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Edited on Tue Dec-30-03 04:50 PM by underpants
I usually don't post personal stuff here but I just felt like airing this and anyway the whole family has had this over its heads since December 14th.
My brother is an alcoholic. I mean serious life threatening alcoholism. At about 3 PM on December 14th my Mom finally convinced him to call me. He wanted to go into rehab and mentioned possibly committing suicide. For the next 5 hours I was on the phone trying to get the local Community Service Board (CSB) to get him to a hospital. There was no way I could get there as there was about 6 inches of snow on the ground there and 2 inches of ice, I live 90 minutes away and even my mom who lives 10 minutes away couldn't get there. The taxis weren't even running.
I called and coordinated (my mother was an absolute wreck) and he went to the local hospital, great place too. We lost contact with him for 2+ hours, he thinks now that he had gotten on his bike (can't drive)and went to get more beer but he told me that he had slipped while waiting for the taxi (that wasn't coming), badly twisted his ankle, and spent the next two hours crawling outside of his house as he had locked himself out and had to go get the hidden spare key in the front yard. He rippe dhis legs almost to shreds crawling around in the ice covered snow. He was in "Leaving Las Vegas" level where he couldn't drink enough to "make his body right" as he told me that night.
He spent 3 days in the hospital and they released him as they did 6 years ago when the same sort of thing happened. This time the CSB got him into a detox and didn't just think some meetings and AA would take care of it. This is HIS problem and he knows it but that he obviously needed more "help" then and now.
I have been working the phones for the last week and a half to get him into a 28 day program with little help from those who had the necessary paperwork. Tomorrow he is going to a private facility, it is NOT a country club but a place highly recommended by someone I work with. Six years ago I had no idea what services were available and had no idea how to find out, because of where I work I now know what can and needs to be done. I would very much like to thank fellow DU'er Demman for his help and advice on how to make what my brother wanted to happen happen.
We wanted to get him into a state run facility as it was less expensive (though that was never going to be a determining factor) and because my uncle, who dropped everything to come and help my mom, said he needed to see the lowest of the lows. My uncle has been battling this with his stepchild for years and a year ago he got him into a country club like place where it is a bunch of rich kids who were probably making their first or second visit of many more and aren't facing life and death decisions. Here is the odd part-to get into the state facility it was going to take about a month, my brother would have been going to a day treatment place from 9-3 everyday and then go home and sit by himself everyone agreed that this was not going to work.
Why a month? you ask. Because for the 13 counties here in Virginia that this place takes people from they have a total of ..............32 beds. 32 freakin' beds for all substance abuse clients that's it. See no one wants to be the politician who uses tax money to help out junkies, coke heads, and drunks especially illegal drug users. Some of those beds are reserved for females (which is good) but that further cuts down on the number of beds available to someone like my brother. Here is the real kicker-my brother has a job and still will when he gets out of rehab, his boss told him to take as much time as he needs and that he will have his old job (hourly in a restaurant) when he comes back NOW THAT IS A GOOD PERSON but if my brother had committed a crime he would probably already be in the state facility. I know that a lot of prisoners ( a lot of people for that matter) need help and it is good that SOME can get it but if my contributing good member (mostly) of society had thrown a rock through a storefront he would have gotten more help and quicker than he did.
Well I aired that out sufficiently. Send some good vibes his way and rest assured that he knows what lies in front of him and most importantly what lies behind him.
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