How Canopy Cove Saved My Life Abby Alban

Contributed by Canopy Cove

Hi! My name is Abby. I’m so blessed and thankful to be sharing my story with you today! So… where do I start?

I guess from the beginning. I was a normal kid, who loved life and Jesus. Anyway, I attended a really nice school and had some “friends”. They weren’t true friends because they picked on me for my weight and flaws.

However, those people started talking about weight and dieting, and they were all skinnier than me, so I decided to start losing weight in eighth grade. However, my relationship with food and exercise started to change. I became depressed and wouldn’t eat because I was so afraid of becoming fat.

My parents even had me switch schools to help me. It helped a lot, but the lies were still in my head. I tried to control my siblings’ weight by making their meals and exercise plans.

A few months later, I started running cross country to become even “healthier”, even though I was very underweight, and I became very obsessed with exercise. My weight plummeted, and my parents tried to help me by taking me to counseling and a nutritionist, but I fought them and became sicker.

I was running an average of 24.5 miles a day, sometimes more, and even though my times were excelling in races, my health was declining. My vision, memory, and health were dying quickly, and that’s when my parents decided to contact Canopy Cove, an eating disorder treatment center in Tallahassee, Florida.

I was admitted on October 25th, 2017, and my life changed that day. I was diagnosed with extreme anorexia nervosa, along with anxiety, OCD, and several other mental illnesses. I definitely fought all the people there because I was determined to exercise and restrict, but that definitely didn’t work.

I hated treatment for the first couple of weeks because of the rules, but then, I started to enjoy myself and became more compliant. I loved and will always love the team there. We had a lot of fun! We went to the Goodwill Bookstore, the Country Dollar Store, and Hobby Lobby for field trips.

There were still the hard times, like where I had to drink five and a half Ensure Pluses. However, I got better, and I went home ten days before Christmas.

I still had 20 more pounds to gain at home, but I was so much healthier and happier than I had ever been. A year has gone by, and according to my treatment team at home, I am officially recovered, and I am forever grateful to Canopy Cove for saving my life.

I am now a part of the choir, swim team, and BETA club. I live a normal, healthy life, and I am so grateful to God for healing me. I want to share some of my favorite things about Canopy Cove for anyone who is considering treatment.

I loved expressing myself in equine, art, and yoga therapy. I also loved the schedule. That sounds so weird, but it was structured and balanced. Here is what my schedule on a normal day was like:

7:00 am- Wake up, vitals, weights, ketones, blood pressure
8:00 am- Breakfast 9:00 am- Opening
9:30 am-12:00 pm- Group Therapy
12:00 pm- Lunch
1:00 pm- 3:00 pm- Group Therapy
3:00 pm- Closing
3:30 pm- Snack One
4:00 pm- 5:00 pm- Free Time
5:00 pm- Showers
6:00 pm- Dinner
6:45 pm- 8:30 pm- Group Therapy
8:30 pm- Snack Two
9:00 pm- 10:00 pm- Free Time
10:00 pm- Lights Out

Another thing that helped me keep in line was the rules, which included: No discussion of food, weight, or exercise around other clients. No exercise (includes shaking legs, squats, calve raises, etc.) besides gentle yoga. Claim and honor at meals. Be compliant.

Those are just a few of the rules, but the rules, schedule, and structure of Canopy Cove saved my life. I’m so grateful!

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About Our Sponsor:

Canopy Cove Eating Disorder Treatment Center is a leading residential Eating Disorder Treatment Center with 25 years’ experience treating adults and teens who are seeking lasting recovery from Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating Disorder and other related eating disorders.

We are a licensed rehabilitative provider accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. Trusted and recommended by doctors and therapists throughout the country, our program provides clients with clinical excellence and compassionate care.

As one of the most experienced Eating Disorder Centers in the nation, we’ve developed a highly effective program that incorporates solid evidence-based therapies which have been shown to increase recovery rates.

• Each person we treat receives a customized treatment plan tailored to their specific needs.
• We increase recovery rates by simultaneously treating co-existing conditions such as anxiety, depression. (We also accept clients with an Eating Disorder and co-existing Diabetes).
• We provide family education and family therapy throughout the recovery process. (Offered by phone for out of town families).
  Our Christian-based eating disorder treatment program warmly accepts all clients from various belief systems.

Get help now. Call 855-338-8620.
www.canopycove.com
[email protected]

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The opinions and views of our guest contributors are shared to provide a broad perspective of eating disorders. These are not necessarily the views of Eating Disorder Hope, but an effort to offer a discussion of various issues by different concerned individuals.

We at Eating Disorder Hope understand that eating disorders result from a combination of environmental and genetic factors. If you or a loved one are suffering from an eating disorder, please know that there is hope for you, and seek immediate professional help.

Published on November 14, 2018.
Reviewed & Approved on November 14, 2018, by Jacquelyn Ekern MS, LPC

Published on EatingDisorderHope.com