After NEDA

In an odd twist, after the National Eating Disorders Association conference in San Diego last week I drove up to Los Angeles to help out with my grandmother. She is - after decades of happily living alone, living in in a convalescent home.

She's there because she had a cold and got disorganized and didn't eat for a few days. Her neighbor found this fiesty, independent, 92 year old widow disoriented and unwell.

At the convalescent home, my grandma is getting huge lovely meals with whole milk and potato chips and dessert and good corn bread. And she eats it all. Does my heart good.

Geriatric anorexia is actually a serious problem out there. A bout of not eating can trigger a cascade of troubles that leads to death. Does this sound familiar?

If you've met me, you know that I always wear a gold fork to symbolize the rule of full nutrition in recovery and to refute the silly notion that "it's not about the food" when you are malnourished. My friend Stephanie Millstein took this shot of me at NEDA wearing my usual lapel pin but also my Gold Fork Necklace made by the wonderful Carrie Arnold:


For my grandmother: the power of the fork!

Comments

  1. Another example demonstrating the role, the important role, that food and nutrition serves in overall health. "Food is medicine" and Amen to "Behold the power of the golden fork"

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  2. Damn straight!

    More fork necklaces were just listed on my jewelry site.

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  3. The diet of the elderly is so important and so often overlooked both when people try to cope on their own and, much worse when they are in places where they are supposed to be being cared for. It isn't always so and I'm so glad your grandmother is eating well.
    My aunt was in a lovely rest home where the residents were excellently cared for. The BEST part of it was the chef - his recipe for pears in ginger and cream sauce was about the most blissful thing I've ever come across.
    May the power of the fork be with you and yours and blessings be upon those who feed our loved ones when we cannot.

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  4. Bravo Ladies- Laura, (per her fiesty usual), Stephanie, and Carrie!

    It really is incredibly inspirational to see the needed connections and meeting of minds to share, further inform, impart wise experience, humor, compassion, and all the other good stuff towards advocacy and better improved treatment for ED's.

    Laura, the care your grandmother is getting sounds very comforting and HEALTHY- now if we can keep drumming our voices and stories like these to translate further towards meaningful, supportive, and beneficial treatment no matter what the setting or chosen option- what an important and life-saving first step towards recovery!

    You ladies rock- big virtual hugs to you all!

    *Tracey

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  5. It's so nice to SEE you again Laura! ;)

    I was thinking of our visit just yesterday and wished we took pictures!

    My mom developed anorexia due to a reaction to an antibiotic. My dad could see this and even my mother noticed that she had no appetite. She slipped down 20lbs. swiftly and mostly lost muscle weight before my dad helped re-feed her.Luckily she was around 175lbs. when she got sick.(dad forgot his own aches for a bit) Sadly, they had tried to find good medical support and even went to a famous medical hospital before they found their own way back. (they live in Fl.) Now she comes home for medical support to a Dr. she trusts.
    Now they are dealing with his poor medical treatment and hopefully we can get them to come home. Mom likes it here..dad hates the cold.

    Anyway, I hope your grandma is restored soon. I believe that our elderly deserve the same respect for their needs as we all do. There's no reason that age should determine whether to ignore a person's change in diet.

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