[keppster]

Life at the beginning was good but confusing as I did not know he had a drink problem. Being married to an alcoholic has been violent, heartbreaking, and most of all lonely.
But after 10 years my husband admitted he had a drink problem and wanted help. The hard task started looking for help as this was 20 year ago.
The GP sent him for treatment at a drink and drugs clinic, the treatment lasted a week then you were on your own unless you went to AA which is a good place but my hubby thought it too religious and didn’t take to it. I myself tried going to Al Anon but that didn’t work for me either(there was no where else to go). He ended up in mental hospital for a month and that did the trick.
He got a really good job we bought our first home and everyone was wonderful. This lasted a few years then he had a stroke and other physical problems which meant he lost his job. He ended up with a lot of memory/cognitive problems which hubby found hard to cope with. We lost our home and got into a lot of debt. Drink became his only refuged so he thought so out it came again. The more the depression stepped up the more the drinking got worse.
I tried everything I could our GP, hospitals drink and drug clinics only to be told there was a waiting list of at least 6 weeks to be seen. He would be dead I thought and he cannot do this do it alone. We were desperate and oh so lonely. He started to hurt himself so I called the crisis team and was told yes they would come up but only if he was sober.
After a few weeks of trying to kill himself he ran out of the house one night with a knife. My son found his father just as he was getting arrested at the doors of the mental hospital (he had been crying to get in).
We were at county court for 8 months fighting to stop hubby from going to prison. Lucky we had a very good judge and he saw that so he put hubby in a mental hospital and got the help he needed. That was three years ago. Life was good again.
But my son got married this may and guess what yes he had a drink and it started again. But this time there was the help quickly and the follow up. So now we are back on track again. Hubby is happy I am happy with our little lives. Most of this is is due to a CPN nurse who cared enough to send him quickly to unity and not have to wait 6 weeks, which he would have been dead if he waited. Matt my hobby’s care worker at unity sent him straight up the hospital (with a letter explaining things) and he was admitted.
Matt was there throughout stay in and out of hospital. He also gave me support and made me feel that I was not alone.
So a big thank you to Matt and unity that was there quickly,

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