

Resources available

"The scariest thing about addiction is we don't know who is going to get this disease. Fortunately there are more resources today [to help deal with this issue]," said CARES Vice President Lori McCarthy.  "The three key words are prevention, treatment, and recovery."

McCarthy is the executive director/partner at the Herren Wellness Center in Seekonk and is also a licensed alcohol and drug counselor certified in family intervention. "You can become addicted very quickly, and it can happen to very good people," she said.

Looking back, while working in the music industry some 20 years ago, Cavallo started drinking and using drugs recreationally on the weekends and was introduced to oxycontin and percocet when he was in his mid-20s. "I felt like something was missing in my life, and taking pills gave me a sense of ease and comfort," he recalled. "It was like magic the first time I used, and I chased that feeling almost to my death multiple times. I had no idea what drug abuse does to your brain chemistry to the point of putting drugs above the need for water and shelter."

Close calls

It took many recovery attempts and close calls for Cavallo to finally get the help he needed and to stick with it. "I would usually relapse within 90 days. My music career went down the pike, my friends started backing away, and my family was beside itself and didn't know what to do," he said.

In January 2016 Cavallo, then age 37, called his parents from a detox in Roxbury to check in with them. "I hadn't been in contact, and they had been calling every morgue, jail, and detox center in the area for days," Cavallo said.  "My best friend had told them when they found me he would help me get into treatment in Minnesota."

When his father drove him to the airport -- breathing a sign of relief -- to do just that, Cavallo, despite his best intentions, couldn't resist getting high one last time in an airport restroom before going into treatment and overdosed on heroin. "My father saw two state troopers running toward the bathroom and knew it was me," Cavallo said. "The first responders used Narcan -- [which reverses the effects of opiate overdoses] -- on me [and brought me back]."

Cavallo acknowledged that he had been able to keep his family at enough of an arm's length so they didn't realize how bad his addiction had become. "I had chosen to be homeless or stay in seedy places to keep away from the people I loved because I felt I was bad. I was ashamed and felt numb and I experienced guilt and pain. By some unbelievable act of grace I lived through yet another overdose that day."

Wake-up calls

The near-death experience at the airport was what he thought at the time was his final wake-up call. After getting released from the hospital the following day, he actually headed for the Minnesota treatment facility and remained sober for three months.

"I was serious about my recovery at the time," Cavallo said. "I was attending group meetings, had a sponsor, and was living in a sober house but I was mistaking myself for being better when I wasn't [there yet]. Little things started happening and before I knew it I had picked up heroin and meth and found myself on the street in Minneapolis."

Fortunately a friend "scooped me off the street one more time and didn't give up on me," Cavallo recalled. "He put me on the speaker phone with my parents and I headed off to a yearlong program in New Jersey. Everyone was baffled as to why I stuck another needle in my arm after the [airport] overdose."

There he stayed for inpatient treatment from June 2016 to June 2017. "There was no tobacco, caffeine, computers, women, or phones and only one hour of TV allowed a night, but I could write letters to my immediate family," Cavallo said.

Spiritual journey

This was the point at which he totally immersed himself in his recovery. I attended meetings, read the Bible and the [AA] Big Book, got counseling, attended grief and anger management groups,  and was inspired by the story of a man who was healed of cancer by turning to God, the Bible, and prayer. That was the beginning of Cavallo's spiritual journey and true recovery.

After leaving the treatment center, Cavallo spent nine months in a sober house in New Jersey where he got involved in the community, church, and an outreach center and became a peer recovery specialist, visiting people in hospitals who had overdosed. He was asked to speak about his experiences and recovery at a school a year-and-a-half ago and was told he had a knack for speaking.

Last year Cavallo had an opportunity to mix in some of his music with his message of hope and has been taking that approach ever since, along with remaining clean and sober.

He now has a full-time job in Boston in the financial field and carries out his mission of helping others struggling with addiction nights and weekends through his healing message that continues to include music.

Cavallo stressed that the unconditional love shown to him by his family and others went a long way toward helping him recover. "They had boundaries but didn't give up on me," he said.

For those struggling with addiction, Cavallo offers this advice: "The longer you can separate yourself from your old stomping grounds and your triggers and surround yourself with people who have your bests interests in mind in a safe place" the better the results could be.

There are many avenues through which to get resources and assistance, including South Shore Peer Recovery in Scituate; the Anchor of Hull that serves surrounding communities as well and is part of the Hingham North Street Community Church of the Nazarene’s healing mission; the Wednesday evening support group meetings held there from 7 to 8:30 p.m. for those struggling with substance use disorder or who are in recovery and their families; and Hingham CARES (hinghamcaresboard@gmail.com). Kristen Arute is the CARES president.