(TW ED) My ED Caused Heart Failure & Almost Killed Me w/ Kate Avnaim | The Hopeaholics Podcast #354

Kate Avnaim's father was diagnosed with brain cancer when she was just 6 months old. When Kate was 13 they found it had spread through his whole brain. He chose quality time over more rounds of chemo. She was furious at him but she just didn't understand yet. He passed away and her mom was laid off right after, leaving Kate stuck in a permanent feeling that there was nothing in her life she could control. But she found 1 thing she could control and her eating disorder started shortly after.

When her mom took her to the doctor, Kate hid it, wore a weighted vest under her clothes to fake the scale. They still knew something was wrong. They couldn't draw blood from her arm. She was diagnosed with bradycardia, a dangerously low heart rate, with fallouts happening in her sleep. Doctors told her mom on the spot: she needs to go to the hospital right now. No going home first. No packing a bag. The average hospital stay for what she had is one to two weeks. Kate was there for 35 days, on complete bed rest. After that, an online recovery program at home for 8 hours a day for about a month.

Kate has since picked up training and has fallen in love with helping others see the potential within themselves and to hopefully be symbol of hope for others who are battling the same things she did growing up.

National Alliance for Eating Disorders helpline — 1-866-662-1235

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06:48 — Dad diagnosed with brain cancer
07:53 — Remove the tumor and lose everything, or 7 more years
10:43 — The beginning of losing control.
11:11 — Mom laid off right after his death
15:36 — No prior body image issues
17:22 — The eating disorder started
17:51 — Wore a weighted vest to fake the scale at the doctor's office
18:34 — No blood could be drawn from her arm
19:29 — Bradycardia: dangerously low heart rate
21:24 — Hating the mirror, isolating from everyone
21:44 — 35 days in the hospital
22:48 — Online recovery program at home
23:13 — Feeling proud of her body for the first time
27:05 — ED are addiction. Once you start, you cannot stop
29:50 — Screaming at anyone who tried to help.
38:07 — Relationship with God
39:52 — Got mad at God after dad died
50:07 — Eight months recovered
52:09 — What would my dad be thinking watching me in the hospital?
54:29 — God gave you this body to use
56:03 — Exercise as a blessing instead of a punishment
1:00:22 — What would you tell someone silently struggling right now?