Courtney J.'s Story

Hi, my name is Courtney. I’m a 33-year-old female from North QLD Australia. I’m here to share my personal story navigating life living as an SMAS warrior. I hope to inspire those without answers to keep pushing forward & listen to their bodies.

I began noticing symptoms around the age of 14 & was not formally diagnosed until I was 30. My first true memory of my symptoms started in high school. I recall struggling to wake in the morning, follow a routine of eating breakfast & arriving at school without feeling nauseous within a few hours. This became something that occurred daily for me over my school years, it was difficult &I learnt to push through. I would vomit without notice on occasion & as I grew older, I realised I would vomit undigested food majority of the time. I dreaded going out to eat at restaurants with family & socially, which limited my outings significantly. I would regularly eat & then begin to feel so incredibly nauseous that I’d become agitated. I’d be asking my parents to leave the venue we were at or required all the food to be removed from the table, because I couldn’t look at or smell it. I would order large meals because was hungry but then could only stomach a few bites before I was full. I could never understand what was happening but assumed this was how normal people lived. I was in & out of GPs & Hospitals for years complaining of nausea, vomiting, complications from illnesses & abdominal pain. I recall being dismissed & told it was likely ‘Hormones’ or ‘Anorexia’ & I just needed to eat more. I was placed on Motilium & lived my young life on this medication moving forward.

As time went on, more & more illnesses shattered my health, I started becoming sick once a month. I would contract common viruses & be unable to function for days, developing pneumonia, breaking ribs from coughing resulting in an Osteoporosis diagnosis & losing weight rapidly due to a loss of appetite. Throughout life, when you’re told everything is ‘normal’ you start to believe it & tell yourself you’re complaining about nothing. Therefore, I began to suffer in silence. Throughout my 20’s, without warning, my health continued to decline. I had no idea how close I was to serious malnutrition resulting in a multitude of chronic illnesses or death. My heaviest was 45kgs & my lightest was 39kgs, I was never able to maintain weight. I was provided with Allied Health professionals to assist with exercise & nutrition, neither helped long term.

As I grew older & moved out of home to North QLD, things declined further. I began suffering multiple episodes of waking in the middle of the night sweating, pale, nauseous, in excruciating upper abdominal pain & needing to vomit. I would spend most nights attempting to curl up in a ball, utilizing breathing techniques until I fell back to sleep or vomited. I used this as a coping mechanism for roughly 2 years believing no one could help me & that it was normal. I would tell myself maybe I overate, had a virus or ate something my body didn’t agree with. I used to describe the abdominal pressure as if someone was pumping a balloon up under my diaphragm, until I could barely breathe.

In 2022 I met with a specialist who completed a Gastroscopy & discussed that she had a ‘hunch’. She wanted to send me for some diagnostic scanning relating to rare diseases. After 16+ years of suffering, I finally had an answer. My dye CT scan confirmed a diagnosis of an Aorto-mesenteric angle of 7.9 degrees, distance of 6.5mm with the left Gastric Artery arising directly from the Aorta.

This fast tracked my treatment from here. I was sent to a surgeon who had managed an SMAS patient before, which helped me feel at ease with their decision for surgery. I was warned that it may not be a simple fix & other surgeries could be required. We collectively agreed not to do all the surgeries at once to avoid unnecessary procedures. Unfortunately, I did require all 3 in a short space of time but can safely say my quality of life is better than it’s ever been. I first completed a Duodenal Derotation which resulted in the Duodenum being relocated away from the compression site. Recovery was difficult, painful & embarrassing at times. I then suffered from constant vomiting once I returned home, not quite understanding the situation. I was subsequently diagnosed with Gastroparesis which was associated with delayed gastric emptying due to SMAS over several years. A few months later, I returned for surgery to have a Modified Gastric Bypass conducted. This included keeping my entire stomach intact while attaching a piece of bowel from my stomach to my intestine. This surgery would help gastric content to empty if it was unable to pass through to the Duodenum. This was the most difficult surgery to recover from. I spent a week in the hospital before being released & struggled with Dumping Syndrome throughout. My last & final surgery was a Cholecystectomy, removing my Gallbladder due to the continuation of right upper abdominal pain & nausea.

My final recovery was quick & easier than the rest. I had minor complications in the months following surgery, including multiple representations to ED for abdominal pain. I was able to manage this with assistance, guidance & scans to rule out serious complications. I required an Endoscopy in early 2025 to clip a small irritable bleed in the stomach. This accompanied by Pantoprazole reduced the severe abdominal pain moving forward.

The recovery process took a toll on my mental wellbeing. I didn’t realise the struggle I would face in attempting to return to work, as I have a very mentally & physically demanding job centered around Emergency Service Work. I assumed after surgery I would be strong, fit & ready to return, but that was not the case. It has taken 3+years to be able to return to full-time work, with many internal conversations happening. I needed to remind myself to be kind & gentle during the process. Recovery has no timeline & it’s not always a straightforward, uncomplicated journey.

Fast forward to early 2026, I weigh 56gks & am rarely sick. My nutrition has

stabilized & I have more energy to complete tasks. I’m stepping back into work with a stronger physical form. I have recently been diagnosed with Pelvic Congestion Syndrome & Nutcracker Syndrome. So for me I’m not out of the woods & still have roadblocks to attend to in future. I have a multi-disciplinary team of health experts keeping a close eye on my progress indefinitely.

As an SMAS warrior I know the recovery process never ends, it’s about

understanding your body & it’s limits. I was lucky enough to never be hospitalized with feeding tubes or any other interventions, but also lucky enough not to have died in silence. I chose to keep my suffering to myself for years & therefore will forever have chronic illnesses due to this. I still become severely ill whenever I catch viruses, unfortunately that will never change. I manage Gastroparesis with smaller more frequent meals & swap to a liquid diet if required. I have proudly reduced Osteoporosis to Osteopenia through weight training in my 20’s.

I wish I had known of my condition earlier, so I had the quality of life I feel I heavily missed out on. Despite this, I can’t help but look at the glass as being half full. I’m alive, well & able to be a voice for those who can’t be. I have found sanctuary & support in my medical team & those a part of the SMAS nonprofit page/SMAS All Compression Syndromes Australia group page. Remember your story doesn’t start or end with SMAS, it’s tough but we are tougher.