I just can't believe she was consuming the amount of booze she says she would. Surely she'd not be functioning at any level. Was she never left alone with her children then? No concerns about her ability to work?
I have been sober for over 6 years. it's possible for alcohol to be a destructive addiction without necessarily needing to drink oceans of the stuff. I feel like the amounts get inflated so we understand just how bad it was. Certainly for me it wasn't extrodinary amounts causing the problems most of the time, it was the fact I couldn't stop when I started and the sort of behaviour drunk me exhibited. I never drank every day etc but it was still put me in harms way so many times etc.
As for the medical side of things, sadly a lot of us are dealing with seemingly endless illness, life threatening several times in my case, early menopuase, cancer, losing the chance to have a child or more children. If you actually want to use your experiences for good Shel, first step is perhaps realising lots of other women deal with the same stuff the world over and we just have to keep getting up until we can't do that anymore.