Nancy, getting sober is one of the bravest things you can do in this life. So I beg of you to hang in there. If there is one thing I can implore of you it is that.

Because I can promise you, if you just do this unbelievably difficult thing, one day at a time, your life will transform in ways you couldn’t imagine possible. I bamboozled myself into sobriety by promising myself I would drink or use tomorrow - just not today. That worked for me. Every day that I didn’t use, that little Sherry spirit glow deep inside of me grew just a little bigger. I began to enjoy that feeling of getting that spirit glow back and didn’t want to eradicate it by drinking or using. That was my motivation.

I also encourage you to tell your husband unless he truly is oblivious or has anger issues around this. We are usually the last to know how sick we are. It rarely comes as a surprise to our loved ones when we tell them our big “secret”.

We need all the help and support we can get and there is a lot of support out there. I live in an isolated forest on a mountain and because I am disabled it is very difficult for me to get out. I have found online support at 3am when I couldn’t sleep and thought I couldn’t do this one more minute and it saved my life.

I don’t want to frighten you but make sure your hotel has a physician because cold turkey withdrawal from alcohol can cause seizures, even days into sobriety.

I don’t know how to send a private note on Medium, so that I can send you my email address. You can probably find me on Facebook and if you send me a friend request we can private message. It would make me very happy to be able to offer you support. Doing this alone is extremely difficult.

I’ve been through hell and back and have now been sober over 4 years after an 8 year relapse from a 20 year sobriety. (Long story.) In the last 4 years, I began doing the things I love again - writing, drawing, making music and corresponding with close friends. I also got my house in order, as they say, met the love of my life and got married! I am 59 — proof that one can change at any age.

You are on your way, and I promise you it will get easier if you keep at it.