ER and other shenanigans

Exactly a week ago today, my friend Sarah was driving me to the emergency room. I had seen my dietitian 4 hours earlier and she was seriously concerned for my well-being. You see, I hadn't eaten or had anything to drink in 3 days. When she weighed me, her super duper special scale told her that I was severely dehydrated. I insisted I was fine (when I really felt like I was dying). She wanted to drive me home because she didn't think it was safe to drive myself, but again, I said I was okay. Around 10:30pm I was walking from my bathroom to my bedroom and all of a sudden everything got white and my head felt like it was spinning, I felt nauseous and on fire. I made myself sit down. After a few minutes, I felt strong enough to walk to my bed and sit down on it. I texted my friend Sarah, and in my gut I knew I needed to go to the ER. So I got there and they did vitals, EKG, took several vials of blood, and put in an IV needle. I didn't get a room until 1:30am. The doctor came in and I explained how this happened and that I had an eating disorder and blah blah blah. He wasn't very understanding or supportive, but whatever. I didn't really expect anything different.
He said my lab work came back and I had low potassium. I got pumped full of fluids to re-hydrate me and get my potassium level back up to normal.  I had a TERRIBLE headache that was on day 5. I got a Percocet for that, as well as Zofran for my nausea. After the fluids were pumped into my body, I was allowed to go home. I was pretty loopy from the painkiller, and exhausted. I got home at 4:30am. I went straight to bed. This was on a Friday night/Saturday morning and I didn't feel back to normal until Monday night.
Since then, I have been eating much better and staying hydrated. I guess it was kind of a wake-up call. It scared me a lot. I still have the desire to restrict, but for the most part...I'm not. My parents were really mad at me when I told them what happened. My mom accused me of being needy, attention-seeking, and that I wanted people to baby me. This is why I never tell my mom anything.
I saw my dietitian tonight and she was so glad I went to the ER. She told me I had scared her so much. When I told her I had low potassium that night, her eyes got real big and she said, "you can have a heart attack from that, you do know that right?" I did know that, but don't think it would ever happen to me.
My therapist, who is amazing by the way, has been very supportive. I have been doing a lot of trauma work lately, and I think the anxiety from talking about it led to my behaviors last week that landed me in the ER. She is aware of this, and wants to be very careful and slow from now on when talking about trauma. She recognizes how much emotional pain I am in and just wants to take things session by session. I am perfectly okay with this, as I was so overwhelmed with everything last week.

I've started physical therapy for my shoulder and it sucks. It's hard and painful and it makes me sore and tired. My physical therapist says I have a lot of work to do with it, that it will never regain full strength. Super.

I am going to spend a weekend in October with my best friend Ashley, and we are going to do a NEDA Walk in Baltimore! I can barely contain my excitement. She is my other half and a part of my soul and I cannot wait to see her!

Not much else going on. Just the usual day to day things. My life is pretty boring.

It's strange...

It's strange how 6+ months ago I thought I was moving beyond my trauma, even though I knew I was keeping a secret about it. Now, here I am going through it again. It's painful, scary, and overwhelming. Luckily, I have a wonderful therapist who is helping me through it. As well as a very understanding and supportive boss. Secrets keep you sick, and I was keeping a deep, dark secret. I think I'm on my way to healing, but right now it feels like my brain is exploding and my body is falling apart and everything causes panic. It's just not fair.

The eating disorder continues to be a monster in my life. Some days it goes away and I eat without thought and worry. Other days, the thought of food makes me sick and I choose not to eat. It's not about feeling fat, or being scared of gaining weight. It never was. It's the anxiety. The anxiety that is always there. I just want to be free of it, of all that holds me down.

I feel like I have to apologize for my disorders, for my issues, and for needing help. I feel stupid, unworthy, and undeserving, even though people tell me I am none of those things. My therapist said, "you aren't stupid, you are brave."  And yeah, I am using an insane amount of courage right now to deal with my trauma. But talking about it still makes me feel stupid.

Physically, the anxiety is attacking my body. I tremble and shake all over. I've had a migraine for 5 days. I cannot sleep. I cannot eat. I am having panic attacks. There is a huge amount of anxiety that I think is coming from the huge amount of emotions I am keeping inside. I need a release. I need to cry, scream, jump up and down, or something. I know this gets said a lot, but I literally feel like I could explode any minute.

But, day by day I somehow make it through. That's really the only way. Looking ahead a week or even 2 days will cause me even more anxiety. I am choosing to heal, to be honest, and to be brave. Day by day, I am surviving this.