I didn't take anything away, just consciously added oatmeal and cinnamon. Also more fish, nuts, olive oil, but not to any great extent. I added oatmeal pretty much every day.

I would love that, Liese.

Dear Coworkers:

I've worked here for longer than the rest of you put together. I've known A for 8 years. I am far more than slightly familiar with her propensity to exaggerate and make up symptoms. The fact that she is capable of making herself throw up is not lost on me. The fact that she is making herself throw up together with shaking, sweating and complaining of abdominal pain four days after her final dose of clozapine and three days after her final dose of topiramate (the later of which she has taken for YEARS) after having had all of one solid meal in the last week tells me SOMETHING is up. For reals. I was just hoping to get some anti-nausea medication to help her through withdrawal when I called her psychiatrist today, but the good doctor reminded me that the reason for discontinuing the clozapine was that it was affecting A's heart, and that heart symptoms sometimes masquerade as digestive symptoms and so please to take her in to the ER.

I get that you all think she is just trying to get attention. Please tell me all you want to that she was starving herself for the last week to "play us". I don't care. Yes, some of this may be exaggerated. But some of this is real. And however much of it is real deserves real medical attention. I'm entirely confident that I did the right thing.

Lots of the kind of love you give dumbasses,

Me

P.S. Sometimes when a person makes themselves throw up, it is because they feel like utter shit and hope to get some relief by getting whatever-it-is out of their system.

A suspicious police call I set up earlier tonight was cleared with notes that the involved were "heading to a bdsm sex party". I figured as much, and it is delightful to see that noted. Lol. Now I wonder where the party is.....

Haha Erin, someone's (which swype helpfully corrected to dungeons for me) having a good time.

Go you, andi, for making the right call.

That's cool the bdsm party fell into the "checks out ok" category. May they have plenty of fun.

Thanks, Liese. Gotta be honest, I'd love some concrete vindication. But in the end, whatever the doctors find or do for A (I went off duty before hearing) I'll be able to sleep tonight knowing I did the right thing rather than the easy thing.

O Bitches, my Bitches.

I've been reading the last 800 posts or so till now. You made me laugh and laugh, at times, and worry and feel for you at others. meara'ing 800 posts seems a bit too much. I'll just send my endless~ma and love to those who need it.

Basically, I just stopped by to wish Jewistas a happy Passover, the for those who celebrate it happy Easter. May the allergies spare you.

Oh! Happy Passover, Shir and everyone else who celebrates!

WS, as someone who used to do what you do, you absolutely did the right thing, and bless you for it. A is lucky to have you looking out for her. I hope she'll be all right.

Happy Passover and happy Easter to those who celebrate!

WS, as someone who used to do what you do, you absolutely did the right thing, and bless you for it. A is lucky to have you looking out for her. I hope she'll be all right.

I'm pretty optimistic that she will get through this ok, but this process of changing meds takes sooooooooo long, and has had more than the usual amount of unintended consequences (beyond the behavioral consequences) that we are all weary, stressed and trying hard to pretend it hasn't been as serious as it is. And I'm just talking about staff - I can't begin to imagine what it's been like to be inside A's mind and body. You know, I can totally believe that someone who lies around watching tv all day would rather be doing that than going to their day program, but lying around on their bedroom floor not watching tv, listening to music, playing with anything, doing anything other than lying there? That's real. There have been too many times that we check on her not to see if she is getting into trouble but to make sure she's still breathing. And the dramatic loss of appetite - no way is that faked. This person isn't the sort of person who can starve herself. So if she were pretending to not eat at meal time but sneaking food when she thought no one was watching, there would be food missing. There would be empty wrappers and containers. Food gets put in front of her for her to nibble on, and it just sits there. It's not a matter of one missed meal. It's been three weeks at least since she has eaten more than one meal per day, and in the last seven days she has eaten one solid meal. Thank heavens for Ensure and chocolate milk.

I don't mind having to fend off her housemates complaining that she is just faking to get special treatment - sure, when you are relatively healthy the idea of staying home from work for a month or more, having people bring you chocolate milk and treats to tempt you to eat, that sounds appealing. What I do mind is having to point out to staff just how real this all is while getting the feeling that they think their understanding of her is superior. This isn't her being willful. This is her feeling like crappy in a way I have never seen in 8 years of working with her.

Fortunately I don't have to work hard to convince my supervisor. It's just a couple of my coworkers I would like to go after with a clue stick.

Believe it or not, this isn't the most out of control thing I am dealing with at work. So much. So I read here and think good thoughts for you all and send out ~ma and bask in your love and acceptance, but I don't always have the wherewithal to participate in conversation. For which I am sorry.