You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Personal Empowerment’ category.
The world’s favorite season is the spring.
All things seem possible in May.
-Edwin Way Teale
__________________
Is it really May, already?
Life has been good… definitely busy, but equally good!
The frenzy of prepping for gallery openings along with late nights doing my own work at the studio, holding support groups combined with some Yoga&Massage on the side has been quite the balancing act to say the least.
The end of the school year countdown has begun by our daughter, who has been finding recovery balances, challenges, and triumphs, mingled in with the excitement and plans for what she’ll be wearing and planning for graduation along with pre-summer preparations– Life is good!
And daily I try to make time to reflect on how grateful and blessed I am for my family, dear friends and acquaintances on this journey of Life- merci!
The National Eating Disorders Association-NEDA has issued a Call for Proposals for the September ’09 Conference sagaciously titled: Reshaping Our Future: A Vision for Recovery, Research, Attitudes and Action!
The goals of this conference are:
– Help family members, treatment professionals, health educators and activists to connect and share useful and supportive information that can be transformed into action.
– Familiarize attendees with the latest developments in the field of eating disorders and the implications of this new knowledge for prevention and treatment.
– Reduce the associated stigma of eating disorders and generate awareness about the realities of the illnesses by educating conference attendees, the media and, in turn, the general public, policymakers and opinion leaders.
– Provide a national convening to promote inclusiveness, enthusiasm, energy, optimism and a vision of hope for all conference attendees.
Workshop presenters can have a focus within the areas of family, treatment, special issues, outreach and education. The conference will be held in Minneapolis, Minnesota September 10-12th, and the deadline for conference committee consideration on submissions is Wednesday, March 25th.
For further information contact Director of Programs-Laurie Vanderbloom info@nationaleatingdisorders.org – (206)382.3587.
Is this year’s theme during NEDA’s Awareness Week 2009- February 22-28 and there are so many ways to get involved within your community– let’s all work towards the continuation of creating greater access to quality ED care-treatment, prevention and awareness!
FAQ for potential NEDAwareness Week participants.Find events & Coordinators in your area. Research into eating disorders focuses on causes, prevention and cures.
Source: National Eating Disorders Association
Eating Disorders are illnesses, not choices! NEDA’s mission is to support those affected by eating disorders and be a catalyst for prevention, education and access to quality care.
NEDAwareness Week – February 22 – 28, 2009 – “Until Eating Disorders Are History” – throughout the US, Canada and other countries
Sarah Stevens (center) and siblings-StarTimes
I love reading authentic stories about hard-won recovery work unadulterated by a gamut of other voices and agendas. And when it’s coupled with a genuine spirit and determined passion to make a difference in the eating disorder community you can’t help but be touched and feel gratitude toward those who have not only triumphed over an eating disorder but are determined to implement change.
So while in the midst of carving the last finishing touches upon our collected Jack-O-Lantern harvest and waiting to roast the seeds, allow Sarah Stevens’s story to inspire (you can also sponsor her ‘Walk’ scheduled in November: beautifulstars@hotmail.co.uk or sponsor by phone: (09)426-4844)and cast the goblins away this Halloween Day!
Happy Samhain to my Earth-centered friends!
With the passing of Mental Health Parity many who suffer from eating disorders will finally (albeit slowly-see how your state ranks) be able to begin receiving adequate insurance coverage and necessary treatment needed for long term recovery goals. Great progress without a doubt.
But there is a Judge by the honorable name Faith Hochberg who is rockin‘ the houses of Aetna, Horizon- Blue Cross/Blue Shield who has recently ruled:
__________________________________________________
– approval Tuesday to a class action settlement that requires Aetna Insurance Co. to provide about $300,000 in back payments to 119 insureds whose benefits for eating disorders were limited.
The company also promised to treat future claims more liberally and make internal reforms to resolve disputes over benefits for eating disorders.
U.S. District Judge Faith Hochberg also approved a $350,000 payment to the plaintiffs’ class counsel, Nagel Rice in Roseland, N.J. All of the fee comes from Aetna, not out of a percentage of the class members’ recovery.
“It makes perfect sense to me,” Hochberg said after ruling that the settlement in De Vito v. Aetna, 07-418, was fair, reasonable and adequate.
The settlement requires the company to treat some claims for anorexia and bulimia as it does claims for biologically based mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia. That makes a class of eating-disorder patients eligible for eight months of treatment, compared with 20 outpatient visits per calendar year and 30 days of inpatient benefits.
