Hey MCViking,
I don't post very much on the forum mainly because I'm not even sure my stuff contributes to what people are saying. However, I read your story and saw myself in it. The good news is for you is that I was worse.
A little quick background about myself. I have two degrees, but I was always given stuff to me and I never earned it myself. This quickly turned against me, because I never had to work for anything. Simply put, I was spoiled. My addictions came quick, and the consequences accumulated. I was always bailed out by my parents, but no one in my family has ever had addictions issues except me, so they had no idea what to do. I am now 30 years old, but I would say that my entire 20's was wasted on drinking and drugs. I managed to get 3 DUIs under my belt, and I have a misdemeanor theft for trying to steal alcohol while intoxicated. What I would do if I could just go back in time, and actually listen to the first time someone told me that I have a problem. What's done is done, but it does haunt me still because it will always be on my record.
All your fears and emotions are real. I went through them. I think a lot of people on here go through them as well. With TIME, things will settle down, and it will become less of a burden. Some days will be easier and some days will be harder. There is no doubt that you will probably have consequences for the second DUI, however, not trying to get your hopes up, they aren't usually as bad as we think they will be. Being sober, going to AA meetings will help a lot during this process. It will show the judge that you are accepting your problems, and you are trying to get better.
Things will get better. I thought I would never be employable because of my background. I am not trying to brag or anything of such sort, but I landed a job at one of Forbes top 10 places to work. EVEN WITH MY RECORD, they hired me. It was a very stressful time going through the interviews, but I was completely honest with my background check, and I even wrote several pages explaining my record. I was really surprised the whole honesty worked, because as an addict/alcoholic, i'm so used to manipulation and lying.
I hope this really gives you some hope and inspiration that you can come out of this. It really is up to you on how your life will turn out. I can guarantee you that continuing drinking/using will only delay or make things worse. If you have slips during the process, it's okay. I did too. I wish you the best, and keep us update on your situation. Being that a lot of us have gone through the same things, we might be able to point you in the right direction.