A 37-year-old former actress has called for help as she battles a severe case of anorexia nervosa that has taken her strength away and is now threatening to take her life as well.
In a heart-wrenching video posted on YouTube, Rachael Farrokh shared her story with the world in order to ask for donations to help fund her treatment.
The San Clemente, California native described how she has struggled to fight against the debilitating effects of anorexia nervosa ever since she was first diagnosed with the eating disorder 10 years ago.
"I just felt out of control," Farrokh said in an interview. "At first it was innocent, where I wanted to drop a few pounds to get better abs."
Farrokh said everything spiraled down from that point and her health rapidly deteriorated over the past few months. The eating disorder has left her severely emaciated, bringing her weight down from a healthy 125 pounds to 44 pounds.
The sudden weight loss has caused Farrokh to develop different health problems, including kidney, liver and heart failure, edema, blood clots and osteoporosis.
She also said she now has difficulty in breathing and is too weak to move without assistance from her husband Rod Edmondson.
Edmondson had to quit his job to be Farrokh's 24-hour caregiver because hospitals had refused to treat her, fearing that the "dangerous" status of her weight makes her a "liability."
"She is at a critical point," Edmondson wrote on a GoFundMe page he set up for his wife. "She desperately needs the highest level of care possible."
According to Dr. Michael Strober, director of Resnick UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital's eating disorder program, the refeeding process needed to treat patients with anorexia nervosa can pose possible risks depending on the previous treatments they have received, the severity of their condition and even their age.
"Refeeding syndrome results from metabolic changes that are associated with feeding an individual who has been calorie-depleted, so the feeding needs to be carefully monitored," Strober explained.
"The refeeding syndrome will involve the body's attempt to adapt to sudden introduction of nutrients ... Too rapid increase of calories can result in the metabolic adaptation which is associated [with] a number of hazards, which can be life-threatening."
Farrokh, however, said she is growing desperate to recover fully from her condition. She and her husband are planning on taking her to a professional home care or to a medical clinic outside California that will accept her.
"It's one of the options, but now we are getting some news that they want me to do a medical check to see if I can be lifted," she said. "It's one of the only places that will take me."
Looking back at her struggles, Farrokh hopes that her story can help other people, especially those with anorexia, to understand what the eating disorder truly means and cope with the condition.
"This is miserable," Farrokh said. "Everything hurts from my head down to my toes."
"It's really hard to [stay on topic], so what I try to do is have conversations with Rod and keep in contact with other victims on Facebook to be encouraging and supportive of one another."
The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) defines anorexia nervosa as a life-threatening eating disorder that is marked by self-starvation and excessive weight loss.
People who suffer from the condition typically show an inadequate intake of food, have an obsession with weight management, and their self-esteem is too dependent on their body image. They also have a difficult time understanding the severity of their condition.
NEDA said a prompt and intensive treatment of an anorexic patient can significantly improve recovery chance.
