first

First family meeting day with the ED therapist. 

That's all I can really say right now. No real thoughts there.

and more

We found a pile of clothes hidden in her room. A pile of clothes that had "messes" in them. It was obvious she found her way into something to help her go to the bathroom. She is supposed to eat in front of us, so she found a way for it not to stick around. I don't keep things like that in the house. So the question is does she have a friend involved or did she get her hands on something? I'll get to all of that after I tell you about the confrontation.

I had taken clothes into her room she got for Christmas, clean ones to put away. I smelled something, a mess. Did one of the dogs get in there? It I found it after moving things around. There were several pairs of shorts, underwear, sweats. She was obviously embarrassed. So we gathered it all up, while also emptying all her drawers, closet to see what she was hiding. I found no drugs or laxatives. Nothing else of note, her room was in the middle of her floor. She collapsed in a pile and cried, just tears. All she could say is she was so ashamed. It was a reaction of a kid who just got caught, again. 

I took the dirty clothes, whiteout mentioning I thought this was self-inflicted, and left her to totally overhaul her room. She had to clean it totally.

It hit me, I do have something in the house, something that I never would have thought of, but it says it right on the package. Epsom Salt. 

She has access to Epsom Salt. Her sister takes baths for her arthritis. I soak when my back acts up.

 I quietly broke down into a million pieces inside.

She isn't just dabbling. 

She isn't just testing the waters.

I didn't catch this early.

She's serious.

Not that I didn't know that or think she was, it just hits you like arctic air. You're child is so desperate, she's drinking water and epsom salt. 

I put the Epsom Salt out of her reach and now I'm monitoring her laundry. Which turned into a freak out. She felt the need to throw her underwear in my face, at one point. We're having temper and emotion issues. This is to be expected. She's on meds for her anxiety but it's only been about four weeks, we need to up the dosage. It's a learning curve. 

I called the Doctor and the specialist today, we will see what we're doing next. I'm asking the specialist if there is anyone she knows of that will work with us, on our side of town. They also have satellite locations, so if it's an option to see someone versed in ED at the one near us. I don't need a specialist, just experience even. 

As for her eating overall? 

The night after the visit to the specialist visit she didn't eat. She didn't eat anything of worth for two days. Then I told her that wasn't an option. I had my surgery, so I'm not sure how the other meals went for a few days. Break started and I know she tried to snack (during all this we found the clothes). There has been a lot of snacking and picking, or complaining about spices, taste. It's back to square one, in my opinion. 

That's the update for now. 

it's been a bit.

(I don't edit most of these, my thoughts stream and I just type. If that drives you insane, sorry. I need my outlet to be free.)

Where do I begin? The appointment.

I don't think I was ever so angry in this entire process as I was after leaving the hospital. I've been trying to process and formulate my thoughts since then.

When we arrived at the hospital she went in one room with a medical doctor and I went into a room with the therapist. The therapist asked me several questions, that were on the questionnaire but not listening to my explanations. Yes, she has a heart murmur. Yes, there is a history of ED in the family (both sides). Do you want to know who has it and what ED?

In the middle of all of this the medical DR interrupts us and calls her out into the hall. They were gone for about ten minutes. Med DR comes back into the room and sits down next to me, adjusts her chair so she's sitting higher than me, claps her hands together (so loudly I jump) and says, "Well, I'm getting TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORIES!"

ummm duh. Pretty sure this isn't your first rodeo and that's how this works. We will have two different stories, right?
My mood changed instantly. I had a zero comfort level from then on.
She was contentious, She talked over me. Everything I said, she had an answer for. She asked me questions, but answered them herself. She informed me that She was the professional and our doc and therapist wasn't pros in ED.
She was in and out in less than five minutes.
So far we'd been there a total of thirty minutes and our appointment was almost over. I was originally told to be prepared for about three hours.
Keep in mind ten minutes of that I was alone in a room while they chatted in a hallway.
The therapist came back in the room with kiddo. They had chatted and apparently formulated their plan. They think "all is well" and she just needs to "touch base" now and again. She can do a weight check with her regular doc, blah blah blah.

Are you fucking kidding me?

So we have two professionals, a school, her parents concerned but this chick who saw her for five minutes is done?

Kiss my ass.

She looked extremely satisfied though.

I mean, my trump card was just beaten down. She won.


I didn't want to discuss a lot in from of her, so I waited until we got home to call her Doctor, my husband and the therapist. (also assorted friends)

Dad was pissed, "Eff em and on to the next one."
Dr was floored. He couldn't believe the response we had. Neither could the therapist. The Dr was calling and emailing the other Dr asap. I was having surgery though and didn't know if we'd hear back before then.


