Misdiagnosed & misunderstood 'I COULDN'T BE A NORMAL TEEN'

After years of agonising pain, Grace finally got the surgery she desperately needed

- Kasia De Vydt-Jillings

Instead, Keri relentlessly researched and trawled online support groups and, to her immense relief, discovered there were multiple other surgeons available around the world, some much more affordable and closer to home.

In November last year, Grace travelled to Canberra, Australia, for an operation to release the compressed veins and arteries, and remove nerves around the celiac artery.

All up, including pre-op tests and the private hospital stay, it cost around $35,000.

But what happened next was truly incredible.

After years of living in agony, unable to eat without vomiting, Grace woke up pain-free, asking for sushi and ice cream.

“On day one, I was walking with a walker, on day five, I was eating fries and a hamburger, on day six, I went shopping with Mum and three weeks later, I went to the gym,” marvels the tenacious teen.

Perhaps most impressively, Grace went from being almost entirely bed-bound to completing a 71km hike in Queen Charlotte Sound just eight weeks following the operation.

Grace, Keri and Dave explain that they want to speak out about their experiences so that others struggling with diagnosis and treatment know their symptoms are very real – and that help is available.

“I feel incredible,” says Grace. “I have no pain, no nausea, no migraines, nothing. I’m a new person and I want other people to feel this good too. There are options out there, and medical professionals that will take you seriously and believe you.”

It marks a remarkable turnaround from a child who has always struggled with health problems, but battled even more to have them recognised. Grace has lost count of the number of times she was told it was all in her head, that she was just experiencing panic attacks or that her weight loss and inability to hold down food meant she had an eating disorder.