A Mother Faces Child Loss After Opioid Addiction

A Mother Faces Child Loss After Opioid Addiction

From Overcomers Approach by Nichol Ellis-McGregor

April 14, 2026 · 38 min · Season 9 · Episode 6

About this episode

Katie Rizzo shares her experience of losing her son to opioid addiction and the metaphor of grief as a pregnancy journey.

Send us fan mail. We love to hear from you! Grief doesn’t just hurt emotionally. Sometimes it moves into the body, changes your appetite, steals your breath, and makes ordinary errands feel impossible. I’m joined by Katie Rizzo, who shares the story of losing her firstborn son, Nicholas, to opioid addiction and the metaphor that helped her survive: grief unfolding like the trimesters of pregnancy. She walks us through the nausea and shock of early loss, the numb stretch where everyone else se...

People in this episode

Host: Nichol Ellis-McGregor

Guest: Katie Rizzo

Topics covered

  • grief
  • opioid addiction
  • child loss
  • mental health
  • survival
  • parenting

Keywords

  • grief
  • opioid addiction
  • child loss
  • mental health
  • survival
  • parenting
  • emotional pain

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