As narrated by MARTHA DE LACEY The recommended maximum intake of alcohol for women is
between two and three units a day, and no more than 14 units a week.
So it is little wonder that Patricia Murphy - who drank up
to 350 units every week for 25 years - eventually ended up in hospital on a
life support machine with cirrhosis of the liver, or that she is now waiting to
be told if she'll need a liver transplant.
Patricia, 45, lives in Chessington, Surrey, and has been
sober for seven months. Feeling lucky to still be alive, the former sales
assistant now wishes to tell her story, hoping to warn other women about the
dangers of alcohol, the legal substance which ruined her life.
Read her story after the jump
Patricia began drinking when she was 17, after leaving
school to train as a sales assistant.
Naturally shy, drinking made her feel confident among her
peers, and soon she was drinking 10 double brandy and Cokes at the weekends.
When she started working in computer sales she was drinking
alcohol every night with colleagues- sometimes up to a litre of brandy.
Aged 28, both her parents died within five months of each
other, and alcohol became something with which she could numb her grief.
'Alcohol blocked the pain. I'd have a glass of wine in the
morning, then more throughout the day. I lived alone so there was no one to
stop me. I lost my job because of it.
'I was so drunk I'd forgotten to turn up and couldn't hold
down a routine. My brothers and sisters told me to cut down, but I ignored
them, I was ashamed at how my life was turning out but I couldn't stop.'
Soon she was drinking five bottles of wine every day, and
waking up in the middle of the night sweating and shaking. She used all of her
benefits money to buy alcohol, and spent all day watching TV and feeling
depressed.
When, aged 35, she met her partner Graham, now 42, in a pub,
she couldn't hide her addiction: Graham, an engineer, was teetotal.
Despite attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, Patricia
visited the doctor last November and was told her liver was seriously damaged.
Graham's mother had been an alcoholic, and he persuaded
Patricia into rehab - but as soon as she got out she headed straight to the
off-license and bought a bottle of wine.
'We had huge rows and split up for a few months. But he took
me back. I became a zombie, existing only for drink. I gained four stone and my
face was blotchy and puffy.'
Despite attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and being
admitted into rehab twice over the next four years, Patricia visited the doctor
last November - after much persuasion by Graham - and was told her liver was
seriously damaged.
She was taken to hospital with cirrhosis and collapsed:
while she was on life support Graham was told there was a five per cent chance
she'd survive. A priest came to read her last rites.
'I feel so guilty about the hurt I've caused those closest
to me, I'll always regret not having a career or children'
But against all the odds - and after a 10-week stay in
hospital - Patricia was released. Despite her ordeal, the first thing she did
upon release was buy wine. Luckily, she was disgusted with herself for doing
it, and has been sober ever since.
'At the moment, doctors are happy with my progress, but my
life expectancy will be affected. My liver is so scarred, it will slowly stop
functioning.'
A scan in October will determine whether or not Patricia
needs a liver transplant.
'I feel so guilty about the hurt I've caused those closest
to me, I'll always regret not having a career or children.'
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