So last night I went to a Christmas party hosted for and by my knitting friends and the lovely store where we gather. Yes, that’s right, I’m a knitter, and lately, I’ve even learned to crochet, so one could argue that I’m a hooker now as well. The party was …
I’ve said before that I’m no expert on alcoholism, I’m only an expert on alcoholism and me. In that spirit, that’s how this thing works, right? I share what I find to be helpful and then you can try it or pass it along or alternately think it’s a crock …
I get asked quite a bit about what I’m most grateful for in sobriety and that can be a difficult question. Most folks I know are very thankful for their recovery and protect it fiercely and most of us have SO MANY perks in sobriety that we can hardly narrow …
In 2015 I was discharged from the hospital with a very puny and sick liver and a considerably fat folder filled with recovery options and programs. It was overwhelming, terrifying, and embarrassing all at once. I didn’t want help, which made it even more unappealing but I also knew that …
I’ve always said that I’m somewhat similar to Herpes, really. You *think* I’ve disappeared and WHAM! there’s a flare up and I’m back. So, I hope you all had a kick-ass Thanksgiving and if you are in fact struggling with sobriety that you made it unscathed through the whole enterprise. …
One of the laments I hear amongst the newly sober is that they are concerned about losing part of their “identity” by becoming a non-drinker. Drinking is just part of who they are, they say. Oh, I get it, I do. If you’d have asked me a few years ago …
My two year surgery anniversary just passed and that means I got to go the hospital for what is called a TIPS ultrasound. This is just like the ultrasounds they do for pregnant women, except in my case they’re looking at a super expensive shunt attached to veins bypassing my …
When the shit hit the fan in 2015 I developed a condition knowns as Ascites. It results when there is a surplus of fluid in the abdominal cavity. Ascites is most often caused by liver scarring, in my case, Cirrhosis. This increases pressure inside the liver’s blood vessels. The increased pressure can …
How do you know if you’re an alcoholic? I get asked this all the time. Even recently by a nurse. When someone finds out about my trainwreck of a past ahem, history, I always encourage any questions they may have. For such a common problem, alcoholism is still very much a dirty secret …
Last Monday was the two year anniversary of my surgery. On October 9th, 2015 I had a shunt put into my liver that connects the portal vein with the hepatic vein to bypass the liver in the event of Cirrhosis and hypertension in the liver. TIPS is the jargon for …