{fade to the vultures sitting on a dead tree}

Buzzy: Hey, Flaps, what we gonna do?
Flaps: I don’t know. What you wanna do?
Ziggy: I got it! Let’s flap over to the east side of the jungle! They’ve always got a bit of action, a bit of a swinging scene.  All right?
Buzzy: Ah, come off it! Things are right dead all over.
Ziggy: You mean you wish they were! [laughs]
Dizzy: Very funny.
Buzzy: Okay, so what we gonna do?
Flaps: I don’t know, what you wanna do?
Buzzy: Look, Flaps, first I say, “what we gonna do?” and then you say, “what you wanna do?”, they I say, “what we gonna do?”, you say “what you wanna do?”, “what you gonna do”, “what you wanna” – let’s do something!
Flaps: Okay. What you wanna do?
Buzzy: Oh, blimey, there you go again. The same once again!
Ziggy: I’ve got it! This time, I’ve really got it.
Buzzy: So you got it. So what we gonna do?

I had a similar Jungle Book-moment the other day with my dietitian.

Me: When should I make my next appointment?
Dietitian: Well. how often do you want to see me?
Me: Hmm, I don’t know. What would you recommend right now?
Dietitian: Well, that depends. Do you feel it would be helpful to come more often?
Me: How often?
Dietitian: We could do every other week, or once a month.
* other chit-chat as we walk out *
Me: Okay, so I’ll see you….. wait, when should I schedule again?
Dietitian: We’ll figure it out next week.

As an adult in treatment, I’m responsible for telling my professionals what I need.  This is semi-unfortunate, because I don’t always know what I need… and even when I do, what I want and what I need don’t necessarily (or often) match-up.  So, I end up in this “I want to do what you want me to do” space.  However, my dietitian is very considerate and treats me like a regular adult (not just a patient), and takes other things into consideration: my work schedule, money, time, life, etc.   Between her thoughtfulness and my confusion (we’ll just say that confusion is the outcome of my internal ED vs. me “what do I need” war), we sound like the vultures.

Interestingly, I never have this issue with my therapist.  Her response would be, ”yeah, I want you to do what I tell you to do, too.”