Olivia's mystery illness 'MUM SAVED MY LIFE'

Kelly always dreamed that one day her daughter would say, 'It doesn't hurt'

- India Lopez

It’s a moment Kelly Adie will never forget. Her 17-year-old daughter Olivia had just undergone a major eight-hour surgery. Olivia asked for water, took a tiny sip and swallowed.

“Her eyes lit up,” Kelly remembers. “The smile on her face was like a little kid experiencing something for the first time. She said, ‘Mum, it doesn’t hurt!’”

It was the best news Kelly, 51, could have hoped for. For seven torturous years, Olivia had battled debilitating symptoms that no doctor could explain. It began with vomiting and stomach pain. Then it got worse. Conditions and symptoms piled up, getting more severe. Olivia was in excruciating pain. She fainted 20-odd times a day and had almost constant migraines. She needed a wheelchair to get around.

Even worse, she couldn’t keep anything down. For two years, she tried every day to eat, but with no success. She became reliant on a feeding tube, but even that couldn’t give her the sustenance she needed because she’d vomit the liquid straight back up. She was malnourished and dehydrated, with a body mass index (BMI) of 14 – far from the “normal” range of 18.5 to 24.9.

“I was almost at death’s door,” she says. 

Olivia and Kelly tried every test, treatment and specialist. While some health professionals were supportive, others dismissed Olivia’s anguish, insisting she had an eating disorder and needed only psychological help.