Autistic, severely anorexic woman to enter HSC eating-disorder program, says relieved mom

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This article was published 29/07/2024 (431 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the first time in months Lorraine Ramsey is finally feeling hopeful that her 29-year-old daughter will get the potentially life-saving health care she desperately needs.

Weighing just 86 pounds, Karleigh has been diagnosed with anorexia. She isn’t getting nearly enough calories from eating.

Since being admitted to Victoria General Hospital in March, she has gained just 13 pounds on a daily intake of between 600 and 800 calories, nowhere near the 5,000 to 6,000 her mother said she needs to get to a healthy weight.

In a letter Health Sciences Centre eating disorder program medical director Dr. Louis Ludwig wrote to an attending doctor at Victoria in June, he recommended Ramsey’s daughter receive nourishment via a feeding tube, and cautioned that without it, she could die.

But she told the Free Press her daughter — who is autistic and cognitively disabled — has not been fed through a tube.

“They said she was refusing treatments, and they said they couldn’t force her to do anything,” Ramsey said.

Following a Free Press report on the woman’s plight last week, and her mother’s failed attempts to get her daughter the help she needs, HSC has agreed to admit her.

“She’s likely, hopefully, going to get that feeding tube that she needs to start getting her health back,” Ramsey told the Free Press Monday.

Ramsey said Karleigh was midway through high school when she suddenly cut back on what she was eating and started consuming only liquids.

Her daughter began to develop behavioural issues and was rejected by HSC’s eating disorders program because of them. Ramsey next turned to St. Amant in hopes the agency could help with Karleigh’s autism and cognitive disabilities.

She said she plans to pick Karleigh up Tuesday morning and drive her to HSC.

Ramsey said her daughter is anxious about the move and what’s to come, including the possibility of missing out on nightly hot fudge sundaes with her mom.

Manitoba’s Public Guardian and Trustee is appointed to make medical decisions for intellectually incapable adults, but Ramsey has advocated tirelessly for her daughter’s care.

“It’s amazing what you have to go through in this day and age to get someone to help,” she said. “It’s exhausting.”

Before reaching out to the newspaper, Ramsey said she contacted hospital administrators, the province and politicians to no avail.

“It shows you that someone has to be an advocate to get any change,” the 69-year-old said, adding the Free Press story “sure brought attention” to the situation.

Now she wants to know why things had to get to this point for HSC to accept her daughter into their treatment program.

In a written statement, Shared Health said it could not discuss specific patients, citing privacy legislation.

“While we cannot comment directly on this case, we can say, generally, that patients are regularly transferred from one site to another for a variety of reasons — including the ability to access specialized services that appropriately meet their care needs,” the statement said.

Ramsey said she hasn’t spoken directly with Ludwig and doesn’t know what to expect in the coming days and weeks but is hoping her daughter finally gets the necessary care she needs to restore her health.

“It’s my daughter, it’s my baby, I don’t want her to die,” she said. “You try to do the best you can.”

— with files from Kevin Rollason

jordan.snobelen@freepress.mb.ca