A ballerina who weighed 88lbs realised she had been misdiagnosed with anorexia after watching a TV show.
Olivia Vessillo found out she had a rare stomach condition thanks to an episode of the medical programme Grey's Anatomy.
Doctors had told Olivia she was anorexic after her weight dropped from 140lbs to 88lbs in a year.
She struggled to take in more than 600 calories a day and would vomit if she ate any more food.
However, while watching Grey's Anatomy Olivia figured out she actually had Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome (MALS), which one of the characters in the show suffered from.
The 19-year-old, from Jersey City, New Jersey, said eating became excruciating for her when she was 17.
She told Metro : "Eating caused me severe pain, more than you can ever imagine. Doctors did every test you could think of but no one knew what it was.
"I went from 140lb to 88lb in just over a year because whenever I ate the pain just went off the scale, it was indescribable.
"‘I was tracking my calories and I was lucky if I managed to eat more than 600 calories a day. Eating any more just wasn’t possible and I was starving to death."
Olivia remembers the exact day she watched the Grey's Anatomy episode that changed her life.
She saw the fifth episode of the fifteenth season on October 26, 2018 - and noticed that she had the same symptoms as one of the characters who had MALS.
The apprentice ballet dancer previously thought her small appetite was down to anxiety and anorexia.
However when she did some research online she realised it was MALS that was stopping her from eating.
The digestive disorder results in pressure being applied to the stomach, making it painful to eat.
Olivia had the condition for 18 years before undergoing surgery in February.
She now weighs 100lbs and is on the road to recovery, crediting the operation with preventing her from starving to death.
The 19-year-old is now able to eat properly and is enjoying her food.
She said eating has now become the highlight of her life, although she is still not able to eat full meals as she works on developing a healthy diet.
