Well, good morning everyone, and long time no see!
I haven't been DISing much lately and it's taken me a while to read through all your posts, but it sounds as though everyone's doing well.

Briarmom, I am thinking of you and want to know all about Egyptian men!

In all seriousness, I hope that you and your babies are well and happy and are enjoying this time with your dh.
I guess I may as well post the reson why I haven't been here and elsewhere (hi all you LL's!) in a while. Teva and T&B already know this, so I hope I'm not boring them with all the details again, but my ds Chris, who turned 11 not two weeks ago, was recently diagnosed with bulimia and is now seeing a psychiatrist who specializes in eating disorders. He is also being monitored for mild depression, although the Dr. seems to think it's directly related to the bulimia and not some other source. Once I confronted Chris with some of the things I had been noticing about his behaviors, he broke down and told me that he had been throwing up both at home and at school since last spring, but then hording and hiding food in his room so that he could binge while no one was looking. All this was going on right under our noses for months, and we never suspected anything. He did lose a little weight over the summer and looked thinner, although I attributed that to him growing three inches in six months and doing a lot of swimming. He sobbed to me about how being thinner will make him a better athlete and how he wants to be skinny like some of his friends. Now this is a boy who's not overweight at all. He's not super-thin, but he's in the normal range for his height and has a lot of muscle from playing sports. I talked to him to try to understand where he's coming from, and he did say he didn't like what he was doing, felt ashamed and wanted to stop. I called his pediatrician the next morning with everything I knew, and by that afternoon she had gotten us scheduled with the psychiatrist. Our ped. (who is just awesome!) said he is the best in his field, and that if any of her children were going through the same thing, it's whom she'd want as their Dr.
Chris sees his Dr. once a week and always looks forward to the sessions, which we all see as a good thing. He's really open to talking about things with both us and the Dr., which I understand to be a very positive step. Eating disorders "flourish in secrecy," is what the psychiatrist said, and Chris being so willing to openly discuss his issues is a good sign that his treatment will be successful (although it is like alcoholism in a sense--he will probably have to be watchful of the signs and symptoms and manage it for the rest of his life). Right now, he has to keep a very intricate food diary--how much he eats, when, with whom, how much actual hunger he feels, his sense of happiness/guilt when he eats, etc..., and his weekly therapy sessions. We are also have to monitor him closely at home and had to make his teacher aware, too. He has to leave school early every Tuesday for his appt., and the school cannot be more cooperative and understanding than they already have been!

His sessions for the most part are private, although we will have a family session from time to time. You know what's hard? Having a stranger look at your family dynamics and parenting skills and tell you how you're contributing to your child's issues. Not that he's wrong about the observations he's made, and I certainly am grateful for the way he's guiding us to help Chris into recovery and wellness, but OUCH!!! Hearing that stuff out loud feels like a kick in the teeth!
So, that's where we are now. Things are moving in a positive direction with Chris, although I've been feeling kind of grumpy and reclusive and a bigtime loser as a mom.

But we all have a good sense of hope that Chris will come out of this healthier and stronger in the end. Here's a word to the wise--eating disorders affect boys, too. I never in my wildest dreams thought my golden child--popular, straight-A student, 3-sport athlete--would ever have an eating disorder, distorted body image or self-esteem issues. I was blown away and feel really humbled by the whole thing. But it does happen, and I urge you to take any signs of bulimia, anorexia, etc., seriously in your sons and daughters. The potential health effects can be serious and in some cases can be life-threatening. We were so fortunate to have caught this early, as the younger the child is, the greater result they seem to get from treatment. But many children/teens can hide eating disorders for *years* before the symptoms are recognized or admitted to. We are very, very lucky and grateful that Chris's pediatrician took what I had to say over the phone so seriously and got us all help as soon as she could. That will play such a big role in effective treatment.
Anyway, if you're still with me (and I apologize for the length of this post!), I'm sorry for not being around so much. I just wasn't really feeling ready to tell people about this yet, and I knew some of my negativity would be factoring into my postings. I've been a major grump lately and not too nice to be around.
I do hope you're all well and happy! If any of you happen to run into any one else on other boards I belong to, please pass along my greetings until I get back into the swing of things.

I'll check in with all you guys from time to time--I promise!
