Healing and Hungry: What are my next steps

I wasn’t very sure what the next step after in-patient was for me. In-patient was used to make sure I was medically stable. As I talked about earlier, one of the risks of starting to introduce food too quickly after a long time of being malnourished is Refeeding Syndrome. The cause of Refeeding Syndrome is all about shifts in electrolytes that can cause complications such as seizures, heart failure, comas and could be fatal in some cases.

Safe to say I was scared after hearing that.

While I was hospitalized they kept a close eye on all my electrolytes and introduced food quantities slowly to make sure I would be able to tolerate it. Luckily, all my labs and vitals stayed stable during my stint. So that brings us to the next step. I was told that when I was stable we could consider PHP as a traditional step before heading back into my normal life. PHP stands for Partial Hospitalization Program. It is in a sense a type of out-patient therapy (because I can go sleep at my own place and don’t go on the weekends) that starts in the morning and goes into the early afternoon. Depending on the program, the amount of time per day that you are there might change. Mine is six hours.

So, after my medical care team at my in-patient location decided that it would be safe for me to go to PHP, they started making calls. There were 3 locations around my area that offered this program. I had to go through some assessment phone calls with each location so they could decide if I was a good fit for them and that they were a good fit for me.

After just one phone call, I found a place I really liked and that could accept me without a wait-list. Wooohooo!!!

That brings us to roughly 14 days ago. I called my parents and friends as soon as I got the news and everyone was overjoyed. I was the happiest person in that hospital that night. I mean, I was smiling from ear to ear, talking to everyone non-stop, laughing and eating all my meals. It then occurred to me that the people I met there had made some kind of impact on me and that I would probably never see them again.

Am I low key going to miss this place? Ha Ha no.

oops.

My mushy heart almost got me there for a second.

In all seriousness, I am so thankful for the kind staff I met there. They witnessed my very lowest point and saw me starting to fight back for the life I deserve. You guys have such a special job and you are amazing. Thank you so much!!

SONG FOR POST: Keep Your Head Up by Andy Grammer