Intensive care
At the end of 2022, Chantal will suffer from internal bleeding. She also appears to have developed cirrhosis of the liver due to excessive drinking. She is shocked, but it doesn’t stop her from taking alcohol. “It’s bizarre when I think back on it now”, Chantal sighs. “I just turned out completely yellow, I looked like a Jumbo bag. And yet I kept drinking. That’s how deceptive an addiction works.”
This will change in February 2023, when she becomes so ill that she is placed in intensive care. “I was out of the world for two days and ended up in hospital for five weeks. That I survived is miraculous: in fact, the doctors already gave up on me. When doctors confirmed that ‘keep drinking’ really meant ‘dying’ in my case, the switch turned. I had absolutely no intention of committing suicide.”
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AA
If Chantal stays sober for six months, she can go on the list for a transplant. She is now almost ready and all medical examinations look good. She has an intake at a rehab clinic for professional guidance, but due to considerable queues, she can only go there at the end of the year. Until then, she attends an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting in her neighborhood every week.
“It really is a godsend for me,” says Chantal. “I called on a Tuesday and was already able to join us on Wednesday. In addition, those meetings are celebrations of recognition: it helps me to hear that others often deal with the same problems. And it also helps to hear how they approach it, which helps them. Everyone in the group is a buddy to each other, a helpline. In addition, I now also have a permanent mentor and I have started the twelve-step plan.”
Not normal
Chantal has already learned one thing through her time at the AA: how normalized drinking alcohol is in our society. “On TV it passes by all the time, and how many times have you been to an alcohol-free birthday? You don’t just see a gram of heroin next to your steak in a restaurant, but you do see a perfectly fitting wine. You are confronted with it always and everywhere.”
“I want to share my story to make it clear that we shouldn’t think this is normal. Alcohol almost led to death for me, others it costs a family, job or friendships. It can destroy everything. I hope we move more and more towards the acceptance that a life without alcohol is simply healthier. In all ways.”
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2023-08-06 04:06:35
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