Monday, April 12, 2010

Addiction

So how many of you really think you have a quilting addiction?  I wake up sometimes and start thinking about the quilt I am working on or the next one I want to make.  I have never thought of this as an addiction (and what a great thing to be addicted to) until this past weekend.

On Saturday morning my Mom called me to tell me that my nephew had gone into the hospital on Thursday night for the stomach flu.  They were going to send him home on Saturday morning but around midnight Friday night they went in his room because his I.V. was dinging and found him dead.  They were able to revive him after 10 minutes but could not breath on his own.  He is life support right and will not know how severe the brain damage will be from lack of oxygen until sometime tomorrow.  They are not sure how long he had been gone for but his entire body was blue when they found him.  On Saturday when my Mom and I were there the Dr came to get the my brother and his ex-wife to talk to them and we were there to listen.  She started off by talking about Friday morning when she saw him in the hall walking and his I.V. pole was shaking so bad because of going through alcohol withdrawals.  I was shocked.  I knew he had gone through treatment 2 times over that last 4 years and had been sober for almost 1 year.  His Mom knew he had been drinking but he had ran out of money and started withdrawing.  She is trying to blame everyone else right now for what has happened but that could be a very long blog about guilt.  The Dr's are saying on Tuesday they are going to have a better idea of how much brain damage there is going to be.  They know there is going to be some just have know idea how much until he is taken off sedation and they can arouse him and see what he is capable of.

Back to my question.  I know I come from a family of brothers that have gone through alcohol treatment and have all been sober for many many years but don't understand a addiction that is so life devastating.  I never realized that my sewing addiction is a addiction until this past weekend.  I am so thankful that my addiction is not life threatening and it is something that I make and pass on to others I love.  This is not a judgement of others that are battling addictions of alcohol, drugs or gambling that can destroy ones life, just a statement how thankful I am for the addiction I do have.

1 comment:

Jean said...

I am so sorry to hear of this Cathy. Was the "stomach flu" problem then actually withdrawal? It is so hard for someone to break these cycles. I have known people who have had drinking problems and it is very hard to quit,especially when others can handle a few social drinks. I quit smoking, and that was a hard addiction to break, but not as life threatening as drugs or alcohol.
I see that it doesn't look good for him, I am sorry your family has to go through this. How old is he?