Leah: Choosing ACUTE Was a Life-saving Decision

In the summer of 2020, I made the life-saving decision to fly into Denver, CO to receive treatment at the ACUTE Center for Eating Disorders & Severe Malnutrition at Denver Health. I was in denial about how badly I needed help and I didn’t believe I wanted, or even needed, full recovery or that it was even possible. I didn't believe that treatment could work for me for various reasons, but ACUTE saved my life and gave me the chance to experience a future that, at the time, I couldn’t even imagine.

A year after I was admitted to ACUTE, I found myself back at the airport in Denver but instead of being shuttled to Denver Health, I was celebrating my recovery as I went with a friend to explore and hike the Rocky Mountains. As a patient at ACUTE, I remember looking out my window each day, wishing I was in those mountains that I could see from my window and not in a hospital bed. Being able to hike in the Rockies was living a dream that once felt impossible and far away.

At my lowest, when I felt I was losing the ultimate fight, the staff at ACUTE came to my rescue with compassion and determination. They were one of many puzzle pieces that made recovery possible, but undoubtedly one of the most critical as they truly specialize in the most intensive and fragile form of eating disorder care, when you’ve become too severely ill for treatment elsewhere. Thanks to ACUTE, my recovery has been so beautiful and bright; I've graduated, climbed mountains, healed so many relationships and most importantly, I’ve relearned how to love myself.

My body deserves life.

I'm so grateful to be here.

I had no idea that such a beautiful life would be waiting for me.