Help us save Alex from anorexia

18 years ago, I gave birth to a beautiful little blond baby. From even before that child was born, having them was a complex journey. I joked that they were a little changeling, because they were a quiet, somber little kiddo from their first breath. Little did I know in those first few days, the complicated and often heartbreaking journey we'd go down. Undiagnosed hearing loss despite years of trying to get help through the Special Ed system. Combativeness and stubbornness labeled as lack of manners but later diagnosed as autism and a specific difficulty with multi-step directions and transitions from activity to activity. Body dysphoria and complex anxiety connected with an unspoken desire to transition to being non-binary/masculine, and on and on. We have stood through Alex's side through every difficulty they have faced, and there is nothing more heartbreaking as a parent than hearing your very beloved child voice a desire to no longer live.

COVID has hit so many families hard. It has hit Alex harder than most, as the isolation, loss of routine, changes in access to therapy, learning loss and so much more drove Alex deeper into a darkness where no one could seem to reach them. We've dealt with dangerously high doses of psych meds that didn't seem to work, fights with insurance unltimately not being able to get switched to the meds Alex needed, lack of consistent access to therapy and so, so much. Through it all we've seen Alex shrink and shrink into themselves- literally- losing 50 pounds. I could not ever adequately voice my pure fury that despite doing everything "right," always working to get help at the first sign of problems, despite a 15 year battle to get this child the help they need, the system has failed them constantly.

The situation has gotten to be dire. We are in and out of emergency rooms and doctor's offices, desperately trying to get Alex the help necessary to live. The hospital here will not admit without signs of organ failure- a point at which anorexia patients rarely survive even with treatment. We are told the only option will be a placement in Seattle, or even further away than that. We're also having to pay for some kinds of treatments out of pocket, as there's not enough providers in the area that actually take our insurance for the kind of help Alex needs right now.

Our health savings plan will be drained by the end of the week, with a lot of expenses still looming. If you are able to give even the smallest amount it would help so much. The gas alone to get to Seattle isn't cheap these days.