Alcoholism Support Group
Alcoholism is the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, even when it is negatively affecting your health, work, relationships and life. If you think alcohol is causing you to lose control, it's time to seek help. Our group is a safe place to vent, check in, get back up if you fall, and reach sobriety.
... I'm sitting here more than a little stunned and numb. For some background, here's a thread from December on my sister:
http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Alcoholism/forum/15355658-my-sister
So I've made the 5 hour drive three times this year to visit the family house where my sister's boyfriend still lives. Needless to say, he's been depressed since her passing and he's been on a steady decline. He's been eating less and drinking more.
I was last there 4th of July week and he was fragile but still on his feet and able to take care of his basic needs. I just got a call from one of his friends and apparently he's taken a very bad turn for the worst. He can hardly walk, not even to the bathroom and he's lost even more weight. His friend says he can't way more than 70 pounds...
The mutual friend went to Turning Stone Casino a few days ago and my almost brother in law insisted on going with him. He just about had to carry him to his car and then had to get a wheelchair to get him into the room at the casino. He never left the room for the 3 days there, and basically never left the bed.
On the ride back they had to roll up the windows and turn on the heat, and it's in the 80s and he was still cold. I'm thinking his liver is just about shot and he's severely anemic.
He refuses to go to the doctor/hospital and our mutual friend has been trying to get other people to intervene, but he won't listen to them either.
I've been calling and no one answers. I'm planning on driving there for Labor Day week, but I suspect I'll be alone when I get there. He'll either be deceased or in the hospital. I imagine if he does get to the hospital he'll never make it out. In his condition they won't release him...
It's so damned sad. I'm sitting here thinking I should have done more, but I know I couldn't. Talk about feeling absolutely powerless...
It's a hard thing to watch alcohol destroy people you care about.
http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Alcoholism/forum/15355658-my-sister
So I've made the 5 hour drive three times this year to visit the family house where my sister's boyfriend still lives. Needless to say, he's been depressed since her passing and he's been on a steady decline. He's been eating less and drinking more.
I was last there 4th of July week and he was fragile but still on his feet and able to take care of his basic needs. I just got a call from one of his friends and apparently he's taken a very bad turn for the worst. He can hardly walk, not even to the bathroom and he's lost even more weight. His friend says he can't way more than 70 pounds...
The mutual friend went to Turning Stone Casino a few days ago and my almost brother in law insisted on going with him. He just about had to carry him to his car and then had to get a wheelchair to get him into the room at the casino. He never left the room for the 3 days there, and basically never left the bed.
On the ride back they had to roll up the windows and turn on the heat, and it's in the 80s and he was still cold. I'm thinking his liver is just about shot and he's severely anemic.
He refuses to go to the doctor/hospital and our mutual friend has been trying to get other people to intervene, but he won't listen to them either.
I've been calling and no one answers. I'm planning on driving there for Labor Day week, but I suspect I'll be alone when I get there. He'll either be deceased or in the hospital. I imagine if he does get to the hospital he'll never make it out. In his condition they won't release him...
It's so damned sad. I'm sitting here thinking I should have done more, but I know I couldn't. Talk about feeling absolutely powerless...
It's a hard thing to watch alcohol destroy people you care about.
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Dick Van Dyke’s path to sobriety was a turning point in his life and career. Here’s what happened:How He Got SoberStruggles and Realization: Van Dyke began drinking as a teenager, largely to cope with shyness and social anxiety. Alcohol made him feel more comfortable in social settings, but over time, his drinking spiraled out of control. By his mid-40s, he recognized that he had an addictive...
It was difficult watching my sister go down that path, and now I suppose I'll see a repeat of that end. I'm not even sure he'll be there when I drive up in a little under two weeks. At the least I'm betting he'll be in ICU.
If you ever feel a need for help with how you feel about all this there is always Al-Anon or counselling. I am sorry you are going through this.
Not leaving the house for the past few months. Eating less and less. Refusing to go to the doctor, saying it's not a big deal, maybe it's just his electrolytes a tad out of balance. Nodding off on the recliner earlier and earlier and getting up later and later. And just like my sister, a slow decline over the past 5 years and then, Wham, over the cliff in a few short weeks.
The denial is staggering...
He was even talking about getting to the doctor last week, but instead he decided to go to the casino with his friend even though he could barely walk, even to make it to the bathroom.
Intellectually I understand but it's hard for me to relate to that mindset.
On some level I think he has to know the end is near. Talked to his friend again last night and he tells me he didn't drink but 5 beers the entire 3 days at the casino and also hardly smoked. That's exactly what my sister did the last week or so of her life. This is why I know the end is near. He has lost interest in his long-time and last best 'friend', alcohol.
The thief that's been robbing him of all that's good in life is now going to steal the last remaining thing: Life itself.
1is2