Sobriety means I can cope with hard times

The last few days have been very difficult for me. Our young son has been sick and he needed to be taken into hospital. He developed a high fever three nights ago and due to this he had a seizure. I was away at the time as I needed to go to Burma for an extension to my Thai visa. I was unable to get back until the next day.

When I got back it was a huge shock to see how sick Timmy looked. He was in the middle of a high fever and his face was all puffy and he his eyes were open but he was so quite. It almost tore me apart to see him this way. The hospital was unable to find any reason for his symptoms. I was amazed to find that they hadn’t even taken any bloods yet. They wanted to wait and see it the fever would resolve itself.

Our local hospital is very basic. Timmy was born there seven months ago and they did a great job, but I wasn’t sure they were the best place for him this time. I wanted to move him to the city and to a private hospital. The problem was that it was two hours away by car and I was worried that he might have a seizure again while we were far away from a hospital. In the end we waited until his temperature was falling and moved him.

The local hospital wanted us to wait until the doctor arrived in the hospital, but they couldn’t tell us when this would be. I wasn’t prepared to wait around for a few more hours for a doctor’s letter that wouldn’t say much. I though it prudent that we move Timmy while he was having a break in his fever.

In the private hospital they immediately took bloods and performed other tests to try and find a cause for his symptoms. They still can’t find anything but at least they are looking. Timmy seems to be improving and was fever free for most of the night. It looks like he is on the mend.

The last few days have been hard, but I could cope. I think back to my drinking days and can see how it would have been a different story then. I would have been overwhelmed and turned to alcohol to escape to pain. Instead of being able to be there for my wife and son, I would have been an added burden. I would have made the situation worse. I am grateful that this is not the case today.