A 17-year-old girl identified as Emma has opened up about living with Gastroparesis, a rare condition that has left her without a functional stomach since birth.
Emma, who shared her story on TikTok in a video in July, which started trending on Monday under the username emmakok, revealed that she has never eaten a proper meal in her life and depends on feeding tubes for survival.
She explained that she cannot eat any basic meal and survives with the help of feeding tubes.
She said, “Hi, my name is Emma. I am 17 and I have a chronic illness called Gastroparesis. Gastroparesis simply means my stomach is paralyzed, it doesn’t work. Because my stomach is paralyzed, it can’t digest any food. Which also means I’m not able to eat any food and that is why I have two feeding pumps.”
“These are the two, they’re for my intestines and stomach. I have had these two feeding pumps since I was a baby so I have never eaten anything in my life.”
Emma explained that while she can occasionally manage small amounts of honey, tea, or water, she has never eaten common foods such as hamburgers, chocolate, or spaghetti.
“I can eat the tiniest bits like honey or a cup of tea or simply just some water but no, I have never eaten a hamburger or chocolate or spaghetti or anything. That makes it even harder because food is such a big thing in someone’s life.”
Speaking further, the teenager highlighted the difficulty of living with a condition that remains largely unknown, stressing that many patients are often misunderstood.
“Gastroparesis is not a well known disease and that makes it hard for us patients who have Gastroparesis. We’re not very well heard in hospitals but we have real symptoms. But the doctors call it anxiety or stress and that makes us feel pretty stupid.”
Emma concluded her video with a call for greater awareness.
“I am making this video to share this illness, to spread awareness, to be heard. So please just listen.”
What is Gastroparesis?
According to American College of Gastroenterology, Gastroparesis is a chronic disorder which means delayed stomach emptying without a blockage. In healthy people, when the stomach is functioning normally, contractions of the stomach help to crush ingested food and then propel the pulverized food into the small intestine where further digestion and absorption of nutrients occurs.
The condition is often caused by nerve damage, diabetes, surgery, or infections, though in some cases the cause remains unknown.
Symptoms include nausea, vomiting of undigested food, bloating, abdominal pain, early fullness, and weight loss. In severe cases like Emma’s, patients cannot eat at all and must rely on feeding tubes or intravenous nutrition.
Although there is no outright cure, treatment focuses on managing symptoms through dietary changes, medications that stimulate stomach movement, and sometimes surgical interventions. Patients with severe cases may use gastric pacemakers or permanent feeding support.
Globally, Gastroparesis remains underdiagnosed and misunderstood, with many patients reporting that their symptoms are dismissed or misattributed to stress and anxiety.
Watch the video below:
𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎: ‘𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐈𝐧 𝐌𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞’ — 𝟏𝟕-𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐄𝐦𝐦𝐚 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐔𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬
A 17-year-old girl identified as Emma has opened up about living with Gastroparesis, a rare condition that has… pic.twitter.com/VRW3OwyMnP
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