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Old 03-21-2017, 06:53 AM
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End stage

Just finished watching Rain in My Heart on YouTube. Absolutely devastating. If you haven't seen it (and are actively trying to quit) watch it! I found it very sad that the people couldn't turn their lives around after multiple hospitalisations. Does anyone know of success stories from those at end stage?
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Old 03-21-2017, 07:08 AM
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Just Mark. Vanda died 2 years after the film was made, that means 1 out of the 4 made it.
Oh, you mean in real life? Nope, I don't know anyone, apart from the people on here who drank 24/7 for years and made it. Everyone I knew who drank like that in real life made it till their mid 50s latest
Oh sorry, you meant stopped drinking? Their were a couple in AA when I went there years and years ago, but having said that, thats the only place I ever really saw drinkers like that who actually wanted to stop, the others I knew, didn't want to stop.
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Old 03-21-2017, 08:51 AM
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right off hand i can think of 3 i know or knew.
one was joe, who i wrote about here
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ssed-away.html

another was George. my 1st experience with George was seeing him being wheeld into an AA meeting in a wheelchair. he took alcoholism to the edge of death. over time, i saw George go from a wheel chair( and only being able to have a half a cup of coffee as he shook so bad) to a walker, to walking on his own- i watched not only his physical strength be restored the most it could, but i watched a man grow mentally and spiritually and become an active, productive member of sobriety.
the other is bill- who passed away sunday with 35+ years sober.

there are many others i could recall given time and those are just the ones i have known or met. there are many others.
it sucks that alcoholism kills and it kills many.
the great thing,though, is we can put ourselves on either side of the statistics TODAY.
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Old 03-21-2017, 09:10 AM
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tomsteve, your story just reminded me of someone.
As I said, it's years and years ago I tried AA. There was this man there, quiet nice man, very sweet and soft spoken, always wore a suit and tie with a pocket hanky in his suit pocket.
Found out when he shared, he was only the "town drunk" when I was a kid...the stuff of legends. He slept rough under a bridge, he was one of the meths drinkers (methylated spirits, never see people drinking that now, thank God). He would cause traffic jams in the town centre by having punch ups with imaginary people in the middle of the roads. Looking at that man then, you would never have thought he would have survived. But he did, and what a nice man he turned out to be when I talked to him all those years later
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Old 03-21-2017, 10:26 AM
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Old 03-21-2017, 11:29 AM
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Me.

I was as close to end stage as I could get without actually getting to the "end." I was on a liter plus of vodka and 8-12 pints of beer per day five years ago when I finally went in for help. I had serious motor skill problems, my hair was falling out, I couldn't sleep or eat, I had multiple seizures per week trying to hide my consumption at home and at work, and the nurses were not hopeful about me when they started my detox. And after making it through that and staying sober for three+ years, I still relapsed and went on a seven month bender and ended up in exactly the same place. I'm just over a year sober now, and amazingly, my health (physical and mental) is pretty good.
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Old 03-21-2017, 11:53 AM
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Originally Posted by SweatyHands View Post
Me.

I was as close to end stage as I could get without actually getting to the "end." I was on a liter plus of vodka and 8-12 pints of beer per day five years ago when I finally went in for help. I had serious motor skill problems, my hair was falling out, I couldn't sleep or eat, I had multiple seizures per week trying to hide my consumption at home and at work, and the nurses were not hopeful about me when they started my detox. And after making it through that and staying sober for three+ years, I still relapsed and went on a seven month bender and ended up in exactly the same place. I'm just over a year sober now, and amazingly, my health (physical and mental) is pretty good.

This is sort of me. A pint to a fifth a day (for about 2 years). Two hospitalizations. On the last, all organs were failing. Haven 't touched the stuff in 10 months.
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Old 03-21-2017, 02:56 PM
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Sweatyhands and notgonnastoptry, Thank you for posting your stories. It really is inspirational that you escaped the claws of this addiction.
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Old 03-21-2017, 03:26 PM
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sobernunn, you can absolutely guarantee that won't be you by doing exactly ONE thing......
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Old 03-21-2017, 03:27 PM
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Here's one

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-my-story.html

She passed away a few years back but Laurie ended her days sober

D
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Old 03-21-2017, 03:29 PM
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Originally Posted by AnvilheadII View Post
sobernunn, you can absolutely guarantee that won't be you by doing exactly ONE thing......
Thanks Anvil. I agree. My romantic ideals about alcohol have fallen away. It's poison - the beast.
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Old 03-21-2017, 04:05 PM
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*Raises his hand*

I'm hoping to be one. I don't have cirrhosis, but I do have alcoholic liver disease and my withdrawals tend to tow the line between moderate and severe. I have luckily never had DT's.

