The Thursday “For Women Only” show opened with Patti and Denise. The Monday and Tuesday segments with Denise discussed teen alcohol abuse. Denise talked about how she hid her abuse from her parents. She told how she started drinking when she was thirteen. On Wednesday they discussed how those teens go into adulthood with the same problems that only get worse. Denise had been candid in her discussion. Thursday opened with them discussing how her life was changed by kicking the habit. She talked excitedly about her new roles at Fritz, how being busy, doing new things gave her a high that was better than anything she had tried before. She excitedly talked about the appearances at malls and how they had been able to help some other amputees and substance abusers. She talked about how she hoped some of these sessions and movies would keep teens and adults off the bottle. She mentioned Sandra as a future guest and how she would deal with risky behavior of other kinds that harm teens and twenties. Then she stood and walked across the stage toward the camera. “There was a time when my walk was graceful and I could even do seductive.

As you can see, today I can get close to it but it is really hard to walk and not show I am an amputee. Although it is getting easier I still have to think about every step. If I forget where my leg is, I could fall. I have to keep track of that all the time. But I am lucky. I am alive. I could be dead to alcohol abuse like thousands of young people. I have driven drunk. I could have killed me or someone else. I know my life may be shorter because of my drinking. I can’t do anything to change that except to not drink and reduce my life further. I want to show you what I have lost, not for you to feel sorry for me, which is something I never what you to do. I don’t want to be a hero, I willingly placed myself in this position. Carol told me she looks at the drunk who took her leg in the mirror every morning. I do too. I could either beat up on myself or I can say, “I have learned a lesson. I will not allow it to happen again.”