Friday 2 April 2010

Daily Mail article

My older daughter mailed me this article, saying it reminded her of Waif.

My husband has the bit between his teeth on taking control of Waif's dietary intake and diary.  He is approaching it with military precision.


On the one hand this is a good thing as he makes her eat more than I do.  OTOH I have had to gently remind him that we are not trying to make Waif's life miserable and that actually she has put on nearly 3kg in the past 3 months (since she started at her new school come to think of it) whilst maintaining a generally cheerful outlook and social life.  I am acutely aware of all the stats linking AN to depression and suicide and don't want to go near that.  Mental health is important too.

Sigh, I quite like handing over responsibility for 4 days - I take Waif off to Wiltshire on Monday afternoon to stay with my mother for the night before Waif's course begins in Somerset.

3 comments:

  1. Hope, as I have said before, I have battled this evil disease for over half my life - at one point, i was given two weeks left to live - I am PLEADING with you, to HONESTLY TAKE THIS ILLNESS MUCH MORE SERIOUSLY than it seems you all have been - the longer it is given to flourish and take hold of Waifs mind, the more deeply entrenched it will become..
    I was allowed to go on and on, gaining only 2 kilos in 10 months,allowing the anorexia to trap me even further.

    If she were in a treatment program/hospital, a 3 kilo weight gain in 3 months, would have been nowhere near enough, just remember the longer she is at a low weight, the more it will grip her mind.

    Jennifer.xx

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  2. Jennifer, that is a good wake up call. Perhaps I am wary of treading on the toes of the ED. I can assure you I do take the AN very seriously if by that you mean it dominates my thoughts and my wishes, but I also acknowledge that I am soft on Waif. She has always been able to twist me around her little finger and I need to stop that. It will be a shift in our power balance as I need to wrest control from ED. You are right that a 3kg in 3 months is nowhere near enough especially as Waif should be growing at her fastest about now - OD sprang up at her age and my husband is 6ft 4 so she ought to be growing rapidly at the moment. Sigh, it's really not easy. It's like running a marathon with no water breaks. I am actually grateful that my husband is cooking today :-) He is preparing mackeral in tomato sauce for supper as I write.

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  3. I agree with Jennifer,
    please take this more seriously. Allowing her to cycle, and not eat around you and all that... you shouldn't believe her when she says she's eaten. And if she has, more food certainly won't hurt! She needs it.
    Remember it's ED taking control of her. You can't trust it...
    Take care
    xox

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