Gastroparesis sufferer finds relief through surgery
Surgery was all Mary Carter could hope for. The 27-year-old lover of food wanted to be able to eat again. But after a brief illness, she was unable to eat without becoming ill. She suffered from gastroparesis, a condition in which the stomach takes too long to empty its contents. It can cause serious problems for sufferers, including dehydration and malnutrition.
When we first told you about Mary, she was gearing up for an innovative surgery that would place a device called the Enterra into Mary’s abdomen. Her doctor, Richard McCallum, founding chair at the Paul Foster School of Medicine at Texas Tech University, called it a very powerful anti-nausea, anti-vomiting tool. For Mary, it was a glimmer of hope. “Even if my symptoms got 50 percent better, it would be a huge change in my day,” she said.