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When were you there: JULY 10- AUGUST 30 2007
Describe the average day: For ED patients: Wake up between 6- 7 am to get weighed. You first pee in a “hat” to get your specific gravity tested. You change into a johnny and get weighed. You are always allowed to see your weight, i suppose, unless it is in your individual treatment not to. I never came across someone who wasn’t allowed to. There are few ED patients here at one time. I was there with two or three others. Sometimes there may only be one, or none. After weights we can go back to bed until breakfast. the trays are supposed to arrive at 8, i believe, but they tend to be late, and when we can start eating all depends on when the staff decide they have time to get them from the hallway. all ed patients have to eat in the hall, and sit for an hour after eating. no one really closely supervises us, although theyre “supposed” to. we’re supposed to eat meals in 1/2 hour, but if we go overtime they dont penalize us, and if we finish in 20 minutes, our hour starts then. there are a bunch of irrelevant, stupid groups in the morning… created mostly for brain dead old people. lunch is around 1130. the other patients have the option to eat in the caf for this meal, we still need to eat in the hall…. more stupid groups. dinner at 430 or 5. once again trays are usually late. tv’s on all day, groups are fairly optional… if you wanted to sleep all day besides the hour after eating you could. in fact you dont even have to get up for meals… theyd just end up tubing you eventually i suppsoe. every morning at 10 theres “rounds” where you meet with the doc. all ed pts get dr hsu who is really intelligent but a hard ass. basically be honest with him and hell be nice and work with you and not set up harsh guidelines. all calorie requirements are set up by him, based on your weight gain req. and pace. however, if you feel its moving too fast, tell him, and hed slow it down. if you want it sped up, if you feel hungry, hed let you eat more. if you wanted 3 meals a day… fine… if you wanted to split up your cals into three meals and three snacks, hed let you do that too. as long as you ate your snacks (bc there are no obligatory snack times)
What were meals like? every day is the same menu, however on tues and thurs i believe, there is baked salmon added to the menu. the food is really good but the balanced meals arent too ed-friendly. options for breakfast include every fruit under the sun,plain, choc. chip or blueberry pancakes, several cereals, oatmeal, omelettes, eggs, egg substitutes, cottage cheese, yogurt, fat free yogurt, plain yogurt, toast, whole,lowfat, skim, or fat free lactaid milk, soymilk, juices, diet and reg soda, coffee, tea, herbal tea, sugar, sugar substitutes. lunch and dinner include any sandwich you can think of, soups, salads (you can even get diet drsg), fruit, steamed vegies, hot dogs, cheese or ham burgers, boca burgers, you can get deli meat w/o bread if you wanted, chicken nuggets, pizza, pasta and sauce, alfredo pasta, asian noodle dish w/ tofu, shrimp or chicken, baked chicken, baked cod, roast turkey, grilled cheese, caesar salad, any drink imaginable, any amount of it, any caffeine, as many spices as you want, desserts galore… pretty much not your typical ed treatment. the only problem is, i went through a stint where all i wanted was fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese, fat free lactaid an occasional special k yogurt coffee and diet coke, and… as long as i got up to 2200 calories, the only fat in my diet was from the low fat cottage cheese. i also know someone that had oreos and ice cream and peanut butter every night for dinner. they really didnt MAKE you eat “balanced” lthough theyd help you balance your diet if you asked for help, but the dietician would add up your calories, make sure you had enough and that was that. if you wanted breakfast 3 mels a day you could do that. however, all of the food was delicious… that which i tried at least.
What sorts of food were available or served? i think i answered that. and if it wasnt on the menu, you could write it in… chances are they had it.
Did they supplement? How did that system work? everything was done on an individual basis. i had to gain weight, but if i didnt finish, theyd just write down what i did/ di not eat (they did this anyways with all ed patients) theyd share it w dr hsu and hed discuss it w you the next morning. but if you never ate 100% theyd just tube you.
What privelages are allowed? no smoking, no passes. however you could pace as much as you want, and go to exercise groups, stretch groups and yoga. everyone has an unlocked bathroom and shower in their room, which you cant go into for an hour after eating, otherwise, free reign…. unless there was a major purging problem… in which case im sure theyd set up an individual plan that you had to have a staff go w/ you into your room during the day, or theyd make you slep in the hall or something.
Does it work on a level system? nope. everything is based on individual needs.
What sort of groups do they have? really stupid ones. read newspaper, med knowledge, mental health awareness, cooking group on some sundays, art, and one ed talk group with a nurse, everyday at onepm when she was on, for an hour. it was good, but got old almost everyday for an hour with the same 3 fucking ppl. honestly, i enevr went to groups but that one… if i did, i crocheted the entire time.
What was your favorite group? i hted them all after a couple days there. but the ed one id say… or cooking, bc i love to cook.
What did you like the most? all of the freedom regarding food choices. the ability to crochet, read, draw, write and listen to music all day. we could have computers and they could have them hacked to the net if the right erson was around. and the bathroom freedom.
What did you like the least? boredom. extreme and utter boredom. the lack of young girls. the lack of sane ppl. the lack of other ed pts to relate to.
Would you recommend this program? very much so, especially if you have other psyke issues to deal with, or the need to be medically monitered closely.
What level of activity or exercise was allowed? any unless you abused it.
What did people do on weekends? more stupid groups than on the weekdays… lots of movies… more visiting hours… cooking group…
Do you get to know your weight? yup.
How fast is the weight gain process? as quick as you are “mentally capable” of handling it. honestly, as long as it went up, however slowly or stagnantly (ie .1 lb every other day) the doc is ok with it, if you need to gain, as long as it doesnt go down. even if it does go down doic gives you a couple days before he even mentions it.