The 119 insureds who will receive checks were those who had at least one claim limited by Aetna’s practices during the past seven years. And in the future, Aetna will treat anorexia and bulimia the same way it does BBMIs.
In addition, anyone Aetna determines to have no medical necessity for enhanced eating-disorder treatment during the next four years would have the right to elect binding review by an independent eating-disorder specialist selected with input from the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
At the same time, though, the settlement affects only patients in “fully insured” plans — those funded by employers. Enrollees in self-funded plans, such as employee welfare and state worker health benefits programs, are not covered by the settlement and would not automatically benefit from the more liberal process.
Nagel estimates that about 530,000 of Aetna’s 1.2 million insureds are eligible for the new claims procedures and that the process could be worth up to $2 million in recoveries by the insureds.
–Law.com
As many of us already know recovering from an eating disorder takes time, patience, perseverance and an added sense of humor never hurts either. This journey of Hope, Change and Healing can be a long road, but well worth every step! And when a sufferer is not able to obtain the adequate and experienced care that is required for ED treatment this journey can seem like climbing the Himalayas.
Families and sufferers can have a voice and advocate for the care and support they deserve, but it takes some persistence and not taking “no” for an answer but digging deeper and rooting out the resources and connections one needs to help along this road.
One courageous and honorable teen diagnosed with anorexia has taken such a step in Northern Ireland, and is demanding change all the way to the courts to get the care she needs- bravo!
With fire-in-the-heart like that, the sky is the limit to what can be possible so that everyone suffering from this illness will eventually have access and covered care that they need to fight the battle and win their full and healthy lives back.
-shanti
President Signs Mental Health Parity Legislation!
Thanks to the thousands of Advocacy Network members who lent tireless support to our years-long effort to win enactment of legislation to end discrimination in mental health coverage. Today we won! After House passage of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act today, 263-171, President Bush has at last signed mental health/addiction parity into law.
Click here to learn more about the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.
-Fantastic news worth celebrating!
Some of the most common events become quite significant when your child has an eating disorder, and at times worry seems to be a constant irritating leach sucking your Mom-force astray even when the coast is clear.
For the past two years our daughter has missed out on class trips due to the pernicious nature of the eating disorder. And as if heading back to school doesn’t already bring with it some added stress and anxiety for a developing young middle-schooler, these trips always take place at the beginning of the year– great idea for setting the tone and building relationships for the school term, not so great idea if your child is trying to gauge the semester and transition in the first couple of weeks tacked on with the complexity of managing an eating disorder.
For the first year of middle school this trip was a no-go. Last year also didn’t happen since she was not yet able to make food-meal choices on her own, as well as eating without some additional support, and being comfortable enough to ask for help if encountering some difficulty and parents and family were not around.
Initial diagnosis of the eating disorder, immediate hospitalization, the following year inpatient and residential treatment, along with intensive outpatient treatment; days-months of missed school, family and social life seem strangely long ago, healing does take time.
This school year is markedly different though, our daughter is actually getting a bit pissy about missing out on certain aspects of teen social life and events her friends and peers seem to do “so easily”. These are things she also did easily, without second thought, prior to the eating disorder and another positive sign that she is remembering and awakening to her former Self.
This year’s “Leadership Trip” my baby is on the road for three days of fun and camaraderie. First to camp, canoeing, rope climbing and mingling while looking at the constellations, second to the State Capital, then finishing off sliding down the plastic tubes of a favored water park, who would want to miss this?
She left this morning her bags packed with extra snacks and necessities, pre-ordered her meals (all by herself- yeah!) and wasn’t embarrassed to give an extra hug.
But my ultimate moment came seeing her classic dimpled smile!
The road ahead is like the road behind.
The dreams achieved revise the dreams to come.
Mind shapes world, and new-shaped world shapes mind,
As what you are steps back from what you’ve done.
The deeper you resides in its own space,
The deeper you resides in its own space,
Sheltered like a yolk from wind and tide,
Filled with unimaginable grace
To wander through the paradise inside.
Ambitious girl!
Ambitious girl!
Become what dream you will,
And sail across each dark, forbidding sea.
Within, the fawn will graze sweet meadows still,
Untouched by all the phantoms you will be.
-Nicolas Gordon
-epicself
Well I haven’t been blogging to an idealized expectation… but there is good reason– SPRING!
