- ‘Food and I don’t have a great relationship’
A woman who is fed through her heart as a result of intestinal failure reveals she does not miss eating.
Sarah, also known as @nauseatedsarah on TikTok, has Gastroparesis, meaning food travels through the stomach more slowly than it should.
‘My digestive system is paralyzed’
Sarah, 30, revealed that she has the condition as a result of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, saying: ‘In a nutshell, my digestive system is paralyzed so I can’t eat food.
‘If I eat I basically throw it back up. I’m in excruciating pain and sometimes it even causes a seizure.’
What is Total Parental Nutrition (TPN)?
The rare inherited condition affects connective tissue, because of this she gets all her necessary nutrients and calories through Total Parental Nutrition (TPN).
TPN is when a patient receives their only source of nourishment from an IV administered nutrition.
But despite getting TPN via her heart, Sarah doesn’t miss getting a bite to eat.
She feels blessed now..
In a video which now has 13 million views, Sarah explained: ‘I get asked do I miss eating and the answer is no.
‘Food and I don’t have a great relationship.
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‘I’m 30 and in of all those 30 years food has caused me significant pain and vomiting and just everything horrible.
‘To be on this form of nutrition is a real blessing.’
The nutritional therapist was previously fed through a nasojejunal (NJ) tube into her intestines.
How COVID impacted her health
But getting COVID in summer 2022 left her without a working digestive system and close to deaths door.
She shared: ‘I kept being sick, having seizures and lost so much weight I came close to dying it was very scary.’
Sarah disclosed that starting TPN, and being fed through her heart saved her life: ‘No more vomiting, pain or seizures.’
The Harry Potter fan, who also lives with coeliac disease and chronic fatigue syndrome showed viewers her Hickman line, clarifying she is fed by the nutrients going directly into her bloodstream.
