Testimonials
We've had the honor of working with
many amazing men and women.
Here is what they've kindly shared about
their experiences with Hope Healthcare:
“Nebraska may be rich in other areas but with respect to Eating Disorder treatment, it is a barren land... Hope Healthcare has brought new light to our daughter and family by providing true comprehensive (medical, nutritional and behavioral therapy) outpatient services to the community. I believe their commitment and compassion to our daughter may be the catalyst to recovery that we have sought after two long years of trying other avenues of care. From our first meeting with the Hope Healthcare team we felt (and more importantly our daughter felt) an optimism and connection from a team that was willing to lead, direct, and nurture her treatment. In 3 months of seeing the Hope Healthcare team, our daughter has made remarkable strides physically, mentally and spiritually. We are encouraged and most of all filled with “Hope” for our daughter to learn to manage her eating disorder and find a balance to love the beautiful person God created in her.”
“Wow! Thanks be to God for these women at Hope Healthcare! I now have my sister back which I would call a miracle. My sister started going here at the end of March and Kim took the time to actually read through her charts and come up with a plan for HOPE for her. She was way over medicated by other doctors. Kim slowly took her off the meds and readjusted with other meds. Let me remind you that it is now less medication. My sister now has Christ back in her life and joy in her heart. Family and friends cannot believe the change in her. She actually carries herself better when walking. More confident in herself. Thank U Hope Healthcare for taking the time to really care. Our family cannot thank u enough! God’s Blessings! ”
“I am truly blessed to be able to say Hope Healthcare changed my life for the better. Life wasn’t easy in the beginning, I have been struggling with an eating disorder since the age of 11. (16 now). Everyday since then I have been battling with the voice in my head that tells me I’m not worthy, im not good enough, im not pretty enough and that voice especially liked to point out that I was too fat and that my legs were too big. I have tried so many different treatment teams and nothing was working and I started to lose hope. Once we found out about Hope Healthcare, I was intimidated at first because I thought that I was hopeless and would never be cured. But once I met the amazing women that work there, I knew it would be the right choice to join their program. My family and I feel like Hope Healthcare was a gift from God. Their team has such caring hearts and they are so motivated to help people recover. The environment they have is so welcoming and safe. I’m truly thankful to have found such a positive place that offers support and a non-judgmental environment.”
“The staff at Hope Health Care specifically Kim Waters and Carli Isrealson helped my son through a bad time of body image issues and depression when we had nowhere else to turn. I had not found a previous nurse or counselor that sincerely cares about their patients as much as the staff at Hope Healthcare. I had called after hours and weekends when needed and they spoke to me and my son. Without the help of Hope Healthcare I am sure my son would not be eating healthy now or had been able to focus on his classes his senior year to graduate. I would highly recommend Hope Health Care to anyone struggling with body image issues, anxiety and depression.”
“Thanks to all three of you for helping me start to read this bottom up instead of top down. Forever grateful for finding all of you. You all have helped and not sure y’all know exactly how much :)”
“As someone who understands and is still battling anorexia, I know how hard it is to fight. For two years, I tried all different treatments and groups. However, nothing seemed to work. Then my family and I discovered Hope Healthcare and my life has never been the same. The team actually gave me hope that there is more to life than my eating disorder. I’ve never felt so truly cared for and connected to a team of people. At Hope, there are no failures; there are only bumps in the journey. The team truly understands the ins and outs of eating disorders and will always support you. Thanks to Hope Healthcare, I feel empowered to fight my own ED and help others as well.”
“I have hope for the first time in a long time with coming to Hope Healthcare, I think I can find happiness now.”
“Growing up, I was always described as bubbly, positive, and overall happy. I was a lover of life and always curious to learn more about the endless opportunities that it had to offer me. I grew up in an amazing, nurturing family who supported in every single thing I did.
To this day, many of my fondest memories are being seated around our kitchen table, playing games and eating good food. It seemed like, as with a lot of people, our activities revolved around eating. From going out to eat to enjoying baking with my momma, I was surrounded by good food constantly. And I L O V E D food; it brought happiness and fulfillment to me.
However, that love was slowing being chipped away starting in the fourth grade. I started becoming keenly aware of other girls bodies and how they differed from mine. I envied the girls who wore shorts to school; the ones who could sit down without wanting to place their arms over their stomachs. I started following diet plans I found on the internet (in elementary school) to try to change the way my body looked. Around this time, I was called fat for the very first time. I still remember it like it was yesterday and the way it knocked the wind out of my breath. From that day on, I no longer saw food as something that brought me joy, I saw it as something to hate and to avoid.