A therapist in the same department called to set up treatment the following day. I told her my experience ... and she sent me a list of therapists.

I think my message was also relayed to the Doctor.

Flash forward to Christmas Eve.

I still had no voice but our Doc called and the doc had finally gotten in touch with him. Upon reflection, she realized she may have come off offensive. She thought that I may have been upset.



Uhhh really?

Yes, she does have an ED, yes she needs treatment. She's sorry if she didn't convey that properly.

Don't say things like, "two different stories" like I'm a kook.




While he was leaving a message she also left one. I'll be calling her tomorrow.

more to come ... there's a lot more.

Today

Off to the hospital for intake and eval. I don't babe it in me to do an entire post yet. It's a lot to process. 

limbo

We're still waiting for a call back from the ED clinic. We had one message, I returned it, nothing for three days. I'm getting extremely frustrated. All the while her current therapist has returned a call in two days.  We have updates from her PCP, she needs to talk to someone about her frustrations, anxiety and stress. She's holding steady at her current weight, not losing, not gaining. Time. 

Stress. School crap is stressing her. There is one girl who just is a mean, mean girl to any girl in her path. She's delightful to the boys though. She sends texts about the other girls saying they're fat, sluts, stupid, etc. She's delightful. She admitted the girl has excluded her on purpose from things during projects in class. I tried talking to one of the parents involved and she doesn't want to talk to her daughter because it's not "authentic" if it comes from her.  Our kids were extremely close before the third party was jealous and started the exclusion.  I know this parent well, that's why we were talking in the first place. The kid who is doing all this? Her parents don't speak any English so I can't call them. She has a very strict home life, she gets it all out at school. 

She's talking to someone she trusts at school today. I hope she gets a little clarity. 

the funny thing ...

The funny thing is when people try to help you get a lot of so called advice that really isn't helpful. Friends, or well meaning advice given by those who think they're helping, can say harmful things. I've started a collection of things I like to call "Things not to say to the parent of someone with an eating disorder."

"She's already so thin, WHY?" (She wanted the totally sunken cheeks)

"Were normal diets not working?" (I guess not. You figured out the riddle after all these years."

"She doesn't look like someone who would do that to herself." (what does that person look like, explain.)

"Why did her parents do/you do to cause that?" (well, aside from the abuse? Not much.)

"Are you sure this isn't a phase for attention?" (that must be it we totally ignore her.)

"Just make them eat, you are the parent." (I wish I'd thought of that, thanks!)

"They look so sick, just fix it." Oh, okay, will do!)

"I wish I had her willpower, I sure could lose a few pounds." (no, no you don't. That's the worst one to say possibly. My kid is starving herself and purging, it's not willpower, it's a disease)

"I've seen them eat recently, I'm sure it's fine." (You did? I guess we're all wrong!")

"They look great though." (bony and emaciated is great?)

"Are you sure?" (yes, that's what the doctor's evaluation was for)

"At least you caught it early." (did we? I don't know.)

Yes, I'm sure. Yes, I would fix it if I could. If I could make her eat I would. If I could make her stop purging I would. I'm her mom, she's part of my flesh, blood and soul. I'd give my life for her. I would take away her pain and help her figure out all of this. In a flash.

I know enough to know not to blame myself. It doesn't mean I don't at times. I know enough to know that she's finding one thing she can control. I also know that unless you also are the parent of a child who has experienced this, you don't have words for me.

I appreciate those of you who are there. Those who don't fill me up with false hope. Those who are just there.


While all of these are well-meaning,  I do find comfort in your words. I'm just a different breed. I like it black and white.  I don't want the sugarcoating. Just keep it simple and listen to me. Tell me you're here and that you care, if you do that is. I have my moments where I do really need people.

progress?

We met with the her therapist today and she cried quite a bit. She admitted a few of the stress causing situations that may lead to some of the behaviors. There's a group of "mean" girls she was friends with and quit hanging out with them, on her own. She didn't want to be a mean girl. It eats at her that she can't change them into "nice" girls. We had a discussion about controlling her situation and herself. She can't control the entire world, only her reaction to the assholes IN the world. She also stresses about grades so much, to the point that I wish she didn't know what her grade are.

As of right now she has an evaluation at the ED clinic mid-dec. Her Doc will try and get her in earlier, but it doesn't look promising.

Kids in crisis is such a funny term. Crisis has no timeline. Crisis has a different meaning for everyone. I guess her crisis can wait a few weeks.

My concern is the holiday. The stress of finals and the holiday. I feel like these will be triggers. She's in "limbo" though because of her age and she isn't "too far along". So she should be starving before we take action? There aren't a lot of options for her age, either.

