An update for you all - and the fantastic sweater!

I'm well aware that I haven't been blogging very much over the... well, for quite some time... and it's been difficult to get myself to pick up where I left  off (more about that later). On the Ben front, everything is going swimmingly. He is back at uni, now studying for his Masters Degree and sharing a house with the same guys as last year. One of his home-based friends has joined the uni this year, so that's added to his growing list of student friends. He's been voted onto the committee of the university fantasy role-playing society for the third year running and has joined two further nerdy societies at the uni. So life is very busy for Ben and such a massive contrast with the way things used to be when he was battling with anorexia.


Recently I knitted a sweater for him (he gives me 'shopping lists' of sweaters he's seen which he wants me to re-create!) and was delighted when it was a little on the tight side. Not the normal reaction for spending days on a complicated cable sweater only to find it doesn't have much room for manoevre when it comes to natural growth, but for me this was a cause for celebration!

So I've knitted the next sweater a little bigger!!

Ben is eating well and has been on a drive to put on weight and cast off the boyish appearance which has stuck with him since he fell sick with anorexia back in 2009 at the age of 15. Last time he was home he definitely looked more grown up and generally better. His behaviour (and his behaviour throughout the whole of the summer break from uni) has been 100% normal and upbeat, full of drive and ambitions for the future.

Seven years ago we were descending into anorexia hell at a rate of knots. Today couldn't be more different, which I hope is encouragement for all those families that are still struggling with eating disorders, especially eating disorders in boys and young men.

So what should I write about now, if I'm able to keep this blog going? Updates on how Ben is doing, yes of course, as an encouragement to other families. But, also so others can identify with us as a family who've been through anorexia hell and out again the other side, those issues that have been left and which I, as a parent, am struggling with on a pretty big scale.

More about this in my next post.

In the meantime, please do download the FREE PDFs of this blog - available to download here The reason I put these together is because an online blog is really tricky to navigate around, especially if you want to read the whole story from the start. The PDFs make it much easier, so please download them as I know they've helped other families to find hope.