Mealtimes and Milestones (17 page)

Confidential one-to-one online chat with a ChildLine counsellor and private email are available via the website.

Further Reading

Anorexia: A Stranger in the Family
by Katie Metcalfe (Accent Press, 2006)

Anorexia and Bulimia in the Family: One Parent’s Practical Guide to Recovery
by Gráinne Smith (Wiley Blackwell, 2003)

Anorexia Nervosa: A Survival Guide for Families, Friends and Sufferers
by Janet Treasure (Psychology Press, 1997)

Eating Disorders: A Parents’ Guide
by Rachel Bryant-Waugh and Bryan Lask (Routledge, 2004)

Overcoming Anorexia Nervosa
by Christopher Freeman (Robinson, 2009)

Overcoming Bulimia Nervosa and Binge-Eating
by Peter Cooper (Robinson, 2009)

Endnotes

¹
BMI stands for Body Mass Index – a measurement used by doctors to calculate whether someone’s weight is healthy for their
height.

²
There was a set sequence of eating times in the unit: breakfast, morning snacks, lunch, afternoon snacks, tea, and late snacks. These were
usually taken in the dining room, at tables of about six young people with a member of staff at either end.

³
Your core team is the group of staff directly associated with your treatment plan (key workers, therapist, case manager and key
teacher).

⁴
The key worker is one of two members of staff who work directly with you and your treatment plan.

⁵
The ‘tube’ or ‘NG tube’ is a nasogastric tube that is passed through the nose down into the stomach and is used to
help feed someone who isn’t eating or drinking enough by mouth.

⁶
I had two thirty-minute phone calls home each week.

⁷
Enlive is a nutritious feeding liquid.

⁸
Friday Group takes place every Friday and involves the whole community. The young people get an opportunity to talk among themselves, with
the staff listening but not saying anything. Then it swaps round, and the young people listen to the staff. Finally everyone comes together and talks.

⁹
My parents visited me on Saturdays, for most of the day. At first they spent the time with me in the unit; later on I was able to go out
with them for the afternoon.

¹⁰
Different colours are used to correspond to different calorific amounts. A green snack is the same as a red and a blue snack
together.

¹¹
Being ‘up to date’ means having kept up with your daily meal plan.

¹²
‘Low ropes’ is an obstacle course near the ground; ‘high ropes’ is the same kind of course, but higher off the
ground.

¹³
The case manager is the person in charge of your treatment plan.

¹⁴
The review meeting involves a member of the out-patient team along with the in-patient therapist, case manager, family therapist and
hospital schoolteacher.

¹⁵
Family therapy involves you and your parents, and sometimes other family members as well, talking with a therapist about issues to do
with family relationships.

¹⁶
Being ‘on observation’ means that you have to have a member of staff with you at all times – either right next to you,
or near enough for them to be able to see you.

¹⁷
A key session is time with your key worker/s to do different activities, talk, share your feelings. They happen at least weekly, or
whenever necessary.

¹⁸
This was individual therapy, which happened once a week, and was another place for each young person to talk one to one with a
professional.

¹⁹
School time in hospital was about three hours a day, in which teachers would come in to teach maths, English and art – also dance
for some. Different ages are taught together, but each person’s work is supervised by an individual teacher.

²⁰
The key teacher is the hospital’s contact with your school. She supervises how much school work comes through and how you are
managing it, and guides you through reintegration into school life.

²¹
Community Meeting is the weekly meeting when everyone comes together to talk about issues affecting the community as a whole.

²²
Morning Meeting is a daily meeting of the community at which everyone has a chance to say personally what was helpful and unhelpful about
the previous day.

²³
Therapeutic care workers are the staff who take care of you during the day, although they are not directly connected with your care
plan.

²⁴
A ‘supervised meal’ is a meal with your family/parents and a member of staff in the dining room. This is then followed at a
later stage by an unsupervised meal, which is just your parents and you.

²⁵
Monday Group is a get-together for the young people and staff in the afternoon to have some fun, for example playing group games.

²⁶
Creative Group meets every fortnight and gives you somewhere to be creative and express yourself through art.

²⁷
Feelings Group is a group that meets weekly where you can express your feelings with the other young people.

²⁸
A visit home is the next stage after going out with parents for the afternoon. It had been mentioned in a core team meeting that I might
soon be ready for this.

²⁹
My tutor at school helped my key teacher set the right amount of work for me, and would be there to support me when I came back to
school.

³⁰
When I started back at school, at first I stayed for the whole day, including lunch, but went back to the hospital after my lessons.
Later, I stayed for after-school activities as well.

³¹
When you are discharged you have a Leaving Group with all the other young people where you can decide what you want to do – some
people play games, for example, while others do creative activities. I wanted to do something creative, so I bought a canvas and some paints.

³²
This is the system my school uses, in which you are given a grade to work for. This is called the ‘challenge grade’.

³³
Beat is the working name of the Eating Disorders Association, which works to raise awareness and understanding about eating disorders and
to help people overcome them.

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