I'm frustrated.

it gets worse

My phone rang. I thought it was innocent enough. It was someone from the school. Someone who didn't know the situation.
Someone who didn't know about the ED.
We'd only let one person in at this point. We told her we trusted her to handle lunch. Sigh. Well, the staff member was worried because she wasn't eating during lunch. (she has her on lunch duty) When she does eat, she only picks.
Sigh
I told her the situation, it all came to light. Now the important staff is in the know. No more excuses. No more "they made me go outside and I couldn't finish" stories. I knew this was a bunch of hooey. I had a call into the school, oddly enough.
When I went to the school to talk in person, to the one who knew, I ran into a few other staff members. I let them know, though they'll have a meeting with the other person I spoke with today. She will be monitored. She won't be rushed.
I was also informed she almost passed out the other day. A teacher saw her get dizzy and grab the wall and a railing to steady herself. Sigh. Next time, don't hold off on telling me.

She looks sick, as a friend let me know others have asked her if she's ill. Her face is breaking out, her hair is greasy and stringy. She's so thin and bony.

I can't make her eat. It's not my disease. I feel so lost in this.

sigh.

I know I need to talk to someone, too.

I need to help her first, though.

breaking

Tuesday was the worst day so far. She mad an epic meltdown. Screaming, yelling, crying. She hates me. I love the dogs more than I love her. She was throwing things. Kicking. Punching. Hitting. Sigh. It was so ugly. I was at a total loss. I wanted to call her therapist, but I was so stuck in the moment. I did get a small video clip for her therapist so she could see the levels of the anger. I was scared for my child. I didn't know if she was going to hurt herself or someone else. I had a phone in my hand to call - who I didn't know.

Now ask why.

Why did this happen?

I asked her to put dishes away.

Why did it really happen though?

She ate Sunday and she ate well. She's upset and needs to punish herself. I get it, I get the disease. I can't fix this, only she can work on fixing it.

It IS a disease. It's like any disease, she can't just fix it overnight. She can't just stop. She can't just fix it. Like a drug addict, she needs this. This is her addiction, this is her disease. I don't see the healing beginning.

My husband said, "She just wanted to get out of doing something." Sigh. No, I don't feel like that was it. There are times I feel like he doesn't comprehend the levels this impacts her. Us. He has no experience, so why would he?

Family counsling won't happen until she is a bit more secure. Trust me, that IS the best right now. This is the best route. We don't need her trust breached. We need her in control. Or at least thinking she is.

Wow, I guess I had a lot of feelings today.

stuck

I start to write a post and I stop. I have a million feelings and I can't always translate here. I just freeze.
She's becoming more and more emotional. A lot of anger is coming through. She's refusing outlets, though she did ask to do one activity at school. Long gone are the days of sewing, duct tape and all her there favorites. I'm not hearing about her friends as often and when I do she seems to be unhappy with them. Her best friend she has had forever isn't around a lot. The last time we saw her it seemed strained. The girls are school she was hanging out with are "mean" girls. She said they do things like laugh when people get questions wrong. She doesn't want to deal with that. I don't know if she's alienating herself or if it's that bad. The other one didn't and doesn't have these issues. I'm not comparing them I'm just pointing it out. I don't get it. She won't talk to me so I don't know if I'll ever know the truth. It kind of pisses me off. It's destructive behavior and I have no idea what to do for her. She's in therapy. She has support. What else can I do?
As for eating ... not much has changed.

I can't

I can't get it out any more. I can't express how I feel anymore. Now I'm blocked. She's still so tiny. She's still so thin. She's still pushing every boundary. Anger is alright, I get that. You know what? I'm also angry. I'm angry she's doing this to herself. She is stressed, she does have stuff going on, so do other kids. So do I. So does her father. So does her sister. That's no excuse not to eat and abuse your body and hurt yourself. I "get" she doesn't know how to express it differently. I get she's learning. I still need to express my emotions. ugh.
The road, indeed, is long.

sessions

She had her first session yesterday. She fought me the whole way there. The angel cup runneth over. She told me on the way that she didn't need to go, she didn't want to go and had no desire to get help. That was fun. I took her in, had a few words about the help we wanted to get her and left. I went to a cafe, worked a little bit and she bounded in about sixty-five minutes later. She was all smiles and glee. She loved it. It was so nice to talk to someone about her stress. It was great to get it all out.

Then she came home and let loose on her sister. 

One win, one battle.

