Drink Up!
How Ten Days Ended a Lifetime of Addiction
by
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I’ve evolved into a binge drinker, each binge lasting from one to three days, with one to three weeks in between. Each day I drink a fifth of vodka, gin or tequila. Or more. During my binges I lie alone in my guest bedroom. Drink until I pass out. Come to occasionally to maybe eat something. And to drink more. I do this until I’ve drunk so much the alcohol no longer makes me unconscious.
This is the signal that my binge is over.
I stop drinking for a day or two, swear I’ll never do it again. Two days later I’m planning my next binge. It’s what gets me through my days.
During my sober moments I’m aware of how empty—no—how desolate my life has become. How extreme my circumstances are. That I could soon end up just like my brothers.
Dead.
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About the Book
Kathleen S. had tried just about everything to quit drinking. Nothing worked. A binge drinker who felt she was already living on borrowed time (two of her brothers died of addiction-related causes in their 40s), her life and health were rapidly breaking down. Then one day she heard a radio advertisement for a treatment program that promised to take away her cravings…
Much of the addiction treatment in the U.S. is based on AA attendance and working a twelve-step program. Physicians, the court system, insurance companies, and members themselves often look at AA as the only legitimate mode of recovery from substance abuse.
“This book says it all. Staying sober has been a piece of cake for me since Schick Shadel.”
—Chet
“Ten years ago I, too, walked the hallways of Schick Shadel Hospital. I share Kathy’s thankfulness for a life without alcohol and cravings, and for the loving care we received from the staff when we were patients. I validated my complete trust in the success of Schick Shadel’s treatment when I became the majority owner of the Hospital almost ten years ago. Kathy validated hers with the writing of this insightful and motivational book.”
—Jim Graham
“I am glad that one of our patients, Kathleen S, wrote a book about the treatment from the patient’s perspective. This book is written factually, with warmth and humor. I hope it will encourage others to give up their addiction and regain their lives again.”
—James W. Smith, M.D., Chief of Staff, Schick Shadel Hospital