A 33-year-old man from Essex is fighting for his quality of life, forced to raise thousands of pounds after the NHS refused to fund a replacement battery for the device that stops him vomiting up to 60 times a day.
Matthew Pascoe from Colchester lives with a rare and debilitating disorder called gastroparesis, which he was diagnosed with in April 2018. The condition paralyses his stomach, preventing food from moving into his small intestine and leaving him in constant, severe pain.
A Life Dictated by Illness
Matt's daily reality involves being sick between 50 and 90 times, a relentless cycle that has left him frequently bedbound. "There have been days where I'm bedbound because the pain is too much to function as a normal human being," he revealed. "My stomach is essentially paralysed."
His health crisis began in 2018 when he initially believed he had caught a stomach bug. The situation rapidly deteriorated; he collapsed at home and lost a staggering seven stone in just six months, with doctors struggling to find a cause.
The Device That Offered a Lifeline
After seeking a private referral, Matt was introduced to a specialist, Sritharan Kadirkamanathan—whom he calls Mr K—who diagnosed him and proposed a solution. In May 2019, after raising £20,000 through a fundraiser, Matt had a gastric neurostimulator fitted.
This small piece of medical technology acts as an artificial engine for his digestive system. "When the stimulator is working, it is a lot more manageable," Matt explained. "For the first time in two years, I was able to eat a meal. I was back on my feet, colour back in my face and I was putting on weight slowly."
However, the device is powered by a battery designed to last 10-15 years. Due to the intensity of his condition, Matt's battery has been overworked and failed after just seven years. A replacement costs £15,000.
The NHS Funding Battle and The Future
According to NHS England guidelines, funding for such cases is decided on a case-by-case basis via an Individual Funding Request (IFR) process by local NHS bodies. In Matt's case, this request was not approved, leaving him to turn to public fundraising once again.
His diet has now regressed to mainly soups, and he faces the prospect of moving onto nutritional shakes and a feeding tube. "I'm currently on soups but it'll soon be nutritional shakes and a feeding tube," he said.
While Matt has now successfully reached his fundraising target for the new battery, he is using his platform to call for greater awareness of gastroparesis. He highlights that his specialist is the only surgeon in the UK with significant experience in treating it.
"I think it needs to be acknowledged. It's a life-changing condition," Matt urged. "For someone who can't sit there and eat and drink - or have the energy to get out of bed to spend time with their loved ones - it's hard... sometimes I feel like we're seen as numbers rather than people."
He argues that addressing the root cause more effectively could ultimately save the NHS money, stating, "in the long run, it costs more... when they could get to the root cause and save thousands of lives."
