I think a lot of us reach the point where we are doing this for our "future selves" even though the likelihood of success is very small. That's just being realistic.
I'll share a bit of my older sister's story with you. It's similar to your mom's in that she drank alcoholically, off and on, for at least a couple of decades. Toward the end, as she lost her high-paying career, her driver's license, her house, and her husband, she landed repeatedly in the hospital.
Once, she was in a coma for several days. The doctors said, "If you continue drinking it will kill you." She got out of the hospital and went right to the liquor store for another of those huge plastic jugs of vodka you mention.
She became homeless. She slept in shelters at night. She went in and out of rehab and sober houses seven times. We tried everything we knew how to do. We tried intervention. We tried tough love. We tried talking her into coming home where we would then commit her (she didn't, and in hindsight it's probably a godsend)
On one of her hospital trips, the doctors told her her liver and kidneys couldn't handle any more drinking, and if they died, she would die too.
She got out and drank right away.
The last hospital trip was the one she didn't walk away from, two weeks after the one above.
The things I feel best about all of this horrible situation:
--I never stopped loving her, and never stopped telling her so.
--I wrote her letters telling her about my life and letting her know that I feared her drinking was going to kill her, and I wanted her in my life. I didn't push, just told the truth.
--The times when she DID respond to our efforts, for a day or a week or a month, we had good conversations in which I was able to say the things that had been left unsaid between us. I had closure.
These were all things I did for ME, you'll notice.
She didn't get better. You mom may not either. But either way, expressing how you feel can never be a wrong move.
Good luck with all of this, NOLAgirl. Do what you feel is best for your future self.
:ghug3