very sad news
I have had such a bad time lately.
My best friend & workmate died on the weekend. He was an alcoholic & was suppose to go onto combination therapy. I thought he had already started the treatment & read up on Hep C & Cirrohsis of the Liver etc… I was one of his support people. I find out he never started the therapy but he was being treated for substance abuse first. I believed he was sober for at least 6 months, but I think the withdrawlal treatment & substances he was using contributed to his death. I understand that it takes time to die from liver disease & he most likely overdosed.
“He travelled the world & had such a quality of life, he died in his sleep.”
That is what the people at work are to believe & will probably make up gossip. They thought he was a hopeless drunk & struggled to stay sober. But for those who truly understand the addict/alcoholic’s life it was not ‘sugar coated’…but he did share with me the grateful things like a roof over his head, food in the cupboard, his daughter & son’s love.
I am so grateful I have 2 great friends who came over who I could talk to & they both understand from a 12 Step point of view. They helped me understand that it is not my responsiblility & that my friend has his own life & choices. No matter how close I felt to this person he still had only one connection & that was with the God of his understanding. I was feeling resentful when I found out he lied about the therapy. But It is also not my business, it was his recovery. I rang my A (whom I’d only told less than a week ago that he could find me when he finds recovery) as he had met this friend & also has Hep C & continues to drink & use. He is still in denial & I found myself getting very straight with him told him I will not agrue with him & that he will not convince me that there is another way.
From the words of both these addicts “You don’t abuse yourself for so many years drugging & boozing & come off scott free ! Your body just can’t take it & as a result have Hep C, liver damage, mental problems etc…..” also said to me was the belief in the 12 Step programes that saved their life many a time, the program, the people, when they couldn’t find hope a God & others were there time & time again.
He didn’t give me anything material to hold onto except 3 AA Reviver Newsletters.
But what he did give me faith & hope when he introduced me to AA (83 days now)
& I truly beleive that “it works if you are willing to work it”.
Love & prayers to all
T(focusontoday)