I have questions and this seems like the venue, if not, please let me know and I'll move along ...
Short intro: my business partner whom I've sat in an office with for the last decade is currently in a 30 day in-patient treatment program and I'm looking for some info on how to support him when he gets back.
Background: I think he's known he had a problem for a while because in the spring/early summer he hired an addiction counselor and did a 40 day dry spell. The whole time he claimed it was temporary and he just needed to get it under control but he was never planning to stop forever. Then this fall he went back to drinking but it was supposed to be "in more moderation." Then the day after Thanksgiving he ends up in the hospital with pancreatitis, which was bad, but according to the doctors, what put him in the ICU for nearly a week was the withdrawal. He had a seizure, was hallucinating, confused, delirious, moody, and couldn't sleep. After he got over that, the docs said he was lucky to be alive, so he took it to heart and 2 days after getting home, checked himself into the previously mentioned 30 day program.
Questions:
1) I don't know how to talk about it with our work associates (vendors, customers, partners, etc). When I've told a few of them frankly what happened, it feels like gossip and it's not my story to tell. But I don't know what to say when they ask about him.
2) I've already taken the beers we kept in our work fridge home. I was thinking about re-stocking it with some NA beers before he gets back, but I don't know if that's a good idea or not.
3) Should I go to some Al-anon meetings? Would it help me to read the blue book? I really want him to succeed, and I want to be as prepared as possible to help.
4) We do a lot of business at Happy Hours and sometimes boozy dinners, etc. How do I handle that sort of thing moving forward?
TIA for any input, and like I said, if this isn't the venue, please point me to the appropriate place.
EDIT to say, I just realized my avatar is highly inappropriate for this thread, no offense meant by it. (but this is surly, and we're all a bunch of assholes)