AD has relapsed after 3 years
Hello all. I was planning to post a success story here because I was so grateful that my daughter had come so far out of the depths that I hoped it might help someone else from despair. She gave birth to a little boy 2 years ago and he is the apple of my eye. She had taken excellent care of him on her own, regained visitation with her 7 year old daughter, got a decent job, and moved into her own apartment 6 months ago. She even got her license back as well as a car. Needless to say, I was so very proud of her.
Over the past few days, she went on a bender. Her boss told me she had not called out, but hadn't shown up for work. I knew right away, and had suspected that something was up for several days before that. When I got to her apartment, she and her son were sleeping on the couch. She didn't wake up as I packed his things and took him from her arms. There was an almost-empty bottle of vodka in the freezer. She woke up enough to see me putting on his coat, but didn't protest.
That night she sobered up enough to talk. I didn't hide my anger and disappointment. She said she was upset, too, but couldn't point to anything specific that triggered the slip. She wanted her son back, but I told her not yet. She said she would call me in the morning, and she did. But she didn't feel up to going to work, so I said I would check with her later. My husband stayed with my grandson and I went over about 2 hours later. Again she was passed out on the couch, and an almost empty bottle of vodka was in the fridge.
I gave her the choice of going to the hospital with me or calling 911 and when she objected, I called for help. She paced around pleaded and I ignored her. I let the police officer and medics handle it from there. They allowed her to choose between hospital or going with the police. She spent the day in the ER detoxing from a blood alcohol level of 2.79.
I told her I would not go down this road again. I hoped she would stay sober now but if it ever happened again, another daughter and I would be in touch with CPS to gain custody of her son.
I talked to her last night and a couple of times today. She said she went to a meeting this morning and got a lot of phone numbers. She talked to her boss and is going to work tomorrow. My question is, how long do I keep her son away from her? We technically don't have authority to do it, but I don't think she would object because of the circumstances. I know it's too soon to leave her alone with him, but assuming she stays sober, how long is long enough? Any opinions would be appreciated!