Anorexia

I haven't written on blogger for a long time.  I decided to write because of the severity of the problem facing my daughter, my son and I and so many others like us that I wanted to speak out.
  My family started to notice my daughter having a different eating pattern around Easter, as for me, the scare happened towards the end of July to the beginning of August when I took my daughter into the doctor's to remove embedded earrings she had been given for her birthday.  July she wanted to play volleyball and had to have a sports physical.
From the time of the sports physical to her Doctor's visit, she had lost five pounds.  I noticed a drastic change in her eating habits and finding myself begging her to eat.  Finally I had enough and took her back into the doctor's where I found her weight had dropped even more and her heart rate down.  My daughter had anorexia.
For a parent this is a nightmare that shouldn't be happening.  I had always found security in my parents wisdom so I took my little family over to my parents and broke down in tears on my mother's shoulder.
It was at that point that my daughter needed blood drawn to check for any organ damage, not only did she stop eating right but compounded the problem with not taking in fluid.
My daughter fought to have her blood drawn and forced my sisters and I to take her to Children's Nationwide Hospital.   A specialist from Children's,  told my daughter her heart rate was down to forty. I remember sitting in the exam room, tears in my eyes as my daughter being told she had a choice of taking in Ensure or going into the hospital for a week and fed with tubes. My daughter cried and choose to take in the ensure nutrition. She also had to have an E.K.G.   I got through days just worrying that the phone would ring and her school telling me she had just passed out, or worse.
Everyday has gotten better.  Sometimes set backs and stubbornness creep up into a battle until her doctor and her nutritionist fight back .  Supporting the issue that food is what she should be taking in as medicine to make her well again.   Everyone pressing the issue til finally it sinks in.

My sister told a story of a lady who came into the clothing store where she worked to buy an outfit for her nine year old daughter to be buried in because she lost the fight to anorexia.  Where does it come from.
A parent prays for their child to be born healthy, from the very first cry a baby makes. So much of the world today changes our child's perspective on life, especially the way it looks.
 Whatever the cause, stress of losing a loved one, in my daughter's case, not having a father in her life while others do.  Peer-pressure or bullying, I wanted to let all the parents out there who are going through the same thing to know that you aren't alone .
Don't give up, some days will be harder than others but keep up the fight for your child. To the children, teens, girls and boys out there, know that you are always loved by those trying to help you, you deserve to be happy and healthy.
 I thank God for places like Children's Nationwide Hospital, for the doctors, nurses and specialist.  I owe them my deepest gratitude.  Thank you for saving my child's life!