Saturday, February 5, 2011

A Milestone Friday!

Many of you know that Chelsea has been 
treating for Anorexia since August of last year.
She had been ill for about a year before that
but Anorexia is sneaky and doesn't show its
real self all at once.  But when you realize 
what you are dealing with it is a fight 
for life!

This beautiful life!

For the past few months we have been getting 
closer to a goal.  
That goal is Chelsea's 
healthy weight.

Yesterday, her nutritionist declared her there!

If you have never dealt with Anorexia this 
may not seem like a big deal.  But now that 
we are walking this journey I know that this is 
the equivalent of the longest marathon you could
imagine.  For the person struggling with fear of 
food just putting it in their mouth can be overwhelmingly
paralyzing.  I have watched Chelsea work through these
fears and break the bad habits she had formed.
We have just set together and cried.

Short of hospitalizing her and forcing it
my only option was to help her be willing to 
eat.  For her own health and well being.
It had to be her choice.
This makes a control freak like me nuts!
We prayed....a lot!
We studied Eating Disorders.
I learned that ED isn't always a person.
(He kept showing up in the literature.)

Having a team of professionals 
around you in this fight is essential.
I fought that at first.
Fear that they would take her away
for long term treatment was the reason.
However, I have found our doctors and nutritionist 
to be so very helpful and supportive.
I can't even begin to express my 
respect and admiration for them.

Yesterday was amazing.
We did a happy dance right in the hallway
of Hershey's Adolescent Medicine.
Oh yes we did!
To finally be at the place where Chelsea can learn
how to maintain this healthy weight.
Chelsea has to learn to add exercise back into the mix
while eating enough to support it
and not going overboard on how much
exercise she does.
This was her form of Anorexia.
So...this is tricky and is something you 
can pray specifically about.

I am so very, very proud of her.
She is such a strong young lady.
God has helped her so much.
Her friends are so supportive.


We are not done with this journey.
Not by a long shot.
But we have crested a very steep hill and
are so very thankful!

She is out of immediate danger.

Taking a deep breath and preparing
for the next leg of the race.

I am happy to try to answer questions
privately if you want to email
me with them.
We want to use our journey to 
help others.
beckypfa (at) yahoo (dot) com

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to Chelsea!!! Her smile lights up the room! :)
Hugs,
Zuzu

Terri Steffes said...

Chelsea!! I am so proud of you. I know this is hard work but the results are worth it!

Karen said...

So glad to hear such good news!

You all remain in our prayers as you continue the marathon.

Hugs!

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

Biscuit and gravy and scrambled egg and coffee for breakfast this morning.

She and Emily just headed to the store to get some ingredients for lemon bars for tomorrow and who knows what else? They are a pair.

Gayla said...

I am so glad to read this, and I am sending happy hugs your way!

Vee said...

Joining you in that happy dance. I am simply delighted for all the hard work that she's done and for this success. (The family has done a lot of hard work, too. No one runs a race alone.)

Phyllis said...

Happy Happy!!

Tammy@Beatrice Banks said...

Congratulations! She is such a beautiful girl. My prayer is she sees herself as beautiful as the rest of us do.
Hugs,
Tammy

LemonyRenee' said...

This is such fantastic news. Way to go Chelsea and team!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to Chelsea!

Joyce said...

Congrats on meeting goals and working together to get to the finish line.
Joyce

Cindy said...

Woohooo! This is a great cause for celebration :). What a testimony you have especially for people going through the same thing.

Tracy said...

Praise the Lord what a great step on your journey!

Tamara Jansen said...

Congratulations! It takes much courage to run this race!

Diane Shiffer said...

Chelsea, I am so proud of you dear. You are such a lovely little thing♥

And a big ((hug)) to you too Becky.. I can only imagine how you must be feeling~☺~

Elena said...

That is such wonderful news! I am so happy for you all:)

Buttercup said...

Terrific news! Keeping Chelsea in my prayers.

Freda Marie said...

So very happy to hear the fabulous news of the large hurdle you have overcome..

I pray the Lord will bless not only your life but your family, caregivers and friends who have and will continue to encourage and support you in your journey to perfect health!

Anonymous said...

Well Chelsea looks great! :) Praise God for getting you through this long journey.....I know it can be long, and painful but with such a supportive family usually successful. WE have dear friends just starting this journey with their daughter. She is 15 and has also been up at Hershey. I will give them your blog url.
Thanks for the comment on my blog today. :)

SmilingSally said...

What a scary thing to go through; I didn't know, or I'd have been praying for all of you. I'm sure glad that Chelsea made her goal, and I will pray that she stays strong!

What part of my state will you visit?
Could we meet? Email me at:
smilingsal55 AT yahoo DOT com

Diane Shiffer said...

Hey hon... just wanted to say that I linked to you today☺

Tracy said...

So happy for Chelsea. So relieved for you, Becky. You'll all continue to be in my prayers.

Vickie said...

Oh CHelsea and Becky & family! This is such good news! I've not experienced it, but my friend did with her daughter, and they nearly lost her at one point. I'm so proud of you Chelsea!!! You keep up the great work. This is an answer to many prayers!

Anonymous said...

Dear folk, just stopped by from Tomato Soup Cake's link and wanted to thank you for sharing this with the blogging world :-) I know it's hard sometimes to be so transparent, but it allows some of us (like me) to catch a glimpse of hope in the middle of what we happen to be dealing with *right now*.
I thank God for this victory for your daughter. He is so good!
God bless you both,
with love,
someone you don't know

Melissa G said...

Praise God! So glad to hear you all have reached this goal!

Simple Home said...

I'm catching up on my reading today and this was wonderful news!!! Praise God! Chelsea is a beautiful young woman :-)
Blessings,
Marcia