Hi, my name is Nick, and I'm reaching out on behalf of my family to ask for help as my sister faces a life threatening illness - atypical anorexia nervosa.

Since February, she has spent close to 3 months in 2 residential facilities (Emily Program in NC and Eating Recovery Center in CO), 17 days inpatient at Duke Children’s Hospital in NC and is now inpatient at Children’s Hospital of Orange County, CA since June 2nd.

My mom has not been home since May 20th, when she went to support Morgan at ERC Denver. On June 2nd, Morgan was in critical condition and flown by AirMed to CHOC.

We don’t know when she will be discharged or where she will go next. The residential places seem to be failing her because they cannot provide forced nutrition like they used to, which unfortunately is something my sister needs. We’re hoping to find someplace closer to home, but there aren’t many options.

Below is a more detailed account of Morgan’s journey. Please know that your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated and more than enough. Huge thanks to all who have donated to help cover travel and medical expenses so my mom can focus on helping Morgan through this.

Morgans Story

Fall 2024

It started with her skipping lunches last fall. My mom asked her about it and she said she was busy talking with her friends. Then she stopped eating breakfast, and my mom was concerned. Morgan then admitted that she had been making herself sick for months. She saw her pediatrician and was referred to Cleveland Clinic, where she was diagnosed with atypical anorexia in January. Atypical because she doesn’t look like she is starving but inside, her organs are extremely malnourished and shutting down.

February 2025

Cleveland Clinic referred her to a day treatment facility - The Emily Program - in February. She was there a week and then the medical doctor there told us that she was not well enough to continue and needed residential care. Columbus was full, so my mom was advised to take her to another facility (part of The Emily Program) in Durham, NC. Morgan had an Ng tube (feeding tube) in her nose by the 2nd day there. She made some gains the first 3 weeks, and then everything stopped.

March thru April 2025

By the six week mark, my mom was driving down from Cleveland and went with her by ambulance to Duke Children’s Hospital, where she was admitted and inpatient for 17 days.

The doctors at Duke highly recommended Eating Recovery Center in Denver, CO. My mom was desperate for her to get the help she needed and they flew there on April 14th.

April thru May 2025

My sister refused water and supplements on and off for nearly 5 weeks. A patient law enacted last year now gives minors the right to decline care, and makes forced nutrition at residential places a legal liability. Inpatient children’s hospitals are still able to provide this life saving treatment, but their goal is medical stabilization and then sending patients back to residential to work on the mental illness part. So during her stay at Emily Program and ERC, she was monitored closely, given glucose tabs to keep her blood sugar levels from crashing, and then sent to a local ER for fluids… and back to residential.

ERC Denver asked my mom to plan on spending a month doing emotion coaching and supported meal times. After a few days, it was clear to my mom that Morgan was critically ill. Her skin was grayish and she was very lethargic. They went to a local ER that gave her fluids and said her labs looked fine and sent her back. This is common with anorexia bc our bodies can get very good at living in starvation mode - but only for so long. ERC was working behind the scenes to find a hospital that specialized in eating disorders and that would hopefully keep her through some weight restoration. They coordinated a transfer to CHOC - Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Mission Viejo, CA.

June 2025

Morgan has been inpatient at CHOC since June 2nd, celebrating her 13th birthday there on June 5th. She is slowly getting some weight restored and finally started taking bites of food after living on supplements since February. As much as this is huge progress, she remains very ill and it will take a long time for her internal organs to heal as well as to treat the mental illness that caused this.

We greatly appreciate your prayers, encouragement and support. My mom is staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Orange, CA but all of the traveling has been wearing on her. Your financial support has helped greatly in her being able to rent cars (she found it’s more cost effective than taking Uber) and cover travel and medical expenses while maintaining everything at home. She is doing her best to continue working and grateful to her employer for their flexibility while she is on intermittent FMLA.