So after many, many years of my dad's drinking affecting all of us, and the back and forth of constant weird threats, bizzarre behaivor and mood swings that would make most people's head spin, the time has finally come upon my family.
Mom has been keeping a log of my dad's outbursts, consumptions, accidents and reactions. The log is startling. And once it was put into the hands of their doctor, combined with other incidents and such that were logged, the doctor laid down the law.
"You have two choices: beer or your family."
With that sentence, my dad accepted help and went into a 48-72 hour detox, with appropriate testing by MRI, psych, and blood workup to see what was going on, and the results couldn't have been better. Actual physical evidence that his excessive, daily consumption was harming him, and for those of you who read this and may have been told that you drink a lot, or know someone who does, here's some proof to toss your way:
My dad's brain was shrinking. Literally shrinking. With that comes a whole host of problems - loss of memory, dizziness, loss of comprehension, attitude changes, the whole nine yards.
And yes, this is good news! Because without physical evidence to back up what we've been harping on for years, it will fall on deaf ears.
Now we knew that dad wouldn't probably attend an AA meeting, because that's the way he is. He doesn't like to be pressured into anything, and the 'hard sell' is something that he will reject quickly. So while we were visiting him in the detox ward, the nurse came to take him to his first ever meeting, and they snuck it upon him. My sis knew where he was going, he didn't. And when he came back, he had the look of 'I'm not going to go to AA, there's no point'. So when after about 20 minutes, when visiting hours were over, and he said, "I want to go back to there for a little while longer," I think the thoughts that were going through our heads were in unision: "What did he say?!"
It was a long road down, and now that we're in the valley, the climb out will be challenging. We have to constantly remind him of what happened those three days, the things that he said, the things that were done. Dad said he was going to quit cold turkey. He did it with smoking (sis tried to eat his cigarettes when she was little) and we've already removed all of the alcohol from the house. Even the hidden stashes. He even said that he wouldn't mind going back to an AA meeting every once in awhile, or even seeing the psych!
Stunning. Absolutely stunning. We're turning a new page here - better yet, we're starting a new volume.
My own experiences into the unknown will be taking place on December 1, when I make my first trip off the North American continent to the Far East, and visit China for 3 weeks on business. Now, my 'business' is not what you would consider 'fun business'. I'm planning on working 8+ hour days, 7 days a week. It won't be all peaches and cream. I'm going to try my hardest to visit Beijing while I'm there. I don't know when I will ever go back to China. But it's exciting and scary all in one breath. I've heard so many things about the little nuances of Chinese culture - bring crisp, pristine currency, otherwise they will reject it. Tipping is not commonplace. Taxis use these little cards to get around to hotels and tourist sites. Don't drink the water. LOL
The long days will be murder - that's what I think I'm really worried about. Getting things done, getting them done correctly, before Christmas. It sounds like I have my December work cut out for me.
christmas
