Eating disorders - and treatments - know no ages
Mary Kay Pytel has finally beaten a disease that ravaged her body and consumed her life for 40 years. Today the former bulimic, who used to throw up as often as 20 times a day, can't remember the last time she binged and purged.
It took four decades and a village of support - the latest support team consisting of fellow patients and staff at Arabella House, a Linden Oaks at Edward Hospital residential treatment facility for people with eating disorders.
Pytel's eating disorder began when she was 7 years old when she was molested by a friend's parent. The second-grader discovered that if she forced herself to vomit, the school nurse would send her home, where she felt safe.
The pattern was established, dominating her life, sending her in and out of treatment programs. She and her husband, a recently retired LaSalle, Ill., police officer, mortgaged their home five times to pay for years of treatment and 22 hospitalizations.
"I've gone through so many programs, but this is the first time I've had a whole team," said Pytel, who is the LaSalle Township assessor. "Arabella House really got me through."
Her treatment team included Dr. Steven Prinze, a Wheaton psychiatrist; Naperville therapist James Kowal and dietitian Kim Berger, also of Wheaton. "They're all lifesavers," she said.
While the early onset of Pytel's illness is unusual, a growing number of adult women are seeking help for eating disorders. To be sure, at age 47, Pytel - the mother of three children ages 19 to 25 - was not the typical patient at Arabella House, which usually focuses on teens and young adult women. Eating disorders, however, are no respecter of age, but neither is the will to recover.
"It's true that our patients' median age is in the early 20s," said Bev Watson, clinical leader of Arabella House. "But we are seeing patients who are much older and much younger - as young as 10 - and we've even treated an 80-year-old."
Experts estimate that up to 30 million people suffer from eating disorders. But there are even more individuals with eating problems who fall under the radar, but are obsessed with unhealthy dieting, bingeing, purging, or compulsive exercise - a form of purging. Recent research has pointed to a genetic component to this disorder, which has the highest death rate of any mental illness.
Trisha Gura, author of "Lying in Weight: The Hidden Epidemic of Eating Disorders in Adult Women," notes that over the last 15 years, the number of women in midlife checking into eating disorders treatment centers has tripled or quadrupled. Most of that increase has occurred in the last five years.
"We find that adult women are seeking help for a number of reasons," Watson said. "It can be health issues or because they are totally exhausted with dealing with this for so many years. They realize their eating disorder has taken away their jobs, families, health and they've finally decided enough is enough."
Others are forced to seek help because medical complications from years with an eating disorder increase as one ages. Pytel's four-decade ordeal has left her with a litany of health problems, all common byproducts of eating disorders: osteoporosis, congestive heart failure, mitral valve prolapse, bladder and gastrointestinal problems, an inoperable back condition and arthritis. She must take seven different medications to manage these conditions.
While some have struggled for years with an eating disorder, others develop it later in life, triggered by something as innocuous as a diet or the loss of a spouse, a divorce or a parent's death.
Completing her treatment at Arabella House last December, Pytel is now fueled with confidence, a good breakfast and the ongoing support of her treatment team, who she continues to see, despite the nearly two-hour trip from her LaSalle home.
Today the willpower that imprisoned her to a life of purging has been replaced with a resolve to stay healthy and strong for herself and her family. Her unwavering 40-year quest for recovery and final victory over this condition has resulted in some unexpected dividends.
"I think my kids are stronger because of what we all experienced with this disease. They stick up for themselves. And they don't give up. We don't take life for granted," Pytel said. "Now I'm looking forward to being there for them and our grandchildren to come."
• Linden Oaks' eating disorders program holds a monthly Recovery Night on the first Monday of every month. Linden Oaks is located on the campus of Edward Hospital, 801 S. Washington St., Naperville. Call (630) 305-5069.