I was in hospital begging them for help but they sent me home
Mum’s plea for eating disorder support
AN ANOREXIA sufferer has revealed how she begged doctors for help after 10 months of hell which saw her weight drop to just four-and-a-half stone.
Mum-of-two Dianne Docherty said she was on her knees pleading with hospital medics not to discharge her.
She says the support of a dietitian helped save her life.
Dianne, 37, was admitted to Wishaw General in Lanarkshire after falling ill.
She said: “I was on my knees in the hospital begging them for help but they sent me home.
“My family thought I had discharged myself and they were accusing me of not wanting to get better – it was awful. They were watching me deterioriate.”
After being admitted a second time in May, Dianne spent four hours on a drip overnight before being discharged.
But after collapsing at her home in Wishaw, she returned to hospital.
Dianne said: “I was seen by a doctor who showed no compassion at all.
“He said there was no excuse for not eating and that he couldn’t eat in his house for four weeks because he was having his kitchen done.
“After he discharged me, I was so low. My dietitian took over and I can’t thank her enough. She got me fed through a tube. It was only then I was diagnosed with anorexia.
“If it wasn’t for her, I would have come out of hospital and died.”
Dianne was 39st before she was fitted with a gastric band, and healthy eating saw her drop to a size 12 or 14.
She said: “I was over the moon with how I looked but nine or 10 months ago, I started going downhill rapidly.
“It’s been so distressing for my family. I was so badly starved, disorientated and deluded because of how starving I was.”
Dianne wants to start a support group for people with eating disorders and says NHS Lanarkshire must improve.
She added: “There are over-eaters groups and support for alcohol and drug problems but nothing for under-eaters. The NHS should be doing more.”
NHS Lanarkshire said: “We have a dedicated specialist community service for those with an eating disorder with a highly experienced and qualified multi-disciplinary team.”