A woman who was left in debilitating pain for 16 years due to a series of diagnostic errors was ready to give up on any chance of a cure until discovering a saviour in the U.S who turned her life around.
Claudia Wright, 27, from Perth, went through countless treatments, medications and surgeries as doctors attempted to treat her for Crohn's Disease - an ailment she never had.
The former public relations consultant's nightmare began when she was just child - and she can barely remember a time when her body would allow her to perform the simplest of tasks without the help of another.
From the age of seven, she battled the pain and discomfort that was only cured until when, 16 years later, when her own research saw her find a doctor in the U.S. who diagnosed her with Endometriosis.
'I went on school camp when I was 11 years old - the first time I'd ever been away from my parents,' Ms Wright told Daily Mail Australia.
'I started getting diarrhoea and losing blood with bowel movements. I was also suffering from bloating, killer cramps and vomiting. But I was too afraid to tell anyone.'
Claudia Wright, 27, from Perth, went through countless treatments, medications and surgeries as doctors attempted to treat her for a disease she never had
The 27-year-old underwent extensive testing from colonoscopies, endoscopies, blood tests and scans
Ms Wright said she missed 70 per cent of school as a teenager as she was in and out of hospital
Her symptoms were so severe she was even losing blood without being on the toilet seat.
Once she was back from camp, Ms Wright told her parents what she was going through and together they went to their local GP, where she was referred to a gastroenterologist.
Over the next few months she underwent extensive testing - colonoscopies, endoscopies, blood tests and scans. She also started getting her periods.
'After the testing, it came back that it was Crohn's disease,' Ms Wright told Daily Mail Australia.
Claudia Wright lived with a chronic illness and suffