Today begins National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) Awareness Week! This week is filled with activities, seminars, and walks all over the country fighting to raise awareness and funding for eating disorders. While I am doing my part this week, the only thing on my mind will be the future: my future and the future of every other person struggling with this horrific illness.
What we have been through will not be in vain. Someday, funding for eating disorder research will be equal to or greater than the highest funded illness, to reflect the fact that eating disorders have the highest mortality rate. Someday, jokes about eating disorders will not be spoken in conversation or at parties because people will finally understand the severity of these illnesses.
What we have been through, my friends with eating disorders, has not been in vain. Someday we will ALL recover, we will all be free of the shackles, strong enough to fight Ed's voice every single day of our lives, and most important, we will dedicate our lives to raising awareness and helping others, those we love and maybe even strangers, fight this illness until it is gone forever.
xoxo A friend in the fight
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Still on Ed's terms
Last night Ben sent me a text:
I don't care what we do tomorrow (Valentine's Day), as long as you know how beautiful I think you are.
My body image has left something to be desired lately. It comes and goes in waves, I'm sure some of you can relate. I've been behavior free for 15 months but I still have days, if not weeks sometimes, where I fear getting out of bed and letting the world see my face, my body.
It's like I'm at odds with myself these days. I'm so recovered in the sense that I never even consider purging, restricting, or any of my other old behaviors; but I feel as though lately, being "recovered" is not enough. Will I ever reach a day when instead of considering myself recovered, I simply don't consider myself in the terms of my eating disorder at all?
This is a scary concept, but one I may want to welcome into my life someday.
On the one hand, I feel a strong attachment to the battle that I fought for so many years to beat Bulimia, and with that attachment comes one to my sisters in the fight, the ones I know and the ones I don't. If you aren't one of us, you may not understand the deep connection we have to one another. My friends who have battled eating disorders are some of the most important people in the world to me, and we hardly ever see each other. It's a deep, almost spiritual connection that binds us together. We know what each other went through, on a level no "normal" person could ever understand.
On the other hand, I want to close the door on this part of my life. I want to forget so much of the years I was clouded by this illness. I did some horrible things to myself, to my family, my friends. During the time I was in the grips of Ed, I did irreversible damage to relationships and to my own psyche.
Just last week I was driving home and I caught myself thinking about some of the unspeakable things I did during my worst years. I had this thought that I would pay any amount of money to be hypnotized to forget any of it ever happened. Sometimes I cannot bare to think of the things Ed made me do. It's horrifying.
Just when I thought I was done being "at a crossroads", I find myself heading down a new path. Maybe I won't forget about my eating disorder, but one day, I hope to really put it all behind me.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
The dentist (devil)
On Monday morning I went to the dentist for the first time in over three years. Why had it been so long? That answer is easy: I was bulimic, ashamed, and in pain. The very idea of going to the dentist caused me so much anxiety during the years I was sick, many of which I was a minor and didn't have a choice about going. I have a wonderful dentist, don't get me wrong, but I wanted no one snooping around inside my torn up mouth.
About a year ago I made it into the office, into the private room with the hygienist and everything. As soon as she uttered the words, "It's been a long time since you've been here, so this will probably take awhile", I broke into hysterics. I cried, ran out of the office, and sat in my car, having a full-blown panic attack for almost an hour before I had the courage to drive home.
I was offended. I had told my dentist I was a Bulimic, I assumed it was in my chart and that her staff would read that chart and be sensitive when dealing with me. I'm not sure if it was in the chart and her staff had no sensitivity to my illness or what, but I was really hurt. I emailed my dentist and asked if she would do the cleaning, she wouldn't, a policy of her's or whatever. I reminded her I was bulimic and that I was nervous about going back and she assured me everything would be fine. Anyway, it took me until my wisdom teeth started coming in to make an appointment.
I wish I hadn't waited so long. I was in so much pain during that appointment. I had so much buildup and was told I have gingivitis. The appointment was an hour long, an hour of agonizing pain. The hygienist was pleasant but condescending and showed no mercy. Did she not know? She kept mentioning how long it had been since my last visit and how I could have done serious damage to my teeth, that I almost had.
It ruined my day. I was sad, irritable, and anxious for hours after.
The point of this post is not to make anyone feel bad for me, but to urge those currently suffering from Bulimia to brave it and go to the dentist, setting their fears aside. I know your mouth hurts, that your gums bleed, and that you are ashamed to tell anyone about your illness. Stop, stop right now. You will feel better in the long run if you go to the dentist and are open about your illness with he or she while you are still sick. I have been recovered for over a year and my decisions to avoid the dentist are still haunting me. Don't ruin your beautiful smile, schedule an appointment with your dentist today and take care of your teeth in hopes of a future where you won't have to go through what I went through or worse.
Take care of your body, you only have one. And as my Grammy always says, "Be true to your teeth, or they'll be false to you."
About a year ago I made it into the office, into the private room with the hygienist and everything. As soon as she uttered the words, "It's been a long time since you've been here, so this will probably take awhile", I broke into hysterics. I cried, ran out of the office, and sat in my car, having a full-blown panic attack for almost an hour before I had the courage to drive home.
I was offended. I had told my dentist I was a Bulimic, I assumed it was in my chart and that her staff would read that chart and be sensitive when dealing with me. I'm not sure if it was in the chart and her staff had no sensitivity to my illness or what, but I was really hurt. I emailed my dentist and asked if she would do the cleaning, she wouldn't, a policy of her's or whatever. I reminded her I was bulimic and that I was nervous about going back and she assured me everything would be fine. Anyway, it took me until my wisdom teeth started coming in to make an appointment.
I wish I hadn't waited so long. I was in so much pain during that appointment. I had so much buildup and was told I have gingivitis. The appointment was an hour long, an hour of agonizing pain. The hygienist was pleasant but condescending and showed no mercy. Did she not know? She kept mentioning how long it had been since my last visit and how I could have done serious damage to my teeth, that I almost had.
It ruined my day. I was sad, irritable, and anxious for hours after.
The point of this post is not to make anyone feel bad for me, but to urge those currently suffering from Bulimia to brave it and go to the dentist, setting their fears aside. I know your mouth hurts, that your gums bleed, and that you are ashamed to tell anyone about your illness. Stop, stop right now. You will feel better in the long run if you go to the dentist and are open about your illness with he or she while you are still sick. I have been recovered for over a year and my decisions to avoid the dentist are still haunting me. Don't ruin your beautiful smile, schedule an appointment with your dentist today and take care of your teeth in hopes of a future where you won't have to go through what I went through or worse.
Take care of your body, you only have one. And as my Grammy always says, "Be true to your teeth, or they'll be false to you."
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