NOLAGirl

I posted this message at another support and information forum, but have recieved little feedback so far. I'm hoping that maybe someone will read this and have advice/guidance to offer.


My mother is an alcoholic. Within the last year her situation has rapidly declined. I am urgently seeking advice as to how to handle her current situation.

A brief run-down of her history:

My mother has been grappling with her alcoholism the last 23 years. She was mostly sober for a good 18 years with few "relapses" in between. In the last six years (about 2002) her alcoholism has become increasingly worse. She was hiding and consuming large plastic bottles of vodka every day for months. She would go out to a bar down the street almost every night. A year into her resurgence of her addiction she had a stroke at the age of 42 that put her in the hospital for a month. She had extensive nerve damage to her legs and hands and personality/mental function problems as result of her stroke. Almost immediately after coming out of the hospital she was drinking heavily again. She was combining pain pills and vodka on a regular basis. Soon she lost her job and my father divorced her. He forced her to move out of our home and seek her own residence. At that point her addiction was able to "flourish" and her decent into it was even more rapid. She became a recluse in her apartment; her friends all but one or two abandoned her, her parents stopped talking to her. My sister and I were so heartbroken over the situation that we hardly came around to see her.

Around 2005 she was completely broke and decided to move in with a boyfriend who also had an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. He did slow down her drinking habits, but all the same he was enabling her addiction. Fast-forward to today, her health is ruined. In the last year her doctors diagnosed her with an eating disorder on top of her alcoholism. She has lost about 15 to 20 lbs in roughly under a year. She is 5'6" tall and currently weighs about 90lbs (possibly less). She is unable to walk for long distance or stand for more than five minutes at a time. She is going blind in one eye. She continues to drink, but at a slower pace.

I think she is nearing a point of no return. Her weight is continuing to drop and she makes no secret of her problems. I'm almost certain that if something isn't done soon she may not be alive a year from now.

I know that if she refuses to seek help for herself then things can not change, but at this point I'm desperate. If someone could offer me guidance or advice, I would deeply appreciate it.