For the next three weeks, I went to treatment every weekday and two AA meetings a week. We poured in our sand, shared and continued to learn from each other. Also, I got caught up about what was going on in the residential house I used to be in. This interesting group of people, some in their sixties, some twenty-something mothers, and others young teenagers – all joined by a disease that made us all the same – truly helped me on the correct path of working on the treatment for my disease, thus making my graduation day much more solemn than I thought possible. When you graduate from JoAnn’s…

So, on Thursday, February 16, 2017, I left Sanford and Dayna drove me to Prairie St. John’s psychiatric and behavioral health hospital where I signed in for intensive in-patient care. It was also my 47th birthday. I was scared, and after Dayna drove off, it was the first time I felt lonely in a long time. I was, however, 16 days sober. That evening I was given a copy of the Alcohol Anonymous Big Book, in which I signed my name, and added “sober plus 16 days.” I now have two birthdays. My Belly-Button Birthday, and my Sobriety Birthday on the first of February. The next night I attended my…

So, to back-track a wee bit. Yes, the set of questions I was asked repeatedly about concerned how much alcohol I drank, to which I repeatedly lied about. Whilst I was trying not to bleed all over the bathroom and clean it up, I was drinking whiskey because I was convinced it might help. What I didn’t seem to care about was that I was drinking a lot – everyday. However, one thing I did not do, ever, was drink at work. Even at this point I felt that work was a safe place away from the bottle. I will admit I thought about when I could go home to…

So, late January, 2017 I slipped on the ice in the loading bay at work. Banged up my head (ten stitches) and my hand (swelled up like a melon – which probably protected the rest of my face and my teeth). I was taken to the ER by a work colleague and Dayna came to meet me. That explains the picture in Dayna’s first blog post. A couple of days later, January 31, I got a nose bleed at work – which didn’t stop. I had to cancel my night class and come home. I bled through dinner, after dinner when DD went to bed, and bled some more. And…