Team Tess: Help Her Keep Fighting

Hi, we're a group of friends raising funds for someone very special to us: Tess, a kind, resilient, and courageous 30-year-old woman from Ocean Grove, Victoria, who has been fighting a long and difficult health battle for nearly a decade.

Tess’s journey began in 2015, after a dream holiday to Thailand with her mum and sister. What started as a beautiful family trip quickly turned into a nightmare when she unknowingly contracted a rare parasite called Gnathostomiasis, becoming only the 68th confirmed case in Australia. But she wouldn't receive that diagnosis until seven years later.

In the years that followed, Tess experienced debilitating symptoms: intense abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and severe digestive issues. She spent countless hours in emergency rooms and doctors' offices, only to be repeatedly dismissed, misdiagnosed, or told it was “all in her head.”

By 2018, Tess was tube-fed, dependent on a central line, and forced to give up the nursing career she had only just begun. Despite being diagnosed with gastroparesis, colonic inertia, chronic abdominal pain, and dysautonomia, no one could explain what had caused her once-healthy body to fail.

In 2020, during a lengthy hospital admission, a specialist decided to test for rare conditions including Gnathostomiasis. But due to COVID-19, her blood couldn’t be sent to the only lab equipped to test for it in Bangkok. Tess waited another two years.

Finally, a letter arrived with the answer: she had tested positive. After all that time, Tess finally had proof that her suffering was real. It was a moment of validation, but unfortunately, the journey didn’t end there.

Despite multiple rounds of treatment with strong antiparasitic drugs and steroids, the parasite (which she jokingly nicknamed "Percy") survived. Meanwhile, the treatments caused serious side effects, leading to new diagnoses:

Tess now lives with a jejunostomy feeding tube, a spinal cord stimulator, and requires crutches to get around. She takes more than 15 medications daily and lives with complex PTSD, anxiety, and depression as a result of medical trauma and years of chronic illness.

In recent months, her health has taken another serious decline. She’s once again mostly housebound and unable to work. Just in the past five weeks, she’s spent three of them in hospital, most recently fighting a severe blood and bowel infection.

She’s applied for the disability pension, but has been told not to expect an answer before July. In the meantime, the medical bills and everyday expenses are piling up, creating immense stress for Tess and her family.

That’s why we, her friends, are coming together to ask for your help.

Every donation will go directly to helping Tess cover:

Tess has endured more than most of us could imagine, but she continues to face each challenge with strength, humour, and grace. She's given so much love to those around her, now it's our turn to give back.

If you’re in a position to help, whether by donating or simply sharing this fundraiser, you’ll be making a real difference in her life.

From all of us in Team Tess: thank you, truly, for your love, support, and kindness.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Chris and friends