Please read if you’re a parent or just struggling..
I just wanted to take a minute to share something unbelievably scary that happened to me in hopes that maybe it will keep someone else from picking up a drink tonight, tomorrow, whenever..
I can proudly say that I am on day 143 sober. This is huge for me as I never made it more then 30 before this. Things have been going so well in so many ways. I have lost weight, my relationship with my husband has improved and much more. In fact, we were eagerly awaiting a weekend get away alone this coming Friday.
Unfortunately this Sunday, my 18 year old son became very ill. He woke me at 11pm (the time I would normal be well through a bottle of wine or whatever) and he was crying in pain. Thank god I was sober because we had to rush to the ER.
Long story short, my very healthy, big strong son was diagnosed with pulmonary embolisms. He had multiple blood clots throughout both sides of his lungs. In case anyone doesn’t know, this is extremely rare in a person of his age and very dangerous. I was told multiple times that if we had not gotten him in when we did that there was a very good chance it could have been fatal. :-(
Last night as I lay on the pullout couch at the hospital I broke down and all I could think about was what would have happened had I been drunk, or passed out and my son had decided to just try to sleep it off. If so, he may not be with us right now.
The most ironic part? For the last couple of weeks I had started to debate about having just a few glasses of wine with my husband while we were away. In fact I decided that I would and even put “big bottle red wine” on my grocery list.
I’m not a religious person but if that isn’t something or someone telling me that I should never touch another sip I don’t know what is.
Needless to say, our trip was canceled and that is just fine with me since I don’t want to leave his side anyways, but now I don’t even have to think about it or deal with the guilt or shame that would have came with drinking.
Most importantly I was there for my son, mentally, physically and emotionally, not buzzed or passed out.
Sorry this was so long but I hope it might help someone! :-)