For everyone who has so lovingly asked about Kitty and how she's doing:
She's doing really well. She was apprehensive about the New York Times article coming out, nervous that people would say things to her in school. And they did say things, but they were pretty much all supportive. And I think that's helped her feel empowered.
She's busy with real life now, not trapped by what I think of as the red shoes of anorexia--which make you dance and dance even when you're so exhausted you just want to fall over.
The goal of Maudsley treatment is to get an anorexic back to normal adolescent development. She's there. At least for now. Which is all we can really know or ask for at the moment.
Thanks, all, for your messages of caring and support for her. I know they touched her.
5 comments:
Thank you. Your story has been such an inspiration to us. Amazingly, it was published on the weekend that I left my job to refeed our 12-year-old daughter who has been restricting since the age of 7 and now has a bmi of under 14. We are working with the Maudsley program at Mt. Sinai in NYC and are in day 3 of refeeding. It is 4 o'clock in the morning and I can't sleep -- have to be up by 7 to make breakfast!
Our daughter is incredibly resistant and noncompliant about eating. Did you encounter tantrums and worse -- throwing food, kicking walls and parents? What did you say to Kitty to get her to eat?
If you have any specific advice about how to break through the resistance, I would be most appreciative. You are an inspiration to all in our family.
Thank you
Hello New Jersey Mom,
I'm so sorry for all that you and your family have gone through. There is a fantastic online resource for refeeding parents, sww.maudsleyparents.org. This is a site run by a group of volunteers who have all been through what you're going through right now. The site has excellent information, including interviews with 5 families who re-fed through maudsley, links to useful research and sites, and a link to an online parents forum, which I encourage you to visit. Read some of the old posts on the site--especially one titled something "How do you get an anorexic to eat?"--and you'll get a feeling for how other families have defeated the disease.
I will also email you privately later in the day. Take care.
My fingers got ahead of my brain there--of course I meant www.maudsleyparents.org.
I am in awe of you, Mrs. Brown!!
Your daughter is so very brave! Getting over an eating disorder is so difficult and I applaud her and your whole family on your persistance on getting her better! Good job to all of you! I really admire people like you! The article is so eye opening about how eating disorders affect not only the patient but everyone around them! Thank you so much for writing this article!
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