I am hospitalized every time I end a binge. Often for suicidal thoughts accompanied with horrendous abdominal pain, anxiety, self-hatred, muscle tremors, hand tremors, etc.
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Old 03-21-2017, 04:16 PM
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I was end-stage. I was drinking vodka 24/7, I had stopped eating and fell into the DTs. I knew I was dying so I called my mom and came clean. She got me to the hospital just as I was asphyxiating on my own vomit. I ended up in a coma for two days in the ICU on a ventilator. The doctors gave me a 5-10% chance of waking up. My family drew up my cremation papers and were ready to pull the plug. I had major stomach and esophageal bleeding, alcoholic hepatitis, and my liver enzymes were off the chart. I was only 31 at the time.

But I woke up. I spent the next two weeks in the hospital learning how to walk and talk again. I then went to 30 days inpatient rehab, another 6 months of out-patient rehab, and worked the steps of AA with my sponsor. I haven't had a drop since the coma. No relapses.

I'll have 4 years sober next week. I'm getting married in 2.5 weeks to someone who's never seen me drink or drug. Life is good.

That's why I truly believe there are no lost causes. If a bottom of the barrel screw-up like me can get/stay sober, anyone can.
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Old 03-21-2017, 04:34 PM
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Originally Posted by digdug View Post
I was end-stage. I was drinking vodka 24/7, I had stopped eating and fell into the DTs. I knew I was dying so I called my mom and came clean. She got me to the hospital just as I was asphyxiating on my own vomit. I ended up in a coma for two days in the ICU on a ventilator. The doctors gave me a 5-10% chance of waking up. My family drew up my cremation papers and were ready to pull the plug. I had major stomach and esophageal bleeding, alcoholic hepatitis, and my liver enzymes were off the chart. I was only 31 at the time.

But I woke up. I spent the next two weeks in the hospital learning how to walk and talk again. I then went to 30 days inpatient rehab, another 6 months of out-patient rehab, and worked the steps of AA with my sponsor. I haven't had a drop since the coma. No relapses.

I'll have 4 years sober next week. I'm getting married in 2.5 weeks to someone who's never seen me drink or drug. Life is good.

That's why I truly believe there are no lost causes. If a bottom of the barrel screw-up like me can get/stay sober, anyone can.
That gave me chills...
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Old 03-21-2017, 05:08 PM
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Was almost there my last detox. Was on a vent. Quit breathing. Family was doing the organ donor discussion with doc's who though I was done. Woke up two weeks later. Never again. 3 years sober.
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Old 03-21-2017, 07:08 PM
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SoberNunn - thanks for this thread.
I've just seen the film.
Very powerful and confronting.
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Old 03-21-2017, 07:31 PM
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Originally Posted by ThatWasTheOldMe View Post
That gave me chills...
Wow. Just wow...........thank you and god bless
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Old 03-21-2017, 09:32 PM
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Originally Posted by digdug View Post
I was end-stage. I was drinking vodka 24/7, I had stopped eating and fell into the DTs. I knew I was dying so I called my mom and came clean. She got me to the hospital just as I was asphyxiating on my own vomit. I ended up in a coma for two days in the ICU on a ventilator. The doctors gave me a 5-10% chance of waking up. My family drew up my cremation papers and were ready to pull the plug. I had major stomach and esophageal bleeding, alcoholic hepatitis, and my liver enzymes were off the chart. I was only 31 at the time.

But I woke up. I spent the next two weeks in the hospital learning how to walk and talk again. I then went to 30 days inpatient rehab, another 6 months of out-patient rehab, and worked the steps of AA with my sponsor. I haven't had a drop since the coma. No relapses.

I'll have 4 years sober next week. I'm getting married in 2.5 weeks to someone who's never seen me drink or drug. Life is good.

That's why I truly believe there are no lost causes. If a bottom of the barrel screw-up like me can get/stay sober, anyone can.
I'm so glad your here with us to share this digdug. Unbelievable recovery. Congratulations on your wedding and blessings for a happy future.
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Old 03-22-2017, 06:34 AM
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Great Thread!

Gives me something to think about the next time the A/V tells me it is OK to start drinking again. Thanks!
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Old 03-22-2017, 09:23 AM
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Thank you all for sharing. I will not drink tonight for you wonderful people (and Purple Cat from my Feb 17 group).

I hope we can all find good health and happiness.
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