Anorexia....an absolute nightmare of a condition and the great sadness is that it can start from a very early age.
A few years ago I met a thirteen year old girl, who had been abusing herself since the age of seven. That’s when she started cutting herself. She also drank nail varnish and nail varnish remover!!! Why, because she felt that was the only control she had in her young life. You see she had watched as her father dragged her mother along the floor by her hair. She had listened and witnessed the horrible abuse her father had inflicted on her mother and there was nothing she could do to stop it, as young as she was, she had tried... But she could hurt herself without them knowing, she was in control...it was her secret and hers alone. And that’s what anorexia is all about...Control. It’s a mental health problem of the worst kind because it often goes unnoticed unto its to late to change the long term outcome. It needs to be helped and stopped as early as possible. If left this illness can and does last a life time...often a short life time. Read or watch in DVD the Karen Carpenter story. The cutting and the abuse my young friend was inflicting on herself turned to not eating. The not eating turned to bulimia The young lady I’m talking about did get the help she needed before she was sixteen. She was in a hospital in a specialist ward for months to get her weight back up and the metal health intervention she so desperately needed. She will walk a tight rope for the rest of her life, as the condition never completely goes away. The slightest emotional upset could set it off again. Its cruel, it destroys families and it kills the most beautiful people. I think I also need to mention the young people this illness is most likely to affect, are often very high achievers. They demand excellence in themselves. In other words A stars and nothing less will do in all their exams. I’ve been witness over the past thirty five years to a few heart braking cases and all I want to do today is give out an alert, a heads up so to speak. The tell tale signs are obvious. The fact our young people don’t want their food, they lose weight, they lose their lustre and become quiet and secretive. With young girls, their periods stop and they start growing facial hair. I’ve got to be honest if its got this bad, the young person is in real trouble and professional intervention is desperately needed. You need to ask for professional help as soon as possible. The problem I’m having at the moment is that the first port of call for help would be your doctor. Just last week a mummy told me she had taken her thirteen year old daughter to the doctors because she wasn’t eating and she was losing weight. The doctor has organised for her to see a councillor in about three months time (no urgency here) but he didn’t even weigh her.....sorry but that’s not right. The doctor seems to have completely missed what is going on and now mummy is very worried and so she should be. Again there are problems at home. The father has left the family to be with another woman in another country and has told both his daughter and his son he doesn’t want to spend time with them anymore! Please please if you know of any young person who you think might be vulnerable to this horrible condition, try and alert the closest family member. This is the only illness I will not deal with on my own. I want professionals involved before I will treat as a patient. But the sadness for me is that I often get this problem before the professionals have been asked for help and it’s up to me to get parents to seek the help they need. Please remember, it’s a mental health disorder, not a physical one. My prayer on this occasion, that my words may help a young person that I will never meet in person. Blessings always
0 Comments
I need to keep reminding myself that I’m writing this blog as a weekly diary for myself.
If other people chose to read it that’s fine, but it’s primarily here for me as a weekly reminder of my everyday thoughts adventures and mishaps, and I have lots of those.... I missed a bit from my last entry. I asked my patient if he knew what period in time he thought he had been in, he said he thought it was the sixteen hundreds in other words the seventeenth century, defiantly another time, but not another country. Ok, that’s that recorded, just in case I need the info sometime in the future. As I was lying in bed a couple of mornings ago deciding whether to get out of bed...or not.. I had a fleeting thought that I needed to wash the bath mats, it was a very random thought. The bath mats are white and quite new. We had people looking at our house (it’s up fo sale remember) just last week and I had not lifted the lovely new clean mats and changed them for some older ones. That way my lovely new mats are ready to put on the floor when needed. So the new ones now needed washing before any one else came to view our home. I had no sooner had this thought, when I heard the phone ringing downstairs. As I was still in bed and my husband was out, the answer phone took the message. But as I was lying there in bed I immediately thought....it’s the estate agent and there’s people wanting to make an appointment to see the house. And guess what, when I got up about an hour later and listened to the message...I was right. My random thought had been spot on. I rang the estate agents, but there was no answer, their answer phone clicked in so I had no idea who or when the people wanted to come. I duly washed the bath mats and set about tidying the house. I found out late in the afternoon on that day, Wednesday, that the gentlemen wanted to come on Friday afternoon...he didn’t come!!! Its amazing how sometimes my thoughts know exactly what’s going on...I don’t...but my thoughts do. I guess that’s what being psychic is. But my thoughts don’t tell me everything, like the gentleman wasn’t coming, that would have been useful... Knowing things without knowing how, when it happens, it’s good. Blessings always And if no one else’s reads this...the blessings are for me. Not me going back in time...but a patient.
