I Just Quit Drinking Again
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: SE Arizona
Posts: 1,099
I Just Quit Drinking Again
I joined SR in September of 2011. I had been drinking for about 15 months at the time and decided that I needed some support to go back to my normal, non-drinking life. I had started drinking again after over 30 years as a teetotaler; my excuse at the time was my wife’s illness. My wife had developed Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, a progressive and ultimately fatal lung disease. She had never smoked.
The only hope for her to live more than another year was a lung transplant. We went through preliminary testing at the cardiopulmonary transplant center at the University of Arizona and she secured a position on the waiting list for donor lungs. Being on a transplant list is living on a short leash. You have to be within an hour or so of the hospital so if you are called you can get there quickly. Lung transplant surgery needs to be done quickly or the transplant can fail. So one spends a lot of time just hanging around.
We got in the habit of spending our afternoons while waiting, talking and sipping wine. It was something we could do together. I got back in the habit of drinking.
I continued to drink for a while after her successful surgery and then decided that my health would be better if I were to quit again. At the time I was drinking between a half and a full bottle of wine per day. So, I joined this forum and, with your help, was able to quit drinking again. That quitting lasted around seven years, until about this time last year.
About 18 months ago my wife started to reject her donor lungs: rejection is ultimately fatal but it is not normally a quick process; she just started being shorter of breath and more fatigued than she had been. Her lungs were still working pretty well and her blood oxygen was still good. Then, about 6 months ago she started experiencing ischemic heart issues. She now gets oxygen-starved just changing chairs in the same room yet her blood O2 remains normal.
I took over all of the housework and became pretty much a full time caregiver. I also started drinking again. My excuse this time was stress and boredom and drinking gave me something to look forward to in the late afternoon. My drinking is back to where it was before I quit the last time.
I’m now worrying about the effect of the alcohol on my health. I’m in my early 80’s, I’m still in excellent health and I want to stay there. I also need to be at my best if a medical emergency arrives. For these reasons, I have decided to quit again.
I feel that I have a reasonably good plan for quitting. I will return to workouts with light weights and get back to writing a memoir that I have had on hold. These activities should keep me busy during the difficult mid-afternoon times. I haven’t been drinking before 3:00 pm or after 6:00 pm so these activities together with an afternoon walk should keep me distracted. Wish me luck!
I’m posting here a way of holding myself accountable for my sobriety. I will keep you posted on my ups and downs and on my relationship with teetotaler-hood.
I appreciate your support.
The only hope for her to live more than another year was a lung transplant. We went through preliminary testing at the cardiopulmonary transplant center at the University of Arizona and she secured a position on the waiting list for donor lungs. Being on a transplant list is living on a short leash. You have to be within an hour or so of the hospital so if you are called you can get there quickly. Lung transplant surgery needs to be done quickly or the transplant can fail. So one spends a lot of time just hanging around.
We got in the habit of spending our afternoons while waiting, talking and sipping wine. It was something we could do together. I got back in the habit of drinking.
I continued to drink for a while after her successful surgery and then decided that my health would be better if I were to quit again. At the time I was drinking between a half and a full bottle of wine per day. So, I joined this forum and, with your help, was able to quit drinking again. That quitting lasted around seven years, until about this time last year.
About 18 months ago my wife started to reject her donor lungs: rejection is ultimately fatal but it is not normally a quick process; she just started being shorter of breath and more fatigued than she had been. Her lungs were still working pretty well and her blood oxygen was still good. Then, about 6 months ago she started experiencing ischemic heart issues. She now gets oxygen-starved just changing chairs in the same room yet her blood O2 remains normal.
I took over all of the housework and became pretty much a full time caregiver. I also started drinking again. My excuse this time was stress and boredom and drinking gave me something to look forward to in the late afternoon. My drinking is back to where it was before I quit the last time.
I’m now worrying about the effect of the alcohol on my health. I’m in my early 80’s, I’m still in excellent health and I want to stay there. I also need to be at my best if a medical emergency arrives. For these reasons, I have decided to quit again.
I feel that I have a reasonably good plan for quitting. I will return to workouts with light weights and get back to writing a memoir that I have had on hold. These activities should keep me busy during the difficult mid-afternoon times. I haven’t been drinking before 3:00 pm or after 6:00 pm so these activities together with an afternoon walk should keep me distracted. Wish me luck!
I’m posting here a way of holding myself accountable for my sobriety. I will keep you posted on my ups and downs and on my relationship with teetotaler-hood.
I appreciate your support.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 2,654
I’d wish you luck Cascabel, but I won’t - because I know you don’t need luck. You can stop once more, you’ve done so before, you know the drill, as it were. I’m sorry your wife is suffering, and glad that you’re stopping drinking, to be more present for her, in case of medical emergency.
I’m also stopping again. I threw away two and a half years of contented sobriety, after a sequence of tumultuous events. That sounds like an excuse, I don’t mean it to. I made the decision to drink. It was the wrong one. It’s all down to me, to stop again.
That sounds like a good plan, although I’d add posting more on SR, which is really helping me presently, as I attempt to find my sober feet.
Let’s get back on our sobriety horses.
I’m also stopping again. I threw away two and a half years of contented sobriety, after a sequence of tumultuous events. That sounds like an excuse, I don’t mean it to. I made the decision to drink. It was the wrong one. It’s all down to me, to stop again.
That sounds like a good plan, although I’d add posting more on SR, which is really helping me presently, as I attempt to find my sober feet.
Let’s get back on our sobriety horses.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Warwick RI
Posts: 1,276
Wow..your in your 80's?? Amazing that you haven't quit ...quitting.....I hope you make it this time so you can literally live to 100.....write that memoir...I'm so sorry about what you and your wife are going thru with her illness 
.
You should feel much better if you are able to stop drinking...she needs you...and you need you to be strong ….drinking makes us weak and tired...and really not good for much...
I'm sure you don't want to be passed out or incapable of being by her side when she takes her last breath....with alcohol it is highly likely that could be your bottom.
hugs....to you and her.
.You should feel much better if you are able to stop drinking...she needs you...and you need you to be strong ….drinking makes us weak and tired...and really not good for much...
I'm sure you don't want to be passed out or incapable of being by her side when she takes her last breath....with alcohol it is highly likely that could be your bottom
.hugs....to you and her.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: London, England
Posts: 7,057
What a kind and thoughtful man you are. Your wife is lucky to have you to look after her at this horribly difficult time.
It sounds like you know exactly what to do and how to do it. You've got this.
I wish you and your wife all the best.
It sounds like you know exactly what to do and how to do it. You've got this.
I wish you and your wife all the best.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 519
You are an inspiration.
Your wife is so incredibly lucky to have you and your continued strength and commitment to sobriety. It would be wonderful for you to be clear headed and healthy should anything happen, which I hope will not be the case.
We all have to be our best for ourselves so that we can be our best for our loved ones.
I look up to you and hope to have half your courage. Keep coming back!
Your wife is so incredibly lucky to have you and your continued strength and commitment to sobriety. It would be wonderful for you to be clear headed and healthy should anything happen, which I hope will not be the case.
We all have to be our best for ourselves so that we can be our best for our loved ones.
I look up to you and hope to have half your courage. Keep coming back!
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