Kaleidoscope Eyes
December 9th, 2008, 12:20 AM
...remember my cousin, Craig? Alcoholic, two ex-wifes and three kids who now want nothing to do with him, we took him in, he went to rehab for about a week, yatta yatta?
Well.
Now he has Hepatitis C.
Which, you know, doesn't work with alcohol. In fact, the doctor told him that if he keeps drinking then he's going to die a lot sooner (because they're both ruining his liver). There is treatment for Hep C, weekly injections that help with the symptoms and can give you a longer life expectancy, but he will never be eligible for a liver transplant because he's an alcoholic. There are so many people who need organs that, if you ruin yours through alcohol/substance abuse, you aren't considered for it--its your own fault, and they cant risk giving you a new organ that you'll treat the same way. Honestly, I don't think he'll stop drinking.
I guess he got sick over the Thanksgiving holidays, and blood-work confirmed the diagnosis. Now, I would love to believe that he got this from his girlfriend. His married, alcoholic, might-as-well-be-a-hooker girlfriend who's into God only knows what as far as drugs go. Hey, hep C can be sexually transmitted. Unfortunately, it really is more efficiently transmitted through blood. Craig has never needed a transfusion, and they're really good about checking those bags of blood these days anyways. ...So has he been shooting up? Beyond that, has he been sharing needles? How stupid can he be?!?!? He has three kids, the oldest is only 10, and the youngest probably won't even remember him when he gets older, assuming Craig can't get himself together. And he needs to get himself together, like, yesterday.
But do you want to hear the best part??
I guess he's been living with his parents in Tehachapi, because he rented out his house and kept getting tickets for parking his trailer on the side of the road (if you live in it, it has to be at a campground or trailer park). He wasn't getting treatment out there, and I doubt they could bear to part with the alcohol in their expansive walk-in pantry, but they felt like they were helping. Well, they had to take him with them on their anniversary, they went to Vegas. They also brought along their daughter (Craig's sister) Kris, her husband Tim, and of course Craig's hooker girlfriend. I suppose that was so the "kids" could do their thing while my aunt and uncle got to have their anniversary. Kris and Tim spent the entire weekend in the hotel room (Tim's a crack addict, and I guess Kris is too these days. She has poor judgement with potential husbands). Hooker chick is an alcoholic too, and she was drunk the entire time. Like, Craig couldn't get rid of her for even a moment, she was paranoid, she was really losing it. It was so bad that Craig locked himself in the bathroom and called the mother of his two daughters, asking for advice. Unfortunately, they couldnt just leave her in Vegas (although everyone wanted to), so she told him to just stick it out for the weekend, and break it off once they were back home. After that whole ordeal, knowing her son is an alcoholic (and not getting better) with hepatitis from suspected drug use, what does his mom do? She rents out an apartment for him here, almost two hours away from her, and right back into the middle of our lives again. And she rents it out for the two of them, even though the chick will make his alcoholism worse, eventually killing him, and even though the chick's HUSBAND is pissed off at Craig and wants to beat the crap out of him. Allllll because mommy probably want her life back and is sick of babysitting her 40 year-old son. And what a wonderful job she did of that.
My god, I know this is tough on everyone, but what the hell? What parent willingly sends their child off like that? They haven't even done anything to actually help, just visited him for a day or two in rehab and then given him a place to drink under some sort of supervision. Now they're signing his death warrant. What do they think they're accomplishing?
I'm beyond being sad for Craig. He's done this to himself, and I only wish he could have picked himself back up. My family has done all we can, and now it's up to him to make the right decisions. When he dies it will be unfortunate, but I'll be thinking only of his children, who have had to deal with his crap at such a young age, and of his parents, whose actions I may never fully understand.
How do people do this to themselves?
Well.
Now he has Hepatitis C.
Which, you know, doesn't work with alcohol. In fact, the doctor told him that if he keeps drinking then he's going to die a lot sooner (because they're both ruining his liver). There is treatment for Hep C, weekly injections that help with the symptoms and can give you a longer life expectancy, but he will never be eligible for a liver transplant because he's an alcoholic. There are so many people who need organs that, if you ruin yours through alcohol/substance abuse, you aren't considered for it--its your own fault, and they cant risk giving you a new organ that you'll treat the same way. Honestly, I don't think he'll stop drinking.
I guess he got sick over the Thanksgiving holidays, and blood-work confirmed the diagnosis. Now, I would love to believe that he got this from his girlfriend. His married, alcoholic, might-as-well-be-a-hooker girlfriend who's into God only knows what as far as drugs go. Hey, hep C can be sexually transmitted. Unfortunately, it really is more efficiently transmitted through blood. Craig has never needed a transfusion, and they're really good about checking those bags of blood these days anyways. ...So has he been shooting up? Beyond that, has he been sharing needles? How stupid can he be?!?!? He has three kids, the oldest is only 10, and the youngest probably won't even remember him when he gets older, assuming Craig can't get himself together. And he needs to get himself together, like, yesterday.
But do you want to hear the best part??
I guess he's been living with his parents in Tehachapi, because he rented out his house and kept getting tickets for parking his trailer on the side of the road (if you live in it, it has to be at a campground or trailer park). He wasn't getting treatment out there, and I doubt they could bear to part with the alcohol in their expansive walk-in pantry, but they felt like they were helping. Well, they had to take him with them on their anniversary, they went to Vegas. They also brought along their daughter (Craig's sister) Kris, her husband Tim, and of course Craig's hooker girlfriend. I suppose that was so the "kids" could do their thing while my aunt and uncle got to have their anniversary. Kris and Tim spent the entire weekend in the hotel room (Tim's a crack addict, and I guess Kris is too these days. She has poor judgement with potential husbands). Hooker chick is an alcoholic too, and she was drunk the entire time. Like, Craig couldn't get rid of her for even a moment, she was paranoid, she was really losing it. It was so bad that Craig locked himself in the bathroom and called the mother of his two daughters, asking for advice. Unfortunately, they couldnt just leave her in Vegas (although everyone wanted to), so she told him to just stick it out for the weekend, and break it off once they were back home. After that whole ordeal, knowing her son is an alcoholic (and not getting better) with hepatitis from suspected drug use, what does his mom do? She rents out an apartment for him here, almost two hours away from her, and right back into the middle of our lives again. And she rents it out for the two of them, even though the chick will make his alcoholism worse, eventually killing him, and even though the chick's HUSBAND is pissed off at Craig and wants to beat the crap out of him. Allllll because mommy probably want her life back and is sick of babysitting her 40 year-old son. And what a wonderful job she did of that.
My god, I know this is tough on everyone, but what the hell? What parent willingly sends their child off like that? They haven't even done anything to actually help, just visited him for a day or two in rehab and then given him a place to drink under some sort of supervision. Now they're signing his death warrant. What do they think they're accomplishing?
I'm beyond being sad for Craig. He's done this to himself, and I only wish he could have picked himself back up. My family has done all we can, and now it's up to him to make the right decisions. When he dies it will be unfortunate, but I'll be thinking only of his children, who have had to deal with his crap at such a young age, and of his parents, whose actions I may never fully understand.
How do people do this to themselves?