Resilience to Alcohol
Resilience
Like most of you, I've known a few drinkers who couldn't be classed as anything other than alcoholics. Take 30 or more years of hard drinking, and add that to the same number of years (or more) smoking cigarettes, and the overall deterioration of health becomes more than apparent after ~ age 50.
But in respect to giving up at a later age, it's also amazing to discover just how resilient and repairable the body is, even at age 60.
During my teens - after my father had departed for a brighter future - an old school friend of my mums (Len) made our place his second home for a few years. Mum was a social drinker and occasional smoker and never had a problem giving up either drink or cigs when she felt she was developing a smokers cough. But as I said, she was not hardcore at either.
So I never saw any detrimental health effects from her lifestyle. Quite different was Len who drank copious amounts of beer and smoked 80+ 16mg cigs a day. Len was an ex-serviceman who worked at a prison farm. His day consisted of being up at 4:00am to round up the boys to milk cows. By 8:00am he was finished till 4:00pm when he returned to supervise the afternoon milking.
His time in between was spent at the RSA (NZ RSL equivalent) drinking with his mates. After evening knock off he'd usually go back to the RSA, then at some point arrive at our place for something to eat - with more beer. Len would smoke ~ a 20 pkt after dinner and on the way home.
Len had a smokers cough that would raise the dead. It was hideous. If he felt a coughing fit coming on he'd disappear into the bathroom where he'd gasp and wheeze, cough a splutter. When he caught my bro and I pressed ear to the bathroom door, he said nothing and walked past. I wondered how the fuck he was still alive - it was that bad and both my bro and I have never since heard a cough like it.
After almost a year of knowing Len I asked mum how she knew Len at school. She said Len was in the 1st 15 rugby team, and was every girls' dream date. He was strong, feisty, quick witted and a smooth dude. She dug out a couple of old photo's which left me stunned.
I couldn't believe it; that this shadow of a man, the frail and awkward Len, once was a top football player? Fuck, I thought! what had changed?
I brewed on this long and hard, lying awake at night wondering how and when the changes in this man had taken place. He was 3 years younger than mum yet looked 20 years older. Finally, after quitting cigs myself at 20, I suggested he might like to try the Herbal Tobacco (no not pot) I used to wean off the nicotine. Surprisingly he agreed to give them a go. It lasted almost a week, where for 2 days he got down to less than 10 cigs, while smoking the herbal inbetween. Then he went back to cigs saying the herbals were too awkward to roll. So I rolled up a few ounces and off he went. A few months later he gave up altogether.
Now, with all that beer, you'd think this man would have a big healthy [sic] pot belly. But he didn't - he was skinny as a rake. However, after a couple of months off the ciggies, his tummy started to grow. When I returned to NZ in 83 after being away 2 years, Len was a big belly beer drinker, but despite that he looked so much more healthy.
I had a lot of distaste for Len during the first years I knew him. He gave my mates and my bro and I shit all the time. He'd wave a finger at my friends saying something like
"I'll see you in Waikeria [Prison]. You'll all end up there...good for nothing fuckin kids... " He was also the one who took all my chem gear and buried it to make more room in the shed. I won't go into details which followed other than to say I never spoke to either him or my mum for over a year. So I really had reason to dislike this man. But over time pity had taken place of vengeance.
The next time I returned home, some 6 years later, I was absolutely blown away. I couldn't get over how he looked. He'd been off the booze for nearly a year and looked
years younger. He was sharp and quick witted, happy faced; a completely different person. I was instantly flooded with a deep admiration for this man who's eyes sparkled in a way I can't describe. He
was a hero afterall. Not only did he banish his 2 massive monkeys, but he stood taller, like an older version of the champ I'd seen in those photos.
Presently in his late 70's, ol Len achieved more in the 10 years post-drinking than he had in much of his earlier life. Although his mind has remained sharp, he has suffered from what was probably other alcohol related illness. He did end up having had a heart attack, - probably from a new young bride of 65
- but a triple bypass seemed to fix that. Diabetes and Arthritis have plagued him recently, but all the same, he had 10 years where his quality of life soared.
But if I'd had to guess his life expectancy when I first met Len, I would have said he wouldn't have lasted more than a couple of years. My conclusion was that while alcohol may damage the brain and organs - beyond repair even - it obviously - at least for some people - takes a lot to damage the brain beyond recovery.
