Upper sixth form parents' evening last night

Two years ago Ben and I went to the fifth form parents' evening. It wasn't brilliant. Ben had been away from school for quite a while, unable to face anyone or anything, let alone a school full of teenagers. So going along to the 2009 parents' evening, two years ago, was a bit of a challenge - for both of us.

Making an inroad into my book

Phew, I am tired! Over the past few weeks I've been collating all the written information I've kept about Ben's journey into anorexia: around 24 months of info comprising forum posts, blogs, letters, notes, lists, emails, charts, etc etc.

It's 12 months since Ben turned a corner...

12 months ago Ben was sitting in front of our CAMHS team. For the first time since he'd started treatment eight months before, they came down like a tonne of bricks and insisted Ben increase his weight, starting immediately. The reason? The previous day Ben had collapsed at school and been rushed to hospital again with a dangerously low pulse rate... the second time this had happened in eight months.

Why I'm not putting all this behind me... yet.

While some parents may wish to put the whole eating disorder experience behind them and move on, for me it's always been different. Since late 2009 I've been making notes, writing forum entries and lately this blog, all with a view to putting this information to some kind of practical use in the future.

Tricky few days...

The last three days have been quite tricky. Sunday was the same as the previous Sunday in that Ben's mood hit rock bottom as Monday's school loomed ahead. He didn't sleep on Sunday or Monday nights, and on both Monday and Tuesday he phoned me at break time. On Monday I picked him up at lunch, but on Tuesday I persuaded him to stay for the full day. Oh, yeh, and on Monday night he and his dad had an almighty row...

Around the Dinner Table... literally!

On Friday evening Ben and I met up with another mum (and daughter) I've 'met' through the Around the Dinner Table forum (for parents of young people with eating disorders). We were joined later by another woman I've got to know through this circle, someone who has recovered from anorexia and who I've already met for coffee a couple of times.

Does your own internal voice chip in with this kind of thing on 'bad' days?

On Friday Ben claimed his insomnia was 'cured', after a reasonably good couple of days at school. His mood was up, too. But by Sunday it was back down again, just like last Sunday. And of course with it came the insomnia which meant that by this morning (Monday) Ben was in a hell of a mood. In fact the only words he said to me this morning as I took him to the school bus were "Shut up!" Better than "Shut the Eff up!" I guess...