Yesterday we had an appointment with a nurse to do the initial assessment for admission to the treatment center where my daughter will be doing IOP. The nurse was asking questions like, "When was the last time you used drugs? How much did you use? When was the last time you purged? How often did you purge?" To which my daughter replied over and over again, "I don't know. It was so long ago" or "That was forever ago." I couldn't help but smile. It was a little over two months ago.
Then last night at the NA meeting, I overheard my daughter talking to someone about how she has had SO MUCH THERAPY, she is sick of it. (It's been five weeks.) Again, I couldn't help but smile because she was talking to a young woman who is being treated for serious anorexia, which involves months and months of residential treatment and years of intense therapy.
This seems to be very typical of how teenagers think, or maybe it is just the way my drama-queen-daughter thinks. Time does not consist of 86,400 seconds a day, 365 days a year for her the way it does for me. The ED therapist was telling me about how my daughter was talking about wanting to play volleyball (as a way to get some exercise) and then she jumped to how important it was for her to keep up her skills so that she can get a scholarship to college and then get a good job and live a good life. She will talk about finishing high school and going to community college and then to UCLA all in the same breath.
On the one hand, I think it is charming and funny. She is talking about good things and looking forward to life. On the other hand, I can see how it can be overwhelming when it looks like forever is around the corner and it seems like things will never get better. It gives new meaning to the AA/NA/Al-Anon mantra, "One day at a time."
Today is supposed to be an uneventful, quiet day at home (unless insurance authorization comes through and my daughter ends up going to IOP). Our goal is to focus on and enjoy all 86,400 seconds of it.
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