Woman Who Didn't Eat Food in 7 Years Tells Her Story

Meet a 25-year-old woman who has not eaten any food or drink any liquid for seven years and will never eat again due to a rare condition which left her stomach paralysed, Bolton, England, UK.

Mrs Nichols has not eaten food for seven years and gave birth to children William, three, and Felicity, 11 months despite not being able to eat during her pregnancy

The first time Nicola Nichols felt ill was in 2008, she could eat or drink and vomited up to 50 times every day. After undergoing several tests the young woman was diagnosed with gastroparesis – a condition in which the stomach muscles are paralysed, resulting in food remaining in the stomach for an abnormally long time. It is usually caused by diabetes, Parkinson’s or as a complication of surgery, but sometimes there is no clear cause and sufferers report they after coming down with flu, a virus, food poisoning or after taking antibiotics.

Nicola Nichols, 25, has to be fed through a tube directly into her bloodstream

Mrs Nichols is kept alive by a food and glucose bags that feeds directly into her blood stream, and a glucose bag that provides her with energy. She has a food bag two days a week and a glucose bag five days a week, which both have to be stored between two and eight degrees. Despite the chronic illness, she has managed to give birth to son William, three, and 11-month-old daughter Felicity.
The two children were both born healthy despite their mother being unable to eat for two.

Mrs Nichols has been told she will never eat again, but she says despite this, she feels lucky and her and her husband Ben, 27, call their children their ‘two miracles’

Speaking about her unusual condition the woman says, “We always say that you take eating and drinking for granted until you can’t do it. I still cook the kid’s teas and it smells and looks great but if I even had a bite then I’d be in crippling pain. It has a real impact on your life because you can’t make any last-minute decisions – everything has to be planned months in advance. You have to have the bag delivered there, the bag has to be stored in a fridge between two and eight degrees, everything has to be deep cleaned – sometimes it just really isn’t worth it.

Mrs Nichols was struck down with mild flu in 2008, and after this vomited up to 50 times a day

It’s

funny

because it really restricts your life but, obviously, I wouldn’t be here without it so it gives me life too. A side effect of the TPN is that your hair can get very thin and fall out. My hair came out in clumps and I lost the majority of it and poor William (her son) said it scared him, which broke my heart, so Ben (her husband) chopped off all my long hair. It’s awful for a woman to have to go through that – but after he did mine, he shaved his hair off too in support.

A side effect of being fed through a tube is that Mrs Nichols’ hair became thin and fell out, something she finds difficult

We always say that someone else is always worse off. I’m lucky that I have two beautiful children despite my problem. William was fed off my old tube and Felicity was fed by TPN. William knows it’s different and will always say as soon as we meet anyway “my mummy is fed by a tube”, which really breaks the ice. Felicity is just coming up to the age where she keeps grabbing the tube and that’s not too helpful. On days I feel like I can’t take it anymore, seeing my children faces lit up is all I need to keep going.”