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August/September
It’s Your Life Magazine
mind was full of confusion. It was to the point that
nobody wanted to be around me, but this was
the hermit state I had gotten myself into over the
years.
Joyce: You said you went looking for work, was it
related to your background in electronics?
Dean: No, I was working at a liquor store as a
cashier, probably not the best place for me to be
at that time. I met a lot of people and found that
many of them were struggling with the same or
similar health issues, but due to brain fog I never
thought to question why?
Joyce: How old were you during this time?
Dean: I would say 45.
Joyce: Did the alcohol use get worse or better with
you working at the liquor store?
Dean: It was the same, I remember waking up one
morning, or should I say trying to wake up. I felt
like I was in a dream state and called the doctor
telling him I need to see him right away. When
he entered the room the first thing he said was,
“We need to do a blood alcohol test, you reek of
alcohol.” The blood test revealed that after 8 – 9
hours after my last drink I was a .2 normal is .00.
Oh but there was more news my blood pressure
was 60/30 I was close to death. When I got home
I realized I had drank an entire fifth of vodka and
realized I had to do something.
Joyce: So, did you enter a treatments program or
start to attend AA meetings?
Dean: No, I had just met a wonderful lady on
the internet and we began talking, first on the
computer and then on the phone. I was honest
with her and told her about the alcohol use. I
expected her to go off on me, yelling or saying
some severe words and ending it by saying
goodbye or I can’t handle this. She said we need
to pray about this and find a way to get you
better. That’s what we did and today that woman
is my wife. I quit drinking, but still had all of the
symptoms I had been dealing with the majority of
my life. I found that through prayer and meditation
the mental aspects were helped, but not the
physical.
Joyce: How old were you at this point and were
Isssue 3
29
you still working at the liquor store?
Dean: I was still mid 40’s and no I was no longer
working at the liquor store. I was once again
running my electronic business out of the house,
but it just was not bringing in the money. So,
during my first year of marriage to my second wife
I got my CDL license and started driving a truck.
This was a challenge for both my new marriage and
the issues with my eyes and equilibrium. I had to
learn to just move my eyes instead of my whole
head and mastered it.
One day while I was driving I bit down on
something and heard a pop. I looked in the mirror
and saw that one of my fillings had cracked right
across the middle. This happened in the fall and
by December/January I found that 7 – 8 hours of
sleep was no longer enough, the tremors were
increasing, and my brain fog was getting worse.
Joyce: Did you schedule an appointment with the
dentist?
Dean: No, I had meant to, but at that time I was
on the road a lot and only home three days out
of the month. However, I did end up back at the
doctor’s office with bad allergies and constant
sinus pressure. I was given an antibiotic and
steroids, but the steroids gave me bad headaches
so I stopped taking them. My tremors were getting
so bad they were starting to affect my work and I
was always drained and tired. It was so bad I had
to come off the road to once again visit the doctor.
I was diagnosed with ɔ