LONGFORD 17-year-old Sara Hawkins lives mostly on a liquid diet and Launceston woman Jacinda Turner does not eat at all, relying instead on a feeding tube.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
That’s the reality of life with gastroparesis, an incurable disease which affects the functioning of the stomach muscles, inhibiting movement of food from the stomach to the small intestine.
Bloating, fatigue, pain, weight loss and vomiting are symptoms of the illness, which neither Sara nor Ms Turner had heard of before diagnosis.
Ms Turner, who was diagnosed mid-2015, thought she had come down with a stomach bug when she fell ill in January the same year. Sara’s doctors were left scratching their heads after trying a gluten-free diet and “everything under the sun”.
Ms Turner has had to give up work as a registered nurse and Sara can only attend college part-time as a result of the disease.
“It’s certainly very life-changing,” Ms Turner said. “It’s an invisible illness so you get people who say ‘Oh, you look well’, and that is irritating because I feel horrible inside.
“There isn’t a lot of research and there is no cure.”
Ms Turner’s father Dennis called it a “diabolical illness”: “I want to make sure everyone knows what idiopathic gastroparesis. Jacinda is not the only one and Sara is not the only one.”
A fundraiser to be held at the Evandale Football Club next month hopes to raise awareness and money for people living with gastroparesis.
Evandale Football Club secretary Brendan Chapman said the May 21 fundraiser would start with a match between the Eagles and Uni Mowbray and finish with a 7.30pm function at the Evandale clubhouse.
Nathan Broomhall will perform at the evening event which will feature lucky door prizes, a raffle and finger food. Entry will be $20 and drinks will be available at the bar.
Money raised will go to Australian Rotary Health for research into gastroparesis.
Tickets can be bought through the Evandale or Uni Mowbray football clubs or by contacting Mr Chapman on 0438 434 755.