"I would have loved to be a food critic," said 27 year old Mary Carter. She's living with Gastroparesis. "A typical day, I could just not eat," explained Carter. "I could have a broth based like chicken stalk soup," she continued.
Anytime she tries to eat something new, she vomits. She spent the last two years on a feeding tube. She spends most of her time in her room at home. Now she's having surgery that should help her quality of life.
Gastroneurologist Richard McCallum is the Professor of Medicine and the Founding Chair at the Texas Tech University Paul Foster School of Medicine. He moved to bring the Enterra device to El Paso. "It's a very powerful anti-nausea, anti-vomiting tool," said McCallum.
It works like this: They connect this device into the stomach and it sends a message to brain. Then the brain tells the body to digest the food.
This is only the 3rd time it's been done in El Paso. Mary Carter doesn't care where it's happening, she's just glad it's being done. "Even if my symptoms got 50% better, it would be a huge change in my day" said a hopeful Mary Carter.
Have there been post-operative interviews?? We would certainly be interested to see how everything went for this lovely young lady.
This is a great opportunity not only for Mary Carter but also for science. I have a couple of questions - what are the odds that it will work and what is the recovery time? Is this a procedure that is widely adopted?
Prayers and best wishes to Mary and her family!