A North-East mother who needs a liver transplant because of alcohol abuse told her story to health editor Barry Nelson.

JOANNE PATTERSON was diagnosed with liver disease two years ago.

The mother-of-three, 41, from Sunderland, now relies on 90 tablets a week to stay alive, needs a liver transplant and says she lives day to day, not knowing if or when her liver will fail.

Joanne had her first alcoholic drink at 13, but didn’t really drink after that until she was in her late teens.

“There was always drink around at parties and social gatherings – it was just a way of life. When my second son was two I started going out every now and then.

“However, because of the cost of going out, more often than not I started to drink in the house. I’d have a couple of friends over and we’d have a few bottles of wine. The few drinks every now and then became more frequent and it soon became every day.

“As my drinking got worse it became more of a habit and a routine. I would be unpacking the groceries and open a bottle of wine and have a few glasses as I put the shopping away. By this point I was drinking every day. I was drinking three to four bottles of wine each day and around eight cans of lager.

“I never really knew how much I was drinking, as the fridge always had cans and bottles of alcohol in it, so I just kept topping it up, not really thinking about how much I was drinking.

“A few days before Christmas, I became really bloated and was in unbelievable pain.

After Christmas I went to see the doctor and was admitted into hospital. I had to stay in for three weeks and the doctors said that if I hadn’t gone in I would have only lived for a few days.

“I can’t really remember what happened in the hospital as I was under so much medication.

At this point I was told I would have to take about 90 tablets a week for the rest of my life. This includes taking beta blockers and slowrelease morphine as the pain is unbearable.

“In the past 18 months I have been in hospital for over 300 days. I have been diagnosed with chronic liver disease and I have portal hypertension (when blood builds up in your veins and then the vein bursts).

“I’ve also had peritonitis (which affects the blood) and septicaemia. I was on the infection control ward for three weeks. I’ve had fluid removed from my stomach with just a needle, I’ve haemorrhaged and had three blood transfusions.

“All of this is a result of drinking alcohol. I would hate it to happen to anyone else.”