Eating disorders.....

October 2009

Something that I have not mentioned here because I felt that this issue was too *private* to talk about here, or anywhere else. However, since reading the information provided I have come to realize that this issue IS important to talk about. Important to educate each other on. Did you know that approximately 1 million boys in the U.S. have some form of eating disorder??? I didn't! That children as young as 7 are being diagnosed?? That this is truly a life threatening issue?? One that needs to be discussed!! One that can cause a 30 pound 9 year old girl to think she is FAT?!?! One that I should have learned more about long ago!

I've been saying for two years that Kaylea had an eating disorder and needed some treatment to help her overcome her fear of food. She had a G-tube placed over 2 years ago, however, since the control of food intake was taken from her, she started vomiting. Thankfully while she was in Children's Medical Center in Dallas they realized too, just how serious this issue is with her. I am so thankful to the doc's and nurses who worked with her and fought our insurance company to get her admitted into their inpatient program. This paved the way for our pediatrician to find a program here that will accept her with her medical issues so that we don't have to move to Dallas. The program in Dallas would require her to gain 85% of her goal weight and for a child who has not kept any weight on for the past 2 years, this would likely be a very long and difficult road for her.

We are waiting to hear what her specific plan will be, but most likely she will be a partial inpatient here. She will attend their program 11 hours a day, 5 days a week. This is so they can monitor all of her caloric intake each day. She will have ALL of her meals/snacks at the clinic. Thankfully our nurses are willing to go and stay with her each day. I know she will be in good hands since both of our nurses are FABULOUS!!! I am certain that the program here will also require her to gain a significant amount of weight too, but being home will be so much easier on all of us. She will continue to be home bound for schooling purposes and I don't expect her to be able to return to school this school year. I am hopeful that she proves me wrong!

I am going to try to keep up with what is going on with Kaylea here on this blog. I know this is a sensitive subject, but so important to be educated about.