How my anorexia has affected my sister

Hello, im Karly's sister Amy and I wanted to share what it is like to have a big sister living with anorexia. I can't say it has been easy for me, it has had a huge affect on my family and my life. I am only twelve and Karly has been sick for almost as long as i can remember but i do have a few memories from beforecshe got sick. I can remember one holiday to Queensland, Karly was well and happy. We had lots of fun together with our family.

Around 3 years ago my family (including Karly) went for a trip to Port Arthur. We had fun but unfortunately Karly was really sick. She had blue fingernails, purple lips, 100 layers of clothes on and refused to eat what we ate. I wasnt aware that Karly had an eating disorder yet, but I knew something was wrong. Shortly after Karly went back to boarding school, or so i thought. One day, I overheard my parents saying about going to see Karly. Of coarse i wanted to go! In the end i got my way. I didnt know that my sister was in hospital until we arrived there. It was upseting seeing my sister the way she was. She wasnt even allowed to walk! 😢😓 I remember watching 'The Kissy Project' with my big sister. This was a news report about a girl who had suffered anorexia. Thats when I knew how bad Karly's illness was.

My Dad got a job at Orford on a farm and had to move down there temporarily. By now Karly was out of hospital. She moved down to live with my big brother Luke and my dad because she couldn't get along with mum. Every now and then Mum and i would go down and visit and dad would also come and visit us. Mum and Karly used to fight ALOT! It made me sad to see the people i am supposed to look up to, fighting like kids. One day mum and i went to see Dad, Luke and Karly. But now there was another member of the family. Jo-Jo hopped into our life without warning. This cute little wallaby helped Karly get through the long days.

Once Karly, Luke, Mum and I went to town. As we passed the petshop, i nagged to have a look inside. We passed birds, puppies and fish of all variaties but as you can imagine i went straight to the guineapigs. We ended up getting a tan coloured guineapig. I wanted to call her Kissy after the anorexic girl in the story karly and I watched, but my Mum wouldnt let me :( My mum tried to hide anorexia from me in every way she could, but this just confused me more.

Even though it was hard on me and my family i dont blame Karly for having anorexia. She didnt get sick by choice and i dont want her to feel guilty for anything. Actually, in a way i am thankful because it has shown me that i never want to go through what she has. Karly has always made me aware of how damaging it is to your physical health as well as how painful it is to go through mentally.

I couldn't be happier now that I know karly is fighting her hardest to recover and get better. When Karly was sick it seemed like I would never have my old sister back. I didnt think we would ever be able to share a chocolate bar together or to get an icecream on a hot day but now we can. Now I am sure that i will have my old sister back one day when she makes a full recovery.

I love my sister more than words can say and one day I hope she can see herself the way I see her, as a strong, brave and beautiful person.