A woman living with gastroparesis has been forced to spend nearly £40,000 on private healthcare and eat through a tube after the NHS said they couldn't treat her.

Jessie Sharp, 29, was diagnosed with the "debilitating" condition in November 2022 after years of bloating and vomiting after she ate."

Gastroparesis is where food passes through the stomach slower than it should, resulting in a number of symptoms including sickness, weight loss and bloating pain.

Jessie can "barely get out of bed" every day and is in a "constant state of tiredness and exhaustion."

Because she can't keep her food down, Jessie has to eat through a feeding tube and with added bowel problems is forced to take laxatives to create room in intestines and her bowels.

After some initial months of treatment, Jessie said NHS doctors admitted her case was "too severe" to treat."

Jessie - who is currently taking time off work and is supported by a minimal wage - has now been left to fork out the staggering costs of private care.

She had a pacemaker fitted in her stomach to try and get the muscles moving which cost £60,000 as well as four nights in ICU at £5,500 a night but these were both fortunately covered in a family health insurance policy.

But Jessie and her family have spent around £40,000 on the rest of her treatment as the policy hasn't covered further treatment since January 2024.

They've had to spend £300 a day on blood tests and £500 per bag of vitamins and fluids, as well as fees for consultancy, monthly pacemaker adjustments at £350 a pop, medications, blood tests, vitamins, fluids, scans, x-rays, physiotherapy.

Having had help from family and her partner, Jessie says funds are now running low and she is worried about how she is going to get her life "back on track."

She has now set up a GoFundMe to help with her treatment of which £22,000 has been rasied towards her £65,000 goal.

Jessie, from, Crawley, West Sussex, said: "I'm on the brink of blackout every single day, I'm dizzy and I can't eat and I'm constantly in a state of tiredness and exhaustion. "

"It's a challenge to get through every single day."

"I've lost half my body weight and weigh just 6st and I'm still losing weight now - having to eat through a feeding tube for 20 hours a day."

"I don't have the energy."

"My private doctor has said my case is the most complex case he's ever seen and he's been doing it for 30 years."

Prior to her diagnosis, Jessie was diagnosed with endometriosis at 18 and doctors initially thought her gastroparesis was a gallbladder infection.

She said: "Effectively from the age of 18 I've suffered with back-to-back illnesses my whole old adult life."

Jessie said she was told by NHS doctors that milder cases could be treated, but not hers.

She added: "With mild cases, they can help in tablet form but because mine is so severe they don't have the funding or expertise and by their own admission have said they can't help me."

"In simple terms, my stomach is paralysed."

"I'm really disappointed in the system - it's completely failed me. "

"I'm always worried about where I'm going to find the money and get my life back on track. "

"I've got very minimal income coming in and now I'm expected to pay for my medication. "

"I'm still battling with the NHS to get fluids when I'm dehydrated and it's a constant fight."

"I need blood tests once every two weeks and doctors on the NHS have refused to give me blood tests - saying it was not routine to check for blood so often."

"But I'm not a routine case."

Since January 2024, Jessie has had regular private treatment and with costs already nearing the £40,000 mark, she is concerned about the future.

She said: "I had a gastric pacemaker fitted which tries to contract your muscles in the stomach to get it moving - that was £60,000 alone but was thankfully covered in a healthcare policy."

"We've had to pay for consultant fees, monthly pacemaker adjustments, medications, blood tests, vitamins, fluids, scans, x-rays, physiotherapy, pain specialists, injections, day care fees at hospitals and tube insertions - it's a real challenge."

"We'll have to pay for this every three months for the foreseeable and stays at the hospital which is £1,700 a night."

"It's all coming out of our pocket and I have to travel to North London for the monthly pacemaker check-ups which is around a four-hour round trip."

"I also have clostridium difficile (C. diff) - a bowel infection that I've had since November which won't go so I'm waiting on treatment for that too."

"I have a very supportive family and friends to help with it but we're just normal people with limited funds."

"We cannot maintain the private care I will need for the foreseeable."

"Financial stress is not easy to deal with whilst battling chronic pain daily on very little calories."

"I should be using all my energy on the physical and emotional trauma and to literally survive each day."

"I just need a bit of luck in my life - the GoFundMe will help enormously with the financial onslaught."

You can support Jessie here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/qfpvjn-please-help-me-fight-gastroparesis