about us
ABOUT MOMI am originally from NY and have spent most of my life living in NYC. I have been blessed with three beautiful children: a 13 year old boy, 10 year old girl, and a 6 year old girl, as well as an amazingly supportive husband. In NY, I spent 10 years working in the TV production world, but after having children, I quit my job, as it involved too much travel. Eventually, I went back to school to earn a master's degree in women’s health and became an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant, helping moms with breastfeeding.
Four years ago, we moved out of NYC and relocated to Texas. It was an enormous change in lifestyle and required many months for my children and I to adjust. Over time, we have grown to love our new life here. |
about SONMy son is 13 years old and loves to make people laugh. He has been in recovery for 2 years now and I continue to be in awe of his strength and determination. While many days have its challenges, with the support of his entire family, his amazing service dog, Adele, (who helps to mitigate some of his anxiety), and most importantly, through the power of his own true will, he continues to maintain recovery.
When my son is not in school, his hobbies include: reading, making crafts, video games, acting, hanging out with friends, and playing with his sisters or his dog. |
Our Story
In 2017, my son, who was 11 years old at the time, was hospitalized for four months in a Denver hospital, as a result from having ARFID. At the time, he was suffering from severe malnutrition and refusing to eat. Through countless hours of therapy, meetings with dietitians, eating disorder specialists, psychiatrists, therapists and physicians both in and out of the hospital, my son slowly got back up on his feet again. Today, he is doing really well and I am so proud of his continuous hard work. While he still has challenges eating, he has the tools to help him stay physically healthy. Those tools include: techniques he learned during therapy, eating "safe foods", drinking the occasional supplement, and using a form of distraction found in laughter, sharing stories, and focusing on his service dog, to help him successfully get through a meal.
I think it’s important to note that recovery is an ongoing process. While meals definitely get a bit easier over time, our son continues to challenge himself everyday, as he moves forward with his life as an adolescent in middle school. Some challenges, for example, are to eat when he has no appetite, due to stress and anxiety. Another challenge might be to go with the family to a new restaurant, or perhaps it is eating with a new friend or a big group of people. He also challenges himself by trying new foods, so that he avoids "jagging" out of the foods he currently eats. Jagging is a term used in the ARFID world which refers to developing an intolerance for eating a food that you have eaten to much of and refuse to eat it any longer.
As for me, I’d like to think of myself as a “survivor” to a child who has been through recovery from ARFID. I call myself that because any parent who has watched their child grow critically ill from malnutrition, been hospitalized for any length of time, who supported their child through weight restoration, or who has been on the receiving end of the emotional strain that a child goes through in treatment, has probably felt like they have been through hell and back. I believe my son and I are both stronger because of the fight we endured together. I am not naive, however, about recovery and its permanence. I know I must remain hyper vigilant and always keep in my mind, the fragility of recovery, in order to help sustain it.
I think it’s important to note that recovery is an ongoing process. While meals definitely get a bit easier over time, our son continues to challenge himself everyday, as he moves forward with his life as an adolescent in middle school. Some challenges, for example, are to eat when he has no appetite, due to stress and anxiety. Another challenge might be to go with the family to a new restaurant, or perhaps it is eating with a new friend or a big group of people. He also challenges himself by trying new foods, so that he avoids "jagging" out of the foods he currently eats. Jagging is a term used in the ARFID world which refers to developing an intolerance for eating a food that you have eaten to much of and refuse to eat it any longer.
As for me, I’d like to think of myself as a “survivor” to a child who has been through recovery from ARFID. I call myself that because any parent who has watched their child grow critically ill from malnutrition, been hospitalized for any length of time, who supported their child through weight restoration, or who has been on the receiving end of the emotional strain that a child goes through in treatment, has probably felt like they have been through hell and back. I believe my son and I are both stronger because of the fight we endured together. I am not naive, however, about recovery and its permanence. I know I must remain hyper vigilant and always keep in my mind, the fragility of recovery, in order to help sustain it.
