I heard this interview when it was repeated on Tony Livesy last night. I did think it was very moving and to be honest, it made me look at my own life.
'Don't know the actual reasons for her death, but according to the VD programme today, she had been clean and had got her Doctors License back but began drinking again just before Easter, then stopped. Just 48 hours later she was found dead.
My brother in law told me about this programme so I am hoping to listen to it. The problem with alcohol is that it damages your liver but you get no symptoms until it's already extensively damaged.
Last year, my sister died aged just 45. She had had a high powered job in the MOD. She started drinking a bit too much and then took voluntary redundancy. She had grand plans for what she was going to do next but actually all she did was drank more. She used to ring me several times a week but didn't sound drunk or anything. Then she collapsed. Initially in hospital she was awake but was then put on a ventilator. Five weeks later we were told the ventilator was being removed because it was prolonging her death, not prolonging her life. The worst thing was that on the day they were removing her ventilator, I went in to see her and she was awake and waved at me! I offered to donate part of my liver so she could have a transplant but this can't be done when the damage is due to alcohol unless you have been off alcohol for 6 months. It's easy to think that people who die from alcoholism are the down and outs you see in town but actually their alcoholism is restricted by lack of money. It's the ones with well paid jobs who die because, well, basically, they've got spare cash and if they want to drink - they can afford to buy it! Unfortunately it seems to be becoming more common - or maybe I'm just noticing it more nowadays!
Yes professionals can hide their 'problem' very well, the lady in the programme 'Rachel' was an anesthetist I believe? so would have been more aware than the average layman what damage she was doing inside.
As you're aware the liver is a amazing organ that's able to self repair, but only up to a point.
I'm a recovering alcoholic and some bits hit a bit of a note but some were way off too. The woman who was going on about going cold turkey and making a Trainspotting joke out of it was ridiculous. It's the most dangerous thing you can do. A bit of a thumbs up for AA too it seems especially when they gave the number out at the end, I don't believe it's a disease at all. Labelling myself can set a self-fulfilling prophecy and I don't like the anonymity side of it. Sounds an interesting show though, maybe the other bits might have been better.
My friend is an alcoholic and I constantly worry about trying to ring her up one day, not being able to get through and finding out she has died. She went through one successful detox back at the end of February, relapsed, and then had a second detox which she didn't complete. She drinks the hard stuff and she goes as far as keeping a large bottle of vodka in her bag when she goes out, which she frequently drinks from. Recently she's been complaining of sickness, dizziness and headaches which I'm really hoping is just a virus as opposed to a symptom of something more serious.
Comments
It's easy to forget that a GP is a human as well.
Poor woman must have had bad depression...sounds like she gave up in the end, sad
Last year, my sister died aged just 45. She had had a high powered job in the MOD. She started drinking a bit too much and then took voluntary redundancy. She had grand plans for what she was going to do next but actually all she did was drank more. She used to ring me several times a week but didn't sound drunk or anything. Then she collapsed. Initially in hospital she was awake but was then put on a ventilator. Five weeks later we were told the ventilator was being removed because it was prolonging her death, not prolonging her life. The worst thing was that on the day they were removing her ventilator, I went in to see her and she was awake and waved at me! I offered to donate part of my liver so she could have a transplant but this can't be done when the damage is due to alcohol unless you have been off alcohol for 6 months. It's easy to think that people who die from alcoholism are the down and outs you see in town but actually their alcoholism is restricted by lack of money. It's the ones with well paid jobs who die because, well, basically, they've got spare cash and if they want to drink - they can afford to buy it! Unfortunately it seems to be becoming more common - or maybe I'm just noticing it more nowadays!
Yes professionals can hide their 'problem' very well, the lady in the programme 'Rachel' was an anesthetist I believe? so would have been more aware than the average layman what damage she was doing inside.
As you're aware the liver is a amazing organ that's able to self repair, but only up to a point.
My friend is an alcoholic and I constantly worry about trying to ring her up one day, not being able to get through and finding out she has died. She went through one successful detox back at the end of February, relapsed, and then had a second detox which she didn't complete. She drinks the hard stuff and she goes as far as keeping a large bottle of vodka in her bag when she goes out, which she frequently drinks from. Recently she's been complaining of sickness, dizziness and headaches which I'm really hoping is just a virus as opposed to a symptom of something more serious.