Every time I settle down to do some writing, someone interrupts me. I can't write unless I'm left alone, so I've given it up as a bad job for today. What I need is to hire a picture-postcard cottage overlooking the sea, sit down there - alone - with my laptop and write that book.....!
Meanwhile I've been asked to do a review of another mum's recently published book about her family's journey in and out of anorexia. They want 400 words by mid July, so that's on my 'to do' list as well.
Today Ben and I went to see the dietitian for the third time. Outside the clinic it was kind of weird to see our old dietitian from CAMHS standing there, beside the new one. She takes private patients now. I wish she'd been doing that when she was first axed from our CAMHS team back in spring 2010 because we'd have signed up right away.
Inside the clinic we also bumped into the therapist Ben saw while we were on the CAMHS waiting list back in late 2009. So a bit of a spooky experience, all in all...
The session with our new dietitian went really well and I was amazed at how much ground we covered.
The idea was to work on the outstanding bits and pieces about diet, weight and food to help Ben manage the transition to university life successfully. Ben soaked up her every word like a sponge. Brilliant.
The difference between now and the Bad Old Anorexia Days was acute. Back then the dietitian, and anyone else for that matter, would say that black was black and here's all the evidence to prove it - yet Ben was unable to see it that way. Afterwards he'd distort whatever was said to fit the ED's own twisted view on things. He would argue that black was white until he was blue in the face. Nothing went in.
This is why we covered so much ground today, and why we did it so successfully. In the past it was just a case of drip-feeding the information until, months later, he finally 'got it'.
This is yet more proof that Ben is pretty much recovered. Not completely, but pretty much. Which is why we haven't set another appointment with the dietitian just yet. We might not need to.
And, considering all the stuff we've been through, the stuff that I'm re-visiting again now I'm compiling my book, I am pretty damn pleased with that.
Want information on eating disorders in boys? Worried your son has an eating disorder? What are the signs of eating disorders in boys? In 2009 my 15-year-old son developed anorexia. Now aged 31 and with a MSc in Psychology he is recovered & working in mental health using his experiences to help others. I help to raise awareness of eating disorders in boys, point parents to helpful resources & talk about how eating disorders can traumatise families.
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