It can and does happen to my patients when they are very relaxed during a treatment. They find themselves in another life, in another time, and sometimes even in another gender. Last Saturday one of my patients had himself an amazing experience. He is going through a turbulent time at the moment. He is preparing to put his home up for sale as he is separating from his wife. It’s been talked about for a long time and now the wheels are all in motion. He fell out of love with his wife a few years ago. He has recently found himself very attracted to another lady who he works with. He told me from their very first meeting he felt as if he’d known her all his life. And he felt a very strong attraction to her. Well last Saturday he found out the reason why. He explained to me he found himself in a huge, very old fashioned ballroom at what he could only describe as a posh Ball. The lady standing in front of him was dressed in a crinoline dress and she was smiling at him. He said the recognition was instant. This was his wife. He took her by the arm and they danced in perfectly unison. So now he knows where the recognition in this life has come from. He left my home with a smile on his face. Blessings always. I can’t believe it. My third book is finished, and someone has already kindly left me a five star review. When I read the words she had written down I had a tears in my eyes. I would just like to say a huge thank you to her for the lovely things she said about my (fathers) book. Love and blessings always. It’s wonderful how a very simple little thing can put a smile on my face and help me to feel good about myself, and I not really bothered what other people might think. Yesterday was the first day I have been able to go out into the garden and start the job of tidying up after the winter, and start weeding. Don't get me wrong, I know that the snow is probably not far away, but for now the weather is perfect for being out side working. My garden is my haven. I can get lost in my own thoughts as I work slowly away...on my hands and knees. I couldn’t stand and garden if my life depended on it, but it doesn't, thank God. I’m just grateful beyond words that my knees, on this ‘almost’ 70year old girl are still O.K. Having M.S. for me means my legs and arms are not very strong, or stable. But I can crawl around on the ground to my hearts content....and I do. There is nothing better for me than having my hands in and busying myself in Gods good earth. So today I was able to do some more gardening....and I can tell you all....I’m feeling really good about myself. Time for tea. Blessings always. Having a child named after you is very special....I know...because I have one named after me.
Now I’m mentioning this to you, because my name sake was born and lives in Australia and came to visit with us just last week. Wow....what an emotional time I had. If you read my first book....Different?...You Have Always Been Different....you will have read the story of why this beautiful young lady was named after me. So guess what....I’m not going got repeat it here. My book costs the same price as a packet of cigarettes, so treat yourself to an adventure and read my story. Then you can read book two....and now book three. All on Amazon both in the UK and on Amazon.com for the rest of the world. I couldn’t be more proud of my name sake if she were my own daughter. She’s just finished high school, and she has been travelling through Europe sinlce the 5th of December with her best friend from school. The finally part of their travels brought them to Northern England to stay a few days with us. It was a joy to have them both. They slept, ate, giggled and played board games with us and then slept again....for hours!. Comfy, warm, safe, and snug. Safe journey home precious girl. Perhaps one day I will see her again. I actually have two children named after me, but I only found out about the second one a short while ago. The strange thing is....their mothers both have the same name....spooky.... Blessings always Well folks...we thought our house was sold...but the sale fell through just before Christmas. The week before the contracts were due to be signed. Bummer... I didn’t shout, I didn’t swear, I didn’t even get cross...perhaps I should have! Anger to me is a waste of energy. But I must be honest and say I felt very lost and confused. I’m so ready to move, I’m so ready to live in a smaller easier to manage property. I’m struggling now to keep our home in good shape and I’m struggling with the two flights of stairs to get to bed. Its a bungalow for me a.s.p. Please. I keep saying God must have a plan....I just haven’t a clue what that plan is. Dear Lord in Heaven....please find us a buyer for our home.....very soon..... We have found our forever home, and I would love to move into it. OK ... that’s my prayer for the New Year.... What’s Yours??? Blessings always On Wednesday this week one of my favourite patients came for a treatment.
He’s ten years old, and such a lovely sensitive Soul. When he came through our front door he handed me my Christmas present. (I hadn’t seen him for six weeks). His mother explained to me that he had wanted to give me something special, something that belonged to him. He chose something that he had bought himself, with his own pocket money, about two years ago, Its the most beautiful little angel, with sparkly wings and a red ruby heart where her heart should be. I wish I could put a photo of her right here for you all to see. I have however put the photo I have taken of her on both my twitter feed, and my Instagram feed. So if you go to the front page of my web site you should be able to find her. What a very special gift to me...from a very special little young man. Blessings always. I wonder if anyone out there has had, or, is having the same problem as me.
I’m finding it almost impossible to use an escalator these days. Going up is still OK, but I’m finding 9 times out of ten I can’t face going down on the escalator, I need to find a lift to get me back to the ground floor. As I’m standing at the top watching the steps on the escalator as they travel down away from me, I feel as if I’m going to fall forward and I’ve got to be honest, I’m frightened to put my foot onto a step as it appears in front of me, at what seems to me like brake neck speed. My brain (and me) just won’t let me use it. So it’s off to find a lift so that I can get back to the ground floor. It would appear that that’s what I’m going to have to do for the rest of my life. It’s not the end of the world, it’s just the end of me riding an escalator to the ground floor. Does anyone else out there with MS have the same problem? if you do I would love to hear from you. Blessings always. |
Archives
January 2020
Categories |