Once I won $1,250.00 at bingo. I kept the $1,000.00, gave my son $125.00 and my best friend the same amount. I was so happy to share my good fortune with the people closest to me. From then on very little kept me from playing bingo every day. If I was visiting a friend, I would keep one eye on my watch and when it was ten minutes to four, I would say I had to go home to study but I really went to the closest bingo. It is so easy to play bingo. There is a game every hour on the hour. I just had to drive to wherever a bingo game was starting up on the even hours or the odd hours. It was not necessary to make an appointment and I didn't need to go with anybody else. As a matter of fact, another person would be distracting and also I would have to share my winnings if I were lucky enough to win.

I own my own home and have to keep my car in good shape so after a few years things got a little rough speaking financially. To make ends meet I was reduced to living on potatoes and carrots. In addition I did not buy myself anything new in the way of clothes. New furniture or repairs to the house just had to wait a little longer until I hit the "big one".

My cheques only come in at the end of the month and sometimes I would run out of money so I would borrow for a week or two from my sister's bank account. I have power of attorney for my sister who is 90 years old and living in a nursing home with dementia. She would never have done that to me because in the first place she would never squander her money on gambling.

Finally I had enough and decided to call Gamblers Anonymous but kept putting if off from day-to-day and from week-to-week and from month-to-month. But eventually I looked up the number in the phone book and all I could find was Problem Gambling Services. I made that call and a counsellor gave me an appointment for the following Tuesday.

So far I have been through a twelve week treatment program, followed by twelve weeks of aftercare. A month after starting the program, I began to attend Gamblers Anonymous on Monday evenings and I am still going there faithfully. At this point I have completed one-on-one with my counsellor and I have no desire to gamble again or to buy any lottery tickets. The casino did not tempt me because it is too smoky and too noisy and my $10.00 a day could be all gone in ten minutes or less.

Life is much better for me now as I can buy whatever food I desire. Today I paid to have my nails done and next week I will get my hair dyed and a haircut. I no longer give cheap birthday and Christmas gifts. I like to think I was smart enough to pick up the phone and call Problem Gambling Services before the hole I was digging got too deep. This illness is insidious.