I’m touched by kindness, aren’t you? People who have suffered are often the most vulnerable, and therefore the ones who express kindness. You can feel the gentleness as they caress you with a warm smile, or gaze at you with compassion. That’s what you experience with Jenn Leigh Jones. We first met a few years ago during an online AASLD meeting. It was a patient chat and over a dozen of us were in there. Every time she opened her mouth, words of compassion came out. Learn more about Sober Living Survival Jenn Leigh Jones.
At that time she was just getting started in her patient advocacy journey. She knew that something needed to happen next, but wasn’t sure what it was yet. Having survived a diagnosis with liver failure due to alcoholic liver disease, she was still shaken with PTSD from Intimate Partner Violence. What she decided was that the only way to save herself was to find a way into a new future, free of alcohol. By finishing a few classes in college, she was able to graduate and began to specialize in health communications.
Secrets to Survive Sobriety
Along the way, she also made a list of what it took to survive. She called them the secrets to survival. According to Jenn, we’ve ALL got secrets to survival. Having a short term goal or vision is crucial. During this time, she partnered with her pet. He became one of her secrets to survival.
When it seemed that all humans had failed her, she always knew that Orion was there. After her liver failed in 2018, and she was overcoming the trauma of being close to death, his eyes shone with compassion for her. After rehab, Orion sat faithfully at the foot of the couch giving her the comfort and motivation she needed to move on.
Soon she was walking that sweet boy every day. Her ascites was going down. Her liver enzymes were getting lower and lower. Together, they literally went out the door and into a spacious life that burst with strength and joy.
Sober Living Survival Jenn Leigh Jones
In March 2023, she founded the Society for Sober Liver Survival and you can read about her mission and vision statement here. Jenn has been sober since 2018 and is also totally free from domestic violence as well. She encourages others who are motivated to live sober and save their liver. She uses her words, and yes – that gentle gaze, but she’s got a lot going on beneath the surface.
Never Walk Alone
“Although I lost Orion to cancer on August 19, 2022, together we found my long-term purpose in life:not to let any human diagnosed with alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) walk this complex journey alone. When diagnosed, I was oozing shame and did not have another human to connect with who could provide the empathy and compassion needed to dissipate this anguish, fear, and shame clouding my every thought.”
Her past behind her, she is pushing toward a future filled with courage and hope. The support she needed came from other patient advocates like Wayne Eskridge from Fatty Liver Foundation and from medical doctors and American Liver Foundation.
Meet Jenn Here
Her website is full of offerings for Sobriety Motivation. Her goals are as big as her heart.
Provide a seamless transfer of support for patients pre and post transplant.
Provide mentors whose lives have been impacted.
Prevent relapse through evidence-based support for unique recovery pathways.
Provide patient navigation to ensure medical compliance and treatment.
You can check out her Secrets to Survival video on her website here. I hope you can be part of the new growth she is experiencing with sobriety and a new future outlook. Xo Karen
Link https://soberliversurvival.org/ (Sober Liver Survival) founded by Jenn Leigh Jones is everything you need for sobriety, recovery, PTSD, breaking cycles of addiction and victims of personal violence. She’s just getting SLS off the ground and would love to connect with other people battling alcoholism.
