About Us

About Us: .....

Name: Natalie Roux-Bean

Age: 30

My Journey: 

I first became ill in March 2010 at the age of 28 whilst training to be a nurse. I was wrongly treated for anorexia nervosa for over a year before eventually being diagnosed with Gastroparesis and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome in May 2011. I had a surgical jejunostomy and gastric pacemaker implanted in october 2011, both of which have failed. I am now maintained on TPN (Total Parental Nutrition). I have a husband and two children, without whom I would not have made it this far. Family is everything too me but GIFT comes a close second!

I started GIFT because I want to improve the lives of others who are affected by Gastroparesis. I remember what it was like not knowing.... and even worse, doctors who didn't know either! I want to help change the way Gastroparesis is viewed in the medical profession and support those patients and families out there who feel just as lost as I did (and still do at times!). I may have been forced to leave nursing but it will never leave me, and I intend to make full use of my skills to help build a reliable resource for those effected by Gastroparesis and Intestinal Failure. 

Five Words To Describe You:  

It. depends. who. you. ask! ...no seriously... I only need one...

AWESOME!

My moto:

Defy the diagnosis and do it anyway!

Rachel Stott Co-Founder

About Me: .....

Name :    Rachel Stott

Age :       23

My Journey :

Up until 3 years ago , I was a perfectly healthy teenager , in Oct 2009 , I started having what I thought were gastroenteritis symptoms , the pain and the nausea just came out of no where. For the next nine months I spent more time with doctors than anyone else! I was diagnosed with GP and have since had many feeding tubes, all have failed , I am now using a PEG/J tube and hoping that this one works! I live with “the wife” and my 2 little doggies. I am a huge TV and Book addict. I am hopeful about the future.

Why do I want to set up GIFTuk ? I think that the very worst thing about this illness is the uncertainty , that your life ceases to have routine, stability and that is what I can't accept. I felt so alone in the beginning, like no one else knew how I felt, fighting againt the doctors who were meant to be helping me. This illness is so much more than a stomach bug, it rips your whole world apart infront of your eyes. So if we can help just one other person, who is trying to deal with GP and the disruption it brings to their lives then I know that all this hasn’t been for nothing!

5 Words to descibe me :

Honest , Talkative , Stubborn , Funny , Emotional

My Motto :

Gastroparesis , I know about it ... Do you ?