Alcohol 2.0 is the same

High priced bourbon, craft beer and wine - ah the elixir of the elite. ALCOHOL 2.0

Stan is starting to feel a pain in his upper right side, he is a bit over weight due to his "great" holiday season - Christmas and New Years.  He makes a New Years resolution to finally lose some weight (again) and to slow down his drinking.  He vows to do a "sober" January.  He wakes up on January 1 with a nice hangover, after all since he is going to stop drinking in January he decided to have a few extra's on New Years Eve, what could it hurt.

The first few days are a bit rough, by 5 o'clock on January 1st, his brain is screaming for a drink of alcohol since that is about when the anesthetic effect of the previous nights drinks are starting to wear off, on top of that he feels that dull ache in his right side.  He fights through the urge to drink and even pours the last two craft beers he hid away in the back of the fridge down the kitchen sink as a testament to his resolve.

The next two days are rough and he seems on edge at work.  The pain is still there and he is having a bit of trouble sleeping, he wakes up exhausted each morning but soldiers on, he dusts off the treadmill he bought many New Years ago and decides he is going to start walking daily along with a new calorie restricted diet.  He drags himself to walk for 10 minutes the first two days.  Damn, 10 minutes never felt so long before and 500 calories a day sucks.

The pain in his side is still there.  He decides to go in for a yearly physical with his general doctor and gets on the schedule for mid next week.  The weekend comes and there are some football games to watch.    He struggles through the first game, drink free, since it was a habit of his to always have a "few" while enjoying the game on his 55 inch HD TV.  His favorite beer commercial comes on and his brain screams "Son of a Bitch - I need a drink."   He remembers his doctors appointment is coming up so he abstains from drinking and turns off the TV and decides to go to bed early.

The next few days are foggy, his mind is racing and he can't seem to concentrate.  He still is struggling with sleep and his treadmill is collecting dust again.  Tomorrow is the doctor visit.

He visits the doctor, and they also schedule him for blood work at the local lab.  The doctor warns him about his weight gain over the past year and asks him all the standard questions, he doesn't mention the dull ache in his right side since it seems to have settled down a bit.  He goes to the lab and they draw his blood and inform him they will send the results over to his doctor for review.

He is on day 7 of his "sober" January and he seems "out of sorts."  The good news is he is starting to sleep better but still feels exhausted, the daily walks on the treadmill are now an after thought as he finds them too boring.  He sticks to the calorie restricted diet to help him lose some weight, and checking the scale daily he is already down 5 pounds!  Around noon time he receives a phone call from his doctors office and they want to schedule a follow up from his recent blood work.  He is scheduled for tomorrow evening.

Doctor - "I reviewed the results of your blood work and have some concerns about your liver enzyme count, it is out of the normal range, actually it's a bit on the high side, how many drinks are you having a week?"

Stan - "well Doc, you know the normal amount on the weekend"

Doctor - "what's the normal amount?"

Stan - "well I drink the good stuff Doc, high priced Bourbon and craft IPA's, you know a few, maybe 3-4 drinks, but I have decided to quit drinking for the month of January, and I started a new diet and I've already lost 5 pounds"

Doctor - "That's great.  I was really concerned you were drinking the rot gut whiskey and light beer, you know that cheap stuff that will damage your liver and kill you, are you experiencing any discomfort on your upper right side?"

Stan - "now that you mention it I was feeling a bit of pain high up under my right rib cage but it seems to be OK now"

Doctor - "that's probably just some local inflammation in your liver based upon your blood work, I'll give you a 'script - use it for the next week and if the pain doesn't go away call me and well send you in for some further tests"

Stan - "thanks Doc"

Doctor - "keep up the diet and we'll see you next year"

Stan gets the 'script filled, take the pills for 5 days then another weekend of football comes, and he goes back to drinking the "good stuff" and the pain in his side goes away and he feels good again.

The vicious cycle goes on -  Stan can't imagine living life without Alcohol 2.0, it's his reward for being alive.