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Ally reached forward and touched his hand, anxious to reassure him and build a relationship. ‘I believe you, Mr Thompson. Alcohol can make you do all sorts of things that are out of character. We need to talk about what we can do together to solve the problem.’
Geoff Thompson shook his head. ‘I’ve been drinking too much for years, you know. It started socially—I have to drink really as part of my job. You know the score, Dr McGuire—clients, conferences. Before you know it you’re drinking regularly every day and the amounts get larger and larger.’
‘What do you usually drink?’
He shrugged. ‘Wine with meals, spirits in the bar, spirits after a meal.’
Gently Ally probed, delving into his drinking history, finding out when it had started, whether he’d ever tried to cut down or stop, whether he used any other substances.
‘I suppose I don’t eat properly any more,’ he admitted, his expression bleak. ‘At least not when I’m working. Mary always has a meal waiting for me at home but, then, she’s a wife in a million.’
Ally made a few notes on her pad. ‘She’s very worried about you.’
‘I’ve let her down so badly.’ Suddenly Geoff buried his face in his hands and gave way to tearing sobs. ‘I’ve made such a mess of things. She was so proud of me. So proud.’
‘She’s still proud,’ Ally said firmly, a lump starting in her throat. Poor man. What a mess! ‘Just wait one minute, Mr Thompson, while I make a quick call.’
She buzzed through to Helen and quietly asked her to reassign her next three patients to the other partners and bring in some tea.
‘Now, listen, we’re going to sort this out, Geoff, I promise you that.’ She used his first name on purpose, thinking that he needed that extra friendliness. ‘But you are going to have to help.’
Geoff rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath, thoroughly embarrassed. ‘I’ll do anything—I’m so sorry to break down…’
Ally shook her head. ‘There’s absolutely no need to apologise. Now, this is what we’re going to do.’ She broke off as Helen entered with the tea, handing Geoff a mug and waiting while he took a few sips. Once Helen had left the room Ally returned to the conversation.
‘Now, as far as treatment goes, we have two options. Firstly I could refer you to the Alcohol and Drug Dependence Centre for specialist treatment.’
Geoff pulled a face. ‘What’s the second option?’
‘We could detoxify you at home with the help of the community alcohol team, but that would put a lot of stress on Mary.’
Geoff thought for a minute. ‘Mary and I want to overcome this together, which we can do at home. Could we go that route?’
Ally nodded. ‘OK. I’ll need to do a physical examination and some blood tests.’
Geoff shuddered. ‘I hate having blood taken. What’s it for?’
‘I’m checking your general health, the state of your liver, that sort of thing.’ Ally pulled open a drawer and selected several different forms. ‘After you’ve finished here make an appointment with Sister to have your blood taken.’
She scribbled details of the various tests onto the forms and handed them to Geoff, then spent some time exploring his social circumstances, talking about his financial situation, his sex life and his job. She also spent time assessing his mood. Satisfied that he didn’t seem clinically depressed, she moved on to this current situation.
‘Do you need your car to do your job?’
‘Well, I’ve been lucky.’ Geoff gave a wry smile. ‘My boss is a pretty good chap and he’s found stuff for me to do in the office until I get my licence back.’
‘And you can reach the office by train.’ Ally nodded and scribbled on the notes again. ‘What I’m going to do is to give you a drug called chlordiazepoxide to take over ten days. You’ll need time off and very frequent monitoring at first.’
‘I can do all that, no problem.’
Ally watched him for a moment, feeling uneasy and not knowing why. Reaching for her phone book, she scribbled down a number and handed it to him. ‘That’s the number of Alcoholics Anonymous. Do call them because having the support of people in the same situation is invaluable.’
Geoff stared at the number, his jaw set.
‘You must realise that you can’t drink at all. Controlled drinking just doesn’t work when you have a dependence on alcohol.’
‘I know that.’ Geoff gave a short laugh. ‘I’m going to give it my best shot, Dr McGuire. I just hope it works.’
Reaching for the phone, Ally called the community alcohol team and chatted to them, arranging for them to share responsibility for the detoxification programme. Then she sorted out the details with Geoff and watched him go, his shoulders slumped. Would he have the will-power to carry it through?