I’m going to fast forward a few years to my freshman year of high school. I lost sixty pounds that year, as well as my bubbly, happy personality. I had developed pretty high anxiety through my extreme perfectionism, weather it was with my food or my academics. I saw food as only macronutrients and numbers. I avoided any food that I deemed “unhealthy” and was surviving off of non-seasoned chicken breast and cold broccoli. I had started cutting myself in the shower; wrists, hips, and thighs. It became my outlet for me to express and relieve all the pent up anxiety I had. At this point, I started seeing a couple different counselors, but none of who I felt a true connect with or who truly cared about me as a person.
After restricting myself for so long, I was so hungry for the food that I wasn’t allowing myself to have. I still remember the first time I “cheated” on my diet. I had one peanut butter kiss cookie (my mom is an amazing baker!). I sat in my bathroom with my razor crying, punishing myself for eating based on intuition not just the amount of carbohydrates it contained. I then realized that since I already “screwed up” my perfect eating regime, I should just keep eating. I ate 16 more cookies, a bag of dark chocolate chips, and finished about a half a bag of caramel cashew trail mix. I knew I had to do something to get rid of this guilt, and cutting was not relieving enough for me anymore. I soon found myself hunched over in my shower, vomitting into a cup I used to wash my hair when I took baths. I have a brother who struggled with bulimia for years, and I made a promise to myself that I would never let myself go there. Yet, here I was. I felt broken, ashamed, and lost. But I also felt this euphoria of finally being able to eat the good food that I actually wanted to eat. Before I picked myself up off of the shower floor, I knew I found a new outlet. And so it was, for around 3 years.
My mom found HOPE at the beginning of my freshman of college here at Lincoln. Coming to school five hours away from my parents, who are truly my best friends, was one of the hardest things I have had to do. I was homesick, unsure of what direction to go in with my academics, and struggling to find my ever sought after “home away from home”. I also now had access to unlimited swipes at multiple different dining halls across campus that offered home style food, ethnic bars, salad bars and tens of different types of desserts everyday. I was literally able to eat as much (or as little) as I wanted as often as I wanted. This lead to restricting myself from the food I actually wanted, only to eat copious amounts after I finally listened to my cravings. I have always been an all or nothing type of person, which definitely became apparent in my eating disorder. I wouldn’t let myself have anything other than salads, grilled chicken, and veggies which intensified my cravings to the point of eating a dozen cookies, ice cream, candy, the works.
When my mom mentioned HOPE, I immediately was against seeing anyone. I felt like it made me too weak to deal with my problems on my own. But more than that, it would force me to recognize that I actually do have a problem. I would have to face vomiting multiple times a day was causing me harm and that cutting myself wasn’t a healthy coping mechanism. And I was scared of once again finding myself talking to someone I felt was only there because my parents were paying them. But the first time I walked into HOPE, I could tell that this place was different. I sat down with all three women, and they told me that they were just like me and had gone through similar things. We all shared our stories and feelings freely, and I truly forgot that I was in a profession setting. All I knew is that I felt like these women actually cared about me as an individual and understood what I was saying. I was more than another client to them. They saw my potential and wanted to help me recognize that in myself. And for the first time in years, I let myself get help. I opened up my heart and was given the love and nurturing that I needed to heal.
It isn’t easy, and I won’t try to sugarcoat that. But it is one hundred percent worth it. I am finding out that I am more than my eating disorder. I am a soul, a mind, and I am beautifully crafted. While there are still hard days, days that I feel like I am back to square one, I know I have the support of not just my friends and family, but of the women that I have worked with at HOPE Healthcare. And at the end of the day, I know I am miles ahead of where I started. I am taking strides forward on my journey to leading the healthiest lifestyle that I can. I am able to go to weddings and enjoy the cake, not avoid it. I am able to look in the mirror without a shirt on and not feel ashamed of my body. I am able to live my life free of the control food once had on me.
It is hard to admit that you need help. It’s easier to pretend like everything is alright and the behaviors you are taking part in are normal. But you deserve to be at peace with your body. You deserve to nourish your body and fuel it properly. Start here at HOPE, you will be surrounded by love and encouragement day in and day out. And one day, you too can be free of the imprisonment food has on you.”