Tom: Downfall of a Functioning Alcoholic (Part 2 of 4)

I blasted alcohol for 40 years. I was a very high functioning alcoholic, I worked 7 days a week, went to the Gym 4 or5 days per, and drank copiously after work and Gym. At the worst I was drinking 10 longnecks of beer and 2 or more litres of goon each night and was still wide awake. At the end, (many years later), all I did was drink, 4-5 litres of red cask wine (goon) per day. I collapsed several times. Once I 'died' was resusitated and spent 2 weeks in hospital. Don't remember any of it. Finally I collapsed again and was hospitalized for 9 weeks. I couldn't even stand up on my own. I was constantly crapping myself and was down to 58kg. I was having massive halucinations. I was diagnosed with Liver failure and Korsakoff's dementia. I was put into aged care at age 57. I was expected to have a massive bleed and die. Now 2 years later I haven't had any alcohol at all. I've done a course in Freelance Journalism and got an article published and got paid for it. I'm now a member of a writers group and am working on a couple of novels. I've been very fortunate that people were there to put me into care and the people who work there have been extremely good to me. I come and go as I please. I cook most of my own meals and live in an independent flat/unit. I'm currently in the process of getting my own place, getting my licence back and doing some part time work as well as going to the Gym 3-4 times per week. I don't miss alcohol, I simply made a decision to never drink again. I was fortunate. Most people with Korsakoff's either die or end up severely brain damaged. So far I seem to have all of my memory, which I can confirm with my family. (That's important because people with Korsakoff's tend to make up memories to fill in blank spots.) I also have advanced Diabetes problems, (Charcot's Foot, Retinopaphy and Poor Kidney Function). I won't live as long as I might have if I hadn't abused Alcohol, but I will live the best I can. Thank You for reading this. God Bless.

Keep on Enjoying sober life Tom. Im a 32 year old from NY who comes from a big Irish / Scottish American family that has seen alcoholism run rampant through my family, killed my Grandpa. Im writing this at 5:57am after a 5 day bender. Literally am ready to call it quits. And for what it's worth, your video is a big factor in my acceptance.

I'm walking around with another guy's liver. My liver failure was so acute my kidney couldn't handle the extra load & went south. I'm also walking around with a third kidney as a result. Believe me, you don't want to go through with this.

My dad was a functional alcoholic. He had the same job for 30 years, played hockey, was with my mom for 30 years, stayed in shape, taught me about girls and driving, and boating, camping, how to water ski, was at all my hockey games, took me and my friends wherever we needed to go... it took a fast sudden change when he was about 52. He got real skinny, stopped playing hockey, became very depressed. He took his own life at 54

4:17 It came through Tom, and it’s an amazing thing to hear. God bless each and every one of you.

I spent 9 yrs drinking alcoholically and to the point that the only thing I did was live to drink - nothing else mattered. Thankfully I am now 16 mths sober and its only with distance between me and that last drink that I relaise just how unwell I was and how destructive alcohol is to an alcoholic. My solutution, as much as I didnt want it to be, has been AA. Breaking down the resistance to accept I was unwell, to being open about my drinking and listening to an alternative solution to that which i thought was right (it clearly was not) was not easy but its saved my life. Life with out alcohol is challenging but infinitaley better then the one I escaped from.

After my life tanked I went from social drinking to serious blackout boozing. And what cured me of boozing was not some realization I needed to quit. It was the gout I got in my toes. It was the sore joints that made it hard to move my shoulders. It was the muscles in my back that kept ripping and my calf muscle that just tore one day when I was going up stairs. It was the welts that opened on my palms, bleeding like stigmata. And above all it was the massive depressions I would get the morning after a boozefest. Depressions that would cripple me for the day, so sharp they cut me. I simply stopped drinking because I had to. I don't know if that helps anyone. But I will also say a heresy here. I sincerely believe that by drinking in my most serious life situations I took the edge off the seriousness and actually avoided suicide. Drink does have a function but it has a serious cost.

Thanks for this. I'm getting help after two years. People like you help me and others. Thanks very much

Thank you, you have helped a lot of people with this. You come across as a true, humble, honest person peace and love and all the light to you my friend

Thank you for sharing. I'm getting sober and it's going to work this time because I have support. Things like this really help too.

I love how the segment just ends when he said "I was in the lions den and I drank." It was literally over at that point and so was the segment. 

This guy is really cool, truly a class act. It's nice to see a guy like this feeling on top of the world after years of despair. Congratulations to him.

Amazing video.  Thank you so much.

Very good video.  Thank you so much.  Would be nice if the phone wasn't ringing and people talking in the background though.   Thanks again for for your story.

wow, such honesty, I have just separated from an alcoholic partner...who is in complete denial

Thank you Tom I will pay it forward.

My Life is Sooooooooooo Much Better without Alcohol

Someone get the damn phone

Just listening him talk is so satisfying because of his intelligence.

who else is watching think drunk