Woman, 23, vomits 30 times a day due to 'invisible' disability bullies didn't believe

ByHollie Bone

23:50, 10 SEP 2020

A woman vomits up to 30 times a day due to an 'invisible' illness bullies and strangers refused to believe.

Beth Gallery, 23, has to be fed through a tube to combat the chronic condition, gastroparesis, which means her stomach does not digest food and causes her to be sick.

chronic  adj. /ˈkrɒnɪk/adj. 慢性的；长期的；习惯性的·a chronic alcoholic/depressive 慢性酒精中毒者；长期抑郁症患者

Gastroparesis：gas-tro-pa-resis胃轻瘫：因长期摄食减少、不能摄食或厌食往往导致营养不良,严重时可出现离子紊乱,威胁生命.

First falling ill with the disease aged 12, the NHS administrator spent six years with specialist doctors before she was diagnosed - leaving her malnourished body weighing just 6st 2lb and needing a feeding tube to keep her alive.

Malnourished /ˌmælˈnʌrɪʃt/ adj. 营养不良的；营养失调的 ；我们还遇到过名词营养不良malnutrition

St  stone 英石（英国重量单位，约6.4公斤）lb磅（源自拉丁语libra，约等于454克）• 6st 2lb 6英石2磅 相当于78.6斤

But Beth, of Preston, Lancs., also suffered an emotional toll as she says school bullies would tell her to 'just die' and even strangers refused to believe she was seriously ill - causing her to feel suicidal by the age of 20.

Lancs 兰开夏郡（Lancashire）

suicidal  /ˌsuːɪˈsaɪdl; ˌsjuːɪˈsaɪdl/

1.people who are suicidal feel that they want to kill themselves 想自杀的；有自杀倾向的

•On bad days I even felt suicidal. 赶上不顺的日子，我都觉得不想活了。

•suicidal tendencies 自杀倾向

2.very dangerous and likely to lead to death; likely to cause very serious problems or disaster 自杀性的；有致命危险的；毁灭性的；灾难性的

•a suicidal leap into the swollen river 不顾死活地跳进上涨的河水

•It would be suicidal to risk going out in this weather. 在这种天气冒险出去，真是不要命了。

Now, after meeting her boyfriend, James Jeffers, 22, the young blogger is refusing to let the illness hold her back.

She is flaunting her feeding tube on social media to show other people with hidden, chronic conditions not to be scared or embarrassed.

flaunt  v. /flɔːnt/  

1.to show sth you are proud of to other people, in order to impress them 炫耀；夸示；夸耀；卖弄 •He did not believe in flaunting his wealth. 他不赞成摆阔。  

2.~ yourself to behave in a confident and sexual way to attract attention （性感地）招摇过市

3. IF YOU'VE ˌGOT IT, ˈFLAUNT IT：used to tell sb that they should not be afraid of allowing other people to see their qualities and abilities 有什么能耐施出来瞧瞧（是骡子是马，拉出来溜溜）

Beth said: "Unless you see my feeding tube you would have no idea from the outside that there is anything wrong with me.

"I can vomit up to 30 times a day, I constantly feel sick and in pain and sometimes I get no warning before I need to throw up so I have to just do it in the street.

"It's really embarrassing, people think you're drunk or if I use the disabled toilets they judge me and think I'm being selfish by skipping the queue for the women's.

"I got bullied in school for my feeding tube and for the way that I looked.

"People called me anorexic, told me I was lying about my illness and told me they wished my illness would just kill me. I just felt like such an outcast.

anorexic  n. ˌænəˈreksɪk/ a person who is suffering from anorexia 厌食者；食欲缺乏者

outcast n. /ˈaʊtkɑːst/  被抛弃者；被排斥者

"I got to a point where I didn't want to be here anymore. I couldn't see how anything was going to get any better.

"I couldn't deal with social media and feeling like I was so different to everyone else."

Beth first realised that something wasn't right when she was 12, and overnight started suffering with morning sickness which soon progressed to daily vomiting.

As well as fatigue, joint pain, feeling full despite not eating for hours, Beth dropped to 6st 2lb and was fitted with a permanent feeding tube to get some nutrients into her body at just 16.

fatigue  n. /fəˈtiːɡ/ n. 疲劳，疲乏；杂役 vt. 使疲劳；使心智衰弱；vi. 疲劳；adj. 疲劳的

But despite countless tests and scans doctors were still unable to give her a diagnosis until she was 18.

After six years of looking for answers, experts finally discovered she had gastroparesis as well as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome which causes pain in her joints and PoTS (Postural Tachycardia Syndrome) which affects her centre of balance.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome：，慢性疲劳综合症

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome：埃勒斯-当洛斯综合症

又称弹力过度性皮肤、全身弹力纤维发育异常症，是一种有遗传倾向、影响结缔组织的疾病，与胶原代谢缺陷相关。患部皮肤弹力过度伸展，触摸柔软，犹如天鹅绒感。因皮肤过度伸展、易碰伤形成伤口、血管脆而易破裂、出现皮肤青肿，常并发关节脱臼，心血管、胃肠道可膨大呈现管壁瘤、胃肠憩室、膀胱憩室或破裂穿孔等。本病多见于早产儿、婴儿，常有家族发病情况。早产儿多伴有胎膜早期破裂，婴儿则表现为肌张力低下。根据临床特点与遗传学特征，可将本病分为11 个亚型。该病无根治方法。

PoTS (Postural Tachycardia Syndrome) 体位性心动过速综合征

tachycardia /ˌtækɪˈkɑːdɪə/ 心动过速 

Beth said: "When I first got sick I always assumed that I would just get better.

"I had countless tests from endoscopies, colonoscopies, tests for epilepsy and eating disorders, I went on shakes and steroids, IV treatments, but nothing worked.

endoscopy n./enˈdɒskəpi/  ( medical 医 )内镜检查；内窥镜检查

Colonoscopy /,kəʊlə'nɒskəpɪ/  n. 结肠镜检查

epilepsy  n. /ˈepɪlepsi/ 癫痫；羊痫风；羊角风

Steroid  n. /ˈsterɔɪd/ 甾族化合物；类固醇

"I think I went through eight or nine specialist doctors to get diagnosed.

"When they eventually managed to diagnose me with gastroparesis I said 'okay so what can we do' and he just said 'nothing'.

"You always want to be diagnosed because the unknown is scary but for me getting diagnosed was as scary as not knowing because I suddenly realised I couldn't be fixed.

"I was in denial for so long, and when it eventually started to hit me I was so low, I lost all motivation with life.

"It wasn't until I met my boyfriend that I started to feel better about myself.

"He tells me that my illness has made me the person I am today and he says it makes me unique and that's why he loves me so much."

After coming to terms with her diagnosis, Beth has been able to get back to a healthy weight of 10st and start managing her illness with anti sickness medication and incorporating being sick into her daily routine.

Since meeting James she has even been to music festivals and Ladies' Day at the races, in a bid to not let anything hold her back.

Now Beth has set up a dedicated Instagram and Youtube page to share her story.

原文链接：https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/woman-23-vomits-30-times-22664349