This time of year is definitely infectious for us. Things are blooming, the soil is deep, dark, rich and inviting (which reminds me, the compost needs turning) and I simply can’t resist when the weather beckons and stays as wonderful as it has. We spend most of our time outdoors when spring and summer arrive so I can only apologize for posting infrequently and sporadically. And this summer we’ll be either vacationing in India, the Rocky Mountains, or beachin’ it on Big Sur– so even more intermittent rambles, c’est ca!
This weekend is also Chicago’s Green Festival and we’ll be heading out for the party. Personally I can’t think of a better way of treating the family with some fun, gorgeous weather, great food and extended community company!
Wishing all of you a very Bountiful, Healthy and Happy Summer!
-shanti
Being an artist
means, not reckoning and counting,
but ripening like the tree
which does not force its sap
and stands confident
in the storms of spring
without the fear that after them
may come no summer
-RAINER MARIA RILKE-
While I’m playing with WP Themes -my creative side itches- I’ve been curious what other parents and those who have found their path towards healing, recovery and well being from their eating disorder find gives them greatest support and sustains them throughout? At your most difficult times, what has buoyed and held you steady, lifted you up and got you through (like my friend Ganesha up there)?
Do you wish some things could have been done better in hindsight, wished clinicians, treatment providers, community resources, insurance, etc. could have known perhaps more than you, practicing with up-to-date, evidenced-based research and data vs rehashing false and painful stereotypes that can keep a family from getting the best care possible? And that everyone worked more as a cohesive whole vs fragmented, inconsistent, and leaving too many gaps for uncertainty and misunderstanding– or worse barely any informative communication or basic follow up to keep focus on the best methods towards recovery and support?
And if you were/are a parent(s), caregivers, extended-family, siblings do you wish there would have been services that encompassed and included the entire family, and not just for weekly family therapy sessions, the once a month “Family & Friends” events held at treatment centers. But further additional healing and supportive measures like what is comprised in most respite centers/facilities and typically standard for family members when a child has cancer, or any other major life-threatening illness.
All of us know that ED’s are potentially life-threatening if proper treatment and nutritional support are not addressed, and the sooner diagnosis is made and intelligent, comprehensive action taken, the better the chances recovery can be, and less relapsing and monumental expenses for the revolving door of IP, OP, residential, IOP, etc. care.
Being a parent of an adolescent with an ED, there are unique aspects to what parents and family members need, your life and “time” seem to come to complete stops and starts depending on where the progression of the illness may be, how many extra hands there are to pitch in when you need time to take care of yourself, take care of other siblings, reconnect with spouses, get some perspective, and to keep centered and strong.
If I were to draw a graph of how our family has progressed through our daughter’s illness, it would have some deep dips and high escalations, and many dotted straight lines– but not always clearly defined and consistent (thinking about this makes me want to create just such a map/graph!) Sometimes things seem to just “click” and things move forward without much ado; but there are other times when it seems the cyclone of ED can just demolish the very health and Life of an entire household, leaving pulverized rubble and ruin that needs the utmost and gentlest of care and compassion– those are the moments when all your resources get pulled together and you roll up your sleeves and get down to business– you take action and you may find setbacks galore, but you also find incredible inner resilience, Hope, courage and more Love than you ever realized was always there.
Moments like these can also be some of the most magnificent and humbling of points within our human experience …
I feel a deep human need to collectively share these experiences, swap stories- like sharing a recipe!- connect with others who “get it” and aren’t going to be dismissive, discourteous, judgmental or even worse, think I’m a bit over-the-top… off my rocker… box ‘o crack ‘o jack, etc.
And I think if it weren’t for the Internet of collective voices, fellow parental-comraderie and individuals such as an incredible Mom who hosts a forum for parents to find one another, along with so many of you whom I’ve met virtual-via email, your websites/blogs, etc. and found such amazing insight and resolve into this illness– I do feel I would have felt much more isolated and possibly a bit more despairing (I say a bit since my Finnish ancestry is laced with “SISU” = strength… so this would not have lasted long) but it also points to the reality of the importance to support and encourage one another through the recovery and healing process within eating disorders. To make certain adequate treatment is delivered, proper support and resources are available in all demographics.
Change is still quite snail-paced within ED’s, so I think our collective voices and efforts however big or small DO matter and make a difference.
Now if only I could get some of the ladoos (Indian sweet) that Ganesha is holding… my rant would be complete.
-shanti
contre l'anorexie... inform-empower-educate & heal 
Recent Comments