She had two helping of dinner though and breakfast yesterday. Small victories. 

order

I can't get all my thoughts in order to write, I apologize. After our meeting with the therapist we talked to her. She was devastated and angry. We called her out on her secret. We know. She can't hide this anymore. The discussion took away any dignity she felt she had. She felt stripped, you could see it in her face. The walls were eroding around her. I went to touch her and she pulled away. My husband, her dad went to hug her and she screamed, "don't touch me, leave me alone.". While I understood all of her anger, it hurt me to watch. I know this is for her own good, but she feels so betrayed.

She still isn't eating breakfast, lying about how much lunch she's eating, picking at dinner. So she wants control. Therapy starts tomorrow. She has her sessions alone. I'll check in with the therapist, she'll feel in control. She is, to some degree.

I really hate this part.

twisting

That describes my stomach. We talk to her tonight. Therapy plan in order. She tried to avoid breakfast this morning. Again. I just ... sigh. I'm trying to gather my thoughts. I hope I can in time to write a fluid post later.

overload

I have so much to do today and I can't even begin to get a handle on it. One interview to transcribe and submit, grocery shopping, random errands and crap. One thing I want to do is get a few cheap pumpkins and do the seeds tonight. The girls also asked if we can bake tonight. Why not? Weekend of baking. Cookies freeze well, so it sounds like a plan.
We had a decent night, not terrible, not great. I made meatloaf, she picked at it, criticized it, but ate some. I pick my battles. A few bites in is better than no bites in. I count the good things over the bad.

void

Just spoke to the therapist. My husband and I meet with her next Tuesday to set our plan for kiddo. Her words to me, "You're so in tune, you need to remember to remove yourself and be tough."
It's true. I have been, for the most part. I still can't use trigger words. I think that's the hardest part. I want to yell trigger words sometimes.
I spoke to a mom yesterday who has gone through this with both of her daughters. It was comforting, therapeutic, and disheartening all in one call. Comforting to know I'm not alone. Therapeutic to get it all out to someone who has and is dealing with  the same issues. Disheartening to know the road is is on going. It's not that I can't or don't want to do it, it's that my heart hurts for her.

layers

It's been a rough few days,  coming to a head this morning. She has this sweater she seems to be obsessed with wearing at least three times a week. It's one a friend of mine game her. Seasons old from old navy, holes in it, bulky, pilled, ugly. She loves it.
They're cooking in home ec and she can't wear a sweater or a hoodie. She wanted to wear the sweater today. She can't, they need to wear tighter things, so they they are safe.  She yelled at her sister about it even. She tried to wear it, again. The thing is, she used to love fashion. She loved getting her nails done, hair, doing make up, putting outfits together. Now she has no interest. None. She even stopped wearing the makeup she begged me to wear.
I digress, this sweater, the bane of my existence, broke her this morning, she fought over it. She knew it would break the rules. She loves rules, but didn't care.  This isn't the child I know. She hates brushing her teeth and washing her hair. It's all a tangled web.
I just want to pull my little girl out of it.

melt and down

She took a pop quiz and got a D. We had hysterics and tears for about ten minutes, possibly longer. This brings down her 99 to a 98, it's that insignificant. She's freaking out. She's asked the teacher for a retest, and she can't since it's a pop quiz. She needs to feel in control. She's not. Tonight, this weekend, could be ugly.
sigh.

lull

Just a quick one this morning. We had a battle over three mini pancakes for breakfast. They don't even equal one pancake. She then proceeded to blow up at everyone in her dark path.
I know, I'm not being nice. I don't understand.

I'm frustrated today. I'm getting to a point where I'm breaking.

My head hurts.

So does my heart.

next

Well, we had the sit down. The doctor asked her questions and she was pretty upset. She insisted she does eat, she does love the foods we've seen her reject. She does ___________. There of course were lots of tears. We couldn't tell her enough that she wasn't in trouble, we were there to help her. She's not ready for help. She's in denial or she isn't ready to face it. I don't even know right now. It's daunting.

I emailed a therapist already, we let her know that she can look around, too. This isn't a one stop shop. She can find the one that's right for her.

Is this where the healing begins of the manipulation becomes more masterful? Now she has a team of people watching, not just us. She has her doctors. We have to let her friends parents know. We need to let the school know. People have to keep an eye on her eating. 

Her doc thinks she should "get out of the cheerleading culture", to stop furthering the ideas. That's a conundrum. I feel like it's a healthy activity, overall. I did it for years, I know it has benefits. I know that she will do it in or out of the sport. So, in therapy we can and she can discuss that. There isn't any until winter, so that kind of take care of itself for three months. 

--

While I was writing this I got an email back from the therapist. We're talking next Wednesday. She's out of the country. Sigh. Long road ahead.