Glad To Be Alive!

[Lowry]

Hi All,

I've been drinking off and on all my adult life. Things started getting bad in 2009 when I got 2 DUI's. Did that stop me? Of course not! I eventually picked up where I left off, and a couple years ago I was diagnosed with pancreatitis. I quit for awhile, then started drinking heavily all day and night. I was killing myself, and I knew it.

In May, my wife took me to the hospital with intense abdominal pain. From that point on I don't remember a thing. I woke up a few days later in intensive care. The doctors told me I had gone into cardiac arrest. Thank God I was already in the hospital, or I'd be dead right now. The doctors, and I believe a higher power, brought me back to life. I was told that if I ever drank again, I would most certainly die. Again.

Many have told me that I was REALLY lucky! I haven't had a drink for nearly 5 months, and just received a perfect bill of health from my physician. No heart problems, no liver problems, everything is back to being like a "normal" person.

I'm most certainly an alcoholic, and will always be one. But I will never drink again. God wants me to be alive, and so do I. Life is a gift! And a life of sobriety is SOOO much better than I ever imagined.

Blessings,

Lowry

[Guitarista]

Right on Lowry, and welcome.

Congratulations on your good health and nearly 5 months booze free.

Hope to see you around the boards. Have a safe, sober and magical weekend friend. G

[available]

I am an alcoholic too Lowry and nearly 11 months sober. I didnt have happen to me what you did but i knew that was only a matter of time. Congratulations on your 5 months sober, life is a total blessing each and every day when we choose not to drink.

[See the Light]

Lowry- your story is very moving...thank God for 2nd (or more) chances. Glad you are here. Thanks

[MossRose]

Hi Lowry. Welcome and congrats on 5 months! That is an inspiring achievement. Sorry you had to endure so much to get here, but glad you made it. Hope to get to know you better.

[fluff]

Glad you're here Lowry! That's quite a harrowing,scary story and it's wonderful it turned out with a happy ending.
Welcome !

[Lavande]

Hello & welcome Lowry!
Glad you decided to join us. Congrats on your 5 months AF, that's great to hear.
You certainly were blessed with a 2nd chance for a long, happy & healthy life
Participating in a community like this will only help you maintain your resolve. Your story will likely help many others as well.

Wishing you the very best!

Lav

[j-vo]

Thanks for your story Lowry. Please stay here at MWO so that you maintain your sobriety. It's easy for us to get a clean bill of health and think that we could go back to drinking, even if we think we can moderate. An alcoholic's brain works that way. So stay here and engage as much as possible. Your story will help many people realize where drinking can take them. I'm glad you're well now.

[Alky]

Isn't the human body's capacity to heal amazing? I was taken to an ER back in June after possibly having a detox seizure. My bloodwork revealed my liver enzymes were well north of 200. After only two months of sobriety, they were completely normal - AST was about 40 and ALT about 25 (or vice versa - I can never keep them straight).

I too, am convinced of the existence of a higher power. After I detailed to a friend all my close "scrapes" during my years of habitual drunk driving, he quipped that I was "lucky." "Lucky" is not the word. "Blessed" is more appropriate. I never received a DUI (despite even being pulled over once while extremely intoxicated for speeding), nor was I ever in a major accident, even though I came extremely close to being in one numerous times. No, no one's luck would have held out that long. Also, after five months of sobriety you don't need me to tell you how critical the belief in a higher power is. Whether you believe alcoholism is a spiritually or biologically based malady, fact is the compulsion to drink is so powerful and so overwhelming, the belief in something more powerful than yourself is crucial to keep you from taking that drink.

[Lowry]

Thank you Soooo much for your posts Guitarista, available, See the Light, Moss Rose, fluff, Lavande, j-vo, and Alky! Your thoughts and support mean so much to me.... Yup, Alky, I sure feel blessed to be here. We all are as long as we don't take that first drink! It becomes a vicious rollercoaster that gets worse each time it goes down.

Thanks Again,

Lowry

[NotHappyHourHappyLife]

Welcome. Lowry.