“I want to start fresh — to go back to school and make a better life for myself and for my son. I don’t want to just exist; I’m ready to live again.”
In 2004, she found Somerset Medical Center’s Eating Disorders Program. Here, at one of only two inpatient facilities
in the state, a multidisciplinary team worked with her to improve her weight and restore her health.
“Caring for patients with eating disorders begins with each member of the Eating Disorder multidisciplinary team working collaboratively,” says Linda Leighton, MSN, RN, APN-C, director of Behavioral Health Services. “It is our daily encouragement, motivation, nutritional rehabilitation, active listening, education about eating disorder behaviors and further medical consequences, and partnering with our patients that makes a difference in their road to recovery.”
New Ways to Cope
Tormey’s story refutes the stereotype that eating disorders affect only young women who want to look thinner. In fact, anorexia and bulimia, a related condition that involves overeating and purging, aren’t about eating at all. “They’re about control,” says Joseph A. Donnellan, MD, board certified psychiatrist and medical director of the program. “If you can’t control other issues in your life, you focus on the one thing you can control: your food intake.”
That’s why the treatment program addresses all aspects of the condition. Patients work with therapists in individual and group sessions, which might include such activities as art therapy and journaling, so patients learn new ways to process feelings and solve problems. “We give them a new set of skills, so the next time they hit turmoil in their lives, they don’t have to turn to their eating disorder to cope,” says clinical supervisor Lynn Corey, LCSW, CEDS.
In addition, dietitians work with patients on meal planning. Nurses monitor vital signs and check for common complications such as kidney disease and osteoporosis. Specialists from the hospital are close by to provide additional care in cases like Tormey’s that involve other conditions.
A Plan for the Future
Tormey, now 33, returned to Somerset Medical Center this past December after several years of good health. As she faced a number of unexpected challenges in her life, she soon felt overwhelmed. “Eventually the stress got to me, which activates the Crohn’s disease, which brings back the eating disorder,” she says. And now she has someone else to consider — her son Joshua, born in 2010.
Fortunately, she has received strong support from her mother Betty Polikoski, who is currently taking care of Joshua.
Tormey also credits the outstanding care of Dr. Donnellan, Corey and the rest of the Somerset Medical Center team for setting her on the path to recovery.
Patients of the Eating Disorders Program stay in Somerset Medical Center’s 14-bed facility. Over time, they can progress to partial hospitalization, then intensive outpatient care and finally to weekly therapist and dietitian sessions. “If a person wants to get better and is willing to do the correct treatment, the prognosis is excellent,” says Dr. Donnellan.
Tormey was able to go home to Little Egg Harbor when she regained enough weight. As her doctors worked out a treatment plan for her Crohn’s disease and eating disorder, she remained focused on her next steps. “I want to start fresh — to go back to school and make a better life for myself and for my son. I don’t want to just exist; I’m ready to live again.”