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I am statistically far more likely than others to face alcohol-related-health-problems. Also, through an accident of fate and genetics, diabetes. And a family h
by hug 9y ago
I am statistically far more likely than others to face alcohol-related-health-problems. Also, through an accident of fate and genetics, diabetes. And a family history of pancreatic cancer means that I'll be sticking a gold star next to that entry on the list. I occasionally smoke, so throw a pinch o' lung cancer into the mix. I eat too much red meat, not enough vegetables, too many saturated fats, and all of the other things that add up to heart disease. I don't exercise enough, but the exercise I do is too high impact. I have been known to partake of illicit drugs on the odd occasion, so who knows what kind of back-yard horribly contaminated meth lab chemicals I'm putting into my body, and what they'll do. I ride a motorbike, so all of my organs, low value as they may be due to the combination of all of the aforementioned, might calamitously end up splattered over asphalt any day now.
Life is a calculated series of trade-offs. I've picked mine, and I'm really enjoying where they're taking me.
- paulcole 9y ago>Life is a calculated series of trade-offs. I've picked mine, and I'm really enjoying where they're taking me. Everybody changes their tune when they get there.
- smt88 9y agoI had a cousin who behaved and talked a lot like you. He got married, had kids, and got cancer. There's no way to know if it was from drinking, but it was liver cancer, and we have little-or-no cancer in our family. There are studies showing that even a single drink a day will increase the risk of some cancers. The pain of watching someone you love die slowly, agonizingly from cancer is difficult to imagine. So is the pain of realizing it's happening to you and wishing you could've done things differently. It sounds like you don't have anyone/anything to live for right now, but you never know if that will change. This would all be moot if having 6+ drinks a day were the only way to be happy, but there are lots of options to choose from before settling on something harmful. Hopefully you have tried many others (or will try many others) before deciding that happiness requires an early death.
- barking 9y agoLiver disease is commonly symptom-less until very late on. And to die from liver disease is just about the most unpleasant way to go. It's got to bring added pain to dying seeing the suffering it brings to loved ones, especially children. But to have on top of that the guilt that it could all have been so easily avoided must be intolerable. I have read accounts from many alcoholics saying how easy it was to give up alcohol once pain and death became real possibilities.
- trevyn 9y agoHmm. Thought experiment: What if death were something to be celebrated?
- ccozan 9y agowell, isn't this the whole idea of christianity? I came to peace with my death. It can come anytime. It might not come too soon ( I am a healthy beast at my 40's), but I am not afraid of it. We live anyway furthe like a hologram through other's memories. And that is a thing to celebrate.
- ido 9y agoI'm not afraid of death (it's a closer possibility for me due to an incurable disease unrelated to lifestyle). I am however terrified of being horribly sick for years before dying.
- altotrees 9y agoI have to say, this is one of the most self-aware breakdowns of personal choices and the cost/benefit of those choices I have seen — at least on an internet forum. I've never been a drinker, too much of a problematic family history attached to the stuff. I think what made things harder for those with an issue in my family and those I know currently battling problem drinking is the dynamic of silence. Forget about whether a person has a "problem" with drinking, the most trouble seems to happen when people avoid considering or talking about their consumption and retreat into themselves. This leads to destroyed relationships, depression, and in some cases leads further down the rabbit hole of drink. To the parent, whether or not you will face alcohol-related health problems remains to be seen. The fact that you have clearly thought about your drinking and how it connects to other parts of your life speaks volumes, to me at least. I wish more people would be open and willing to talk about matters like this.