UK bride who suffered food poisoning on honeymoon now needs a feeding tube to eat

Adam Barnett and Katie Pearson report in the Mirror that a woman who fell ill with food poisoning on her honeymoon has developed a rare condition that “paralysed” her stomach so she can no longer digest food.

Jessica Heather, 30, from Wirral in Merseyside, who is studying design and innovation, might need a feeding tube for the rest of her life.

She caught the bug while on her honeymoon in Turkey with her new husband Wayne, 33, in July 2014.

The couple thought it was food poisoning.

She said: “I knew something was wrong when Wayne bounced back and I didn’t.

“I was seriously fatigued, forgetting people’s names and even how to talk.”

Ms Heather was hospitalised with severe stomach pains and bowel issues when she returned to the UKFinally last December she was diagnosed with Bechet’s Syndrome – a rare condition that results in the inflammation of blood vessels and tissue.

“It took six years until I was finally diagnosed”, she said.

“I still don’t know the cause, but doctors think it may have been something bacterial I picked up from my honeymoon.”

The Bechet’s Syndrome had attacked her stomach and left her with a gastroparesis – a condition that ‘paralyses’ the stomach and leaves it unable to digest food properly.

She said: “The condition had damaged a nerve connecting my brain and stomach so it couldn’t send signals properly.

“Food wasn’t being digested properly and just sitting in my stomach – causing me to be sick.”

Ms Heather is now unable to digest most fruits and vegetables and survives on a strict low-fibre diet.

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About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time