HI Sunni!  Sadly, there is nothing YOU can really do to make him stop drinking.  You can show him the literature about WKS...convince him he has it by his symptoms and that the only way to stop the progression is to stop drinking.  Tell him how much you love him and how is drinking is affecting you.  Has your Dad ever tried Alcoholics Annonymous?  You can suggest he go to a meeting where he can meet other alcoholics who WILL be able to help him because they suffer from the same disease.  He suffers from a compulsion and obsession to drink and no human power can stop him from doing it.  AA has a program of recovery that has worked for millions of people.  Best of all it is free.  But HE has to be open, honest and willing to take that step.  Locate a meeting in your area...www.aa.org and click on find a meeting.  Then take him there.  There will be people there that he may identify with.  And then maybe get yourself to an Al Anon meeting which is for families of alcoholics.  They will help you to understand that you are not responsible for your father's drinking.  I hope this helps and you will be in my prayers.

 

xo,
Kathy

Hello to everyone out there.  It has been a long time since i wrote to everyone, I read your posts everyday and my heart goes out to all of you.  Everyone is always in my prayers.  A small update on my family, my husband Rick is 32 years old and was diagnosed with WKS last march, he was in the hospital for 3 months.  Rick could not stand, walk, or feed himself in the hospital.  It was heartbreaking and we did not think he would make it home.  It was horrible to go see him considering he knew all of his family but would put us into his strange mixed up world, including our 3 year old son.  Even when Rick was drinking he was a very active person, he loved to swim, surf, and do anything outdoors, he even named our son Reef.  At 3 years of age my son did not understand why daddy could not take him to the park or play with him anymore.  In June Rick was released from the hospital, by some miracle one day he just snapped, he knew he was in the hospital and sick, he did not remember the last year of his life, was very weak and confused.  After a year of sobriety, meds and therapy he is doing much better, he now walks with a cane and is home with us.  He lives with constant pain in his legs every day due to the nerve damage that will always be with him,and has memory problems, however last week on a beautiful summer day i sat on the beach and cried as i watched and listened as my son smiled and laughed with his father, his arms around his neck, swimming in the surf.  To all of you out there, never give up hope, hold on to love and know that others out here share your pain and your joys and are always praying for you, even if you don't hear from us as often as you should.

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