My name is Kelley and I am a 30+ year old female.

I am in my late 30's, and have dealt with eating disorders, self injury and suicide. As a teenager, I suffered from anorexia. I was terrified of weighing more than 100 pounds (even though I was 5'8" tall). This I realized later was enstilled in me by my mother, though at this point in my life, I don’t blame her. Just a few years ago at work, I hired a young girl 16 years old who had many issues. She needed a break in life, something positive. She to was suffering from severe eating  disorders, starving herself and when she did eat, she went right to the bathroom and threw it up. She came to work one day, she had been crying and had a horrible fight with her parents. They had already institutionalized her twice, she had tried to commit suicide and was ready to do it again, I offered her a place to stay and eventually took over as her foster mother. We went through several months of intense communication, I was afraid to let her out of my sight. I monitored her eating, actually yelling out her name at a family dinner as she headed to the bathroom. She stopped and came back to the table. I just became very involved in her life. Showed her I cared and above all would not admit her to an institution, if she worked with me. Eventually after taking it day by day, week by week and month by month, she got healthy. Then we had another issue to deal with, she had been cutting herself for years. Long story short, we dealt with that the same way, now 3 years later we are both proud to say she has gone 2 years without cutting and is still eating well. She even wrote a book. She claims I changed her life, I just think she needed someone to listen and understand.

My email is: themchughz@msn.com