PART SEVEN of the notes I was making as my son hurtled into anorexia in 2009/10...

By the beginning of 2010, my son's anorexia was getting worse and we still didn't have a date for treatment. Ben was changing in front our eyes into someone we didn't recognise: physically or mentally, and the doctors didn't seem particularly bothered. Plus, the learning curve was enormous - we'd never in a million years ever thought that our son would get anorexia.

I'm wondering if any of this rings a bell with you, if you're worried your son might be developing an eating disorder? That's why I've decided to publish the journal notes I made during the last few months of 2009 and start of 2010. It's quite lengthy, so this is Part Seven - written in note form.

PART SIX of the notes I was making as my son hurtled into anorexia in 2009/10...

By the beginning of 2010, my son's anorexia was getting worse. This was the UK New Year where the snow fell deep and I have photos of my skeletal son wrapped up in warm outdoor clothes on snowy walks in our local park as I tried desperately and without success to 'talk sense' into him. The contrast between my rugby-playing, handsome, muscular son of the previous year and this snowy January of 2010 was heartbreaking. Yet we still hadn't been able to access treatment for his anorexia despite first visiting the GP in the Autumn, because no-one believed he was seriously sick with what is the most deadly of all mental health conditions: anorexia nervosa.

I'm wondering if any of this rings a bell with you, if you're worried your son might be developing an eating disorder? That's why I've decided to publish the journal notes I made during the last few months of 2009 and beginning of 2010. It's quite lengthy, so this is Part Six - written in note form.

Why "good anger" has brought me back into the world of eating disorders

Right from the start of this blog in 2011, I've pointed families towards the charity, FEAST, the online network that supports parents and carers of young people with eating disorders through its website, forum and facebook group. Now that I'm kind of able to dip back into the world of eating disorders, following a lengthy battle with Complex PTSD, I've been talking with FEAST about possibly becoming one of their parent support volunteers. But first, I've been going through a stack of learning material to bring me up to date with evidence-based treatment and practice in treating adolescents with eating disorders like anorexia. It's an emotional journey!

In case you can't see the PAGES tabs on this blog...

There are 4 additional PAGES tabs on my blog which may not be visible if you're using the app or a smartphone, so I thought I'd just do a quick post with links to them. I've just uploaded a fourth page which talks about what Ben is doing today, in 2025.

Ben in 2025: https://anorexiaboyrecovery.blogspot.com/p/ben-in-2025.html  

About us: https://anorexiaboyrecovery.blogspot.com/p/about-us-anorexia-in-family.html

Our story: https://anorexiaboyrecovery.blogspot.com/p/in-november-2013-i-gave-talk-at.html

Recovery contract: https://anorexiaboyrecovery.blogspot.com/p/recovery-contract.html

PART FIVE of the notes I was making as my son hurtled into anorexia in late 2009...

By the end of 2009, my son's escalating anorexia was getting worse. Supermarket shopping was a nightmare and Christmas Eve saw me in floods of tears as the anorexia robbed us all of our usual happy family Christmas.

I'm wondering if any of this rings a bell with you, if you're worried your son might be developing an eating disorder? That's why I've decided to publish the journal notes I made during the last few months of 2009. It's quite lengthy, so this is Part Five - written in note form.

PART FOUR of the notes I was making as my son hurtled into anorexia in late 2009...

By November 2009, my son's escalating anorexia was making him behave incredibly erratically and my stress levels were stratospheric. The simplest thing could send Ben into a nightmarish yelling and banging-head spiral. 

This was especially horrific if we were eating in public as this Pizza Express incident from late 2009 shows. And, remember, this is while we were still on the long waiting list for eating disorder treatment, so my husband and I were desperately trying to halt the progress Ben's anorexia on our own.

I'm wondering if any of this rings a bell with you, if you're worried your son might be developing an eating disorder? That's why I've decided to publish the journal notes I made during the last few months of 2009. It's quite lengthy, so this is Part Four - written in note form.

Check out this fantastic resource if you're struggling to get your anorexia child to eat!

I remember when I asked CAMHS (the treatment team treating my son, Ben, from 2010) if their treatment involved eating plans for weight gain in anorexia, they produced a printed sheet called Eating Plan 6 (there was no mention of Eating Plans 1,2 3, etc...). 

At first, I thought: "Wow! This might just work!" and on the way back from the therapy session, we stopped off at the supermarket to buy the foods shown on Eating Plan 6.