I often talk about doing a session for your self confidence, empowerment and to see yourself from a different perspective...and this is exactly why it is so important...

This beautiful woman was diagnosed with Gastroparesis (a disease where the digestive tract is paralysed for no reason and I can no longer process food in the normal way) in 2015 at the age of 36.

In 2016 Kerryn had surgery to have a gastric neurosimulator installed. The device works like a heart pacemaker — it stimulates the stomach nerves, helping them break down food. The pacemaker isn’t a cure but helps manage the nausea and vomiting.. before the pacemaker she was vomiting 16-20 times a day causing her throat to bleed and teeth to rot due to the stomach acid.

She was weighing just under 42 kg when the pacemaker was fitted and now she's managing to stay between 47-50kg, this meant nasal feeding tube could be removed. The pacemaker needs to be checked every 6 months and in four years will need surgery to replace the device as the batteries only last up to 10 years.

Since diagnosis, Kerryn has also had to have a full hysterectomy and in August last year had to have a stoma created and the tube inserted as her bowel no longer functions. She has to use the tube each day to connect to a bag to be able to empty the bowel.

The most recent diagnosis has been with Autonomic Neuropathy which is the cause of the Gastroparesis (finally a link) and the other issues I now experience. The autonomic neuropathy affects the messages from the brain through the central nervous system which controls all of the automatic functions of the body- breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, ability to maintain a normal body temperature, digestion, bowel, bladder, reproductive organs and pancreas. I see a neurologist now to manage my new diagnosis of the autonomic neuropathy and have had recent tests and monitors due to abnormalities with my heart and blood pressure.

To say that this beautiful woman felt like her body has betrayed her is an understatement. In her own words "I’ve hated my body for letting me down, for shutting down like it is and for how I look for so long". Kerryn saw her Stoma as this giant foreign piece on her body. This life saving little gadget carried the weight of her diagnosis, her illness and the changes in her life and therefor felt bigger than everything else.

The aim of Kerryn's session was to show her the Stoma itself is hardly visible compared to all of the beauty that she is inside and out. It ended being such an emotion filled, beautiful time in the studio and the photos are absolutely breathtaking.

This is the message that brought me to tears later on that evening