Today I captured Tiarna & her beautiful dog Narla.
The photo session was gifted to her recently for her birthday.
I knew Tiarna has faced really tough times recently. she was diagnosed with Anorexia in 2023.
Her perception of herself is still a huge battle, & as much as she was looking forward to the photos, she was very nervous about what she would look like.
Tiarna was brave enough to share her story with me, to try & help raise awareness for eating disorders, as they are not something that most of us are aware of.
I will include in the comments some photos of Tiarna at the darkest part of her struggle when her weight plummeted to 47kgs.
Her dog Narla has been a huge support, & the light in her life during these dark times.
"It all started in 2019 when I lost my Nan to liver cancer. I helped alongside Mum and My Aunt Candy to care for Nan from her diagnosis until the day she passed away. I was very close to Nan, and it was really hard to see her decline the way she did.
I started emotionally eating (binging) to numb my emotions which caused significant weight gain. I was so unhappy in my skin and hated the way I looked.
One day, maybe about a year or so after Nans death, I decided enough was enough, I didn’t want to feel crappy about myself anymore, so I started to diet and lose weight.
I started to become obsessed with the number on the scale going down. I didn’t realize it at the time that it was beginning to become a problem until my friend had pointed it out after we started to live together.
I would restrict my food and exercise to the point of exhaustion, and purge anything I did consume. I was even fearful of water. Over the last 3 years I’ve had 4 admissions to hospital to be medically stabilised because I had made myself so unwell. Last year was the turning point though. My eating disorder got so bad that I was unable to work and unable to function like a normal human being. I would force myself to walk a considerable amount each day only allowing myself to consume very little calories, I was also hardly consuming fluids as I was so terrified of the number on the scale going up.
This went on for a couple of weeks until yet again I was admitted to hospital as my GP had said if I didn’t, my heart could have stopped due to dangerous electrolyte imbalance. I agreed to go however once I got to hospital, the hospital wanted to blind weigh me as they had every other admission. But I was so sick that my brain couldn’t comprehend allowing somebody else to weigh me and see the number on the scale. I refused to be weighed and in return after a week of not allowing the medical professionals any ability to treat me and myself becoming sicker and sicker, I was put under an emergency treatment order through NCAT. That involved being transferred to ICU and put under heavy sedation and on a ventilator, so the treating team was able to stabilize my physical health.
I spent about a week in ICU before being transferred back to the gastroenterology ward in JHH. That was the start of a long 4 month admission as then I was transferred to a specialist eating disorder ward at RPA in Sydney. I really want to use my story to help any other person suffering silently with Anorexia or any other form of eating disorder. You are not alone and there is help out there. You just have to be ready and willing to accept the help. I nearly lost my life last year and if I can prevent somebody else from going through the same or similar thing to me then it’s worth it"
Tiarna is a work in progress & was put under a guardianship order which meant she needed to move in with her wonderful sister & her family to ensure she was in a safe environment & being monitored.
Recently she has taken up surfing & found it to be a great source of enjoyment & relaxation.
Wishing you much happier days ahead beautiful, & hope you can see how beautiful you are in these images.
