A young woman accused of being anorexic by doctors has discovered she actually has a rare condition that blocks her intestines.
Shelby Kiniry, 20, suffered stomach aches so painful she would curl into a ball and her weight plummeted to 53kg (8 stone 5 pounds), forcing her to give up university and work.
She was accused of suffering from an eating disorder and was even sent for psychiatric treatment.
It took 13 years for her to finally receive the correct diagnosis for her digestion disorder, which is superior mesenteric artery syndrome (or SMAS).
The digestive condition results in the small intestine becoming compressed between two arteries, causing a partial or complete blockage.
Now on the road to recovery, Shelby relies on a feeding tube to receive her daily fix of meals and nutrients in liquid form.
Shelby Kiniry, pictured with her now husband Michael Kiniry when they were dating, was suspected by doctors of having an eating disorder
The 20-year-old, shown here on her wedding day with her mother Lyn Hammond in September, struggled to get a diagnosis for 13 years but can now live her life thanks to her feeding tube
It took several months for Shelby, from Dallas, Georgia, to come to terms with her feeding tube. She eventually posted a picture of it on Facebook, which went viral and the support for her bravery in sharing it flooded in.
Shelby said: ‘I did it for myself because I knew how many people would see that and I just wanted to be open and honest.
‘There were only two or three people that said some nasty things but 98 percent of the response was incredible and super supportive.
‘If some other girl had the feeding tube and is struggling – maybe being bullied about it – I thought maybe her seeing my post about my feeding tube might make her feel better and inspired.’
It felt like my guts were being squeezed
Shelby first began suffering her debilitating symptoms aged eight or nine.
She said: ‘I always had stomach ache, I was always nauseous. It was always something but countless doctors, countless tests couldn’t tell me what was wrong.
‘Every time they did the new tests and [I’d} get my hopes up and it would come back clean.
‘They thought I was crazy, they thought I was anorexic, anything you could imagine I had a doctor say it to me. I knew I wanted food. I was a chunky little kid!
It took several months for Shelby, from Dallas, Georgia, to accept life with a feeding tube
Shelby Kiniry pictured at a high school prom with her older brother Shane
‘I was almost to the point where I believed them. I looked at my mother one day like: “Ok, am I crazy? Is this something that I am making up for attention?”
‘It’s hard to stay strong when you are doubted by 20 plus doctors.’
But as much as Shelby came close to believing the doctors, the agonising pain she endured after eating was proof she wasn’t imagining it.
She said: ‘I was shaking all the time. I get light-headed, dizzy, headaches – you name it I had it.
‘The only way I can describe the pain is that it is like the hook inside my stomach with an iron fist gripping and squeezing my guts.’
‘I was skin and bones’
In spite of her poor health, Shelby played basketball at high school and had started to compete in beauty pageants before she reached her lowest point.
Then in 2015 she lost 45 pounds in the space of just two months. She was admitted to hospital for 16 days with dehydration and malnutrition.
‘I went from being 160 pounds to 117,’ she said. ‘I looked bad. I looked really sick: my face was sunken in and I was a grey colour. I was skin and bones.’
The former student was so poorly she was forced to give up work and studying
Shelby Kiniry, here with her mother and father Gregory, hopes to go back to university
Even after another round of tests, Shelby still had no answers. And as her health deteriorated she had to drop out of university and give up work.
When her weight plummeted again she was finally diagnosed correctly.
For the first few months she was put on to a liquid diet, made up of protein shakes and smoothies but she couldn’t keep the food down and was eventually told she would need a feeding tube.
‘When I saw how long it was my heart dropped,’ she said. ‘I mean I did not expect to look like that. I didn’t expect it to be so big.
‘It was hard to get used to, especially with something that long.’
‘Having something hanging out of your stomach obviously isn’t the most attractive thing in the world but you shouldn’t be ashamed of something that’s saving your life.’
‘I’m still me’
Shelby’s daily routine is also dictated by her tube: every day she comes home from her job at 6.30pm and connects to it,
She admits to allowing herself to eat foods occasionally, taking pain medicine beforehand to deal with the consequences.
She said: ‘Pizza is a weakness for me. I will eat pizza at least once a week.
‘I have good days, I have bad days. Oddly enough coffee is the one thing that always helps my stomach feed better.’
Shelby says she wouldn’t go on dates with husband Michael after having the tube but now accepts it and says: ‘I’m still me with or without the tube’
Shelby is now managing to maintain her weight, is now back working as an administrative assistant and hopes she will return to university to complete her degree in public relations, thanks to her feeding tube.
She has now come a long way in accepting it.
She said: ‘I didn’t want to look in the mirror at first when I had a feeding tube. I would be fine as long as I had my clothes on.
‘Just because you have a feeding tube doesn’t mean you have to stop living your life. For a while I did, I didn’t go out, I didn’t go on dates with my own husband.
‘I literally didn’t want to leave my house and my therapist helped me realise that that is no way to live a life.
‘My feeding tube is my lifeline. It’s how I survive; how I live everyday. How can I be ashamed of something that literally saved my life?’
‘This feeding tube doesn’t define who I am. I’m still me with or without the tube.’