Sectioned in Hospital - 2 years 10 months 6 days

Written by Fox.

What can I say? Most things are getting pretty positive right now! 

We had our CPA last Tuesday and it went well. We just have to wait for a bed now so we can go back to the rehab unit back in Bristol. I'm hoping it'll give me more of a chance to see our foster parents too. As Keri only goes once a fortnight we try not to hog the spotlight and leave them to it. I think of all the time we've gone home I've only seen them twice. Maybe three times. It'll be nice to see them again. But anyway, the problem is we don't know how long it's going to take for us to get a bed. It could be a couple of weeks, it could be a couple of months. Everyone agreed that this environment is now doing more harm than good. We have no time frame. All we know is that we're currently second on the waiting list. We're trying to stay positive even though at times it's been difficult.

We are continuing our CAT and MBT with our therapist. Keri saw her today actually. We were all a bit peeved with her as she said in the CPA that we are all 'parts of Keri'. It almost made it sound like we weren't even real. That really hacked us off. We were open with the therapist about it today and she clarified that that isn't what she meant and apologised for making us all upset. We discussed it in one of our daily meetings. I'm glad she's one of the people in the world that actually listens rather than talks down at you. She takes our opinion as a whole and doesn't single us out if we've done something wrong. I like her. It'll be a shame when we leave as we've all grown to trust her now.

The only thing that's really gone downhill is Keri's fluid intake. Food is, overall, better than it has been in a long time and that's pretty much down to a lot of encouragement from staff and, sometimes, it means the rest of us coming out from time to time and actually eating for her. Her weight is now stable as she's trying her hardest to stop making herself sick after meals or, well, food in general. She has a care plan in place e.g. handing in her toilet key for an hour, not being allowed to her room as it has a sink in it etc. She's really struggling but credit to her, she's doing really well with that which means she's currently a stable and healthy weight. Over the last several days her fluid intake has been minimal which has resulted in her blood pressure dropping too low over the last few days. Due to this she isn't allowed her unescorted leave. This isn't a punishment, it's just that if any of us start feeling weak and dizzy and we aren't with staff than we're a bit screwed really. Despite this she still managed to get out today in group leave as staff were going to be there. 

She hasn't presented too well over the last few days, seriously low in mood, switching all over the place. Our therapist said this was to be expected. Hopefully, with our usual hard work, we can get back into the swing of things in the next few days. I'm remaining positive. I know how strong we all are. I know what we've fought through. We've done it this long, why shouldn't we be able to do it now?

Attitude Adjustment

Written by Fox.

We have had a good few months. We got assessed by the manager of Alder Unit along with the psychiatrist. I, personally, have not met the psychiatrist, though I knew the manager, but Keri knew both of them. Overall it was good, and Keri was very honest. We all agreed beforehand that things should be honest and open, even if it's something bad, otherwise we won't get the help and support we genuinely need. The manager said he was willing to give Keri a chance and decided he was going to come to Keri's CPA on Tuesday to decide what's going to happen. Everyone is expecting the transition stage of moving to happen very soon, like decided at the CPA. That's what everyone involved is expecting anyway. Reading Keri's reports, there doesn't seem to be much going on in the way of incidents. In fact, most of the incident forms that have been filled out involve me and not Keri! Everyone agrees that Keri staying here, along with us, is now doing more harm than good and is detrimental to our mental health. 

We no longer need this kind of security because, be amazed, we've gotten somewhere with Sally! Oh yes, what we used to class as the destructive demon teenager is now no longer so destructive. Therapy has finally helped us. For those that don't know, Keri has been working with her psychologist using a cognitive analytic model and a structural dissociation model, whatever the hell that means. Anyway, because of all Keri's hard work with her psychologist Sally is now willing to listen to what we have to say. Our attitude towards her has changed, we don't hate her because of what she does anymore, so her attitude towards us has changed too. Don't get me wrong, we are still having problems as she's never been able to build trust with anyone because as soon as someone meets her they get pushed away because she's so angry and violent. The only people that stuck by us is Keri's foster parents. Even Keri's mum is starting to understand a bit more than she used to. Keri will never leave Liz and Phil as she's adopted them as parents, much like I have, but her relationship with her biological mum has improved loads after they had a no contact agreement for six months. This is even after Sally went and tried to kill her. 

Our psychologist has stuck by us through thick and thin, no matter what's been thrown at her. Keri trusts her, I trust her, many of the others trust her. It's going to be hard changing psychologists when we all move but the one thing that needs to stay consistent is that Sally is listened to and respected. If that's the case then she has less reason to act out. She's not perfect, none of us are, but it'll be an even bigger breakthrough when Sally meets someone she trusts. That'll take a long long time but I'm feeling optimistic! Wish us luck for our meeting on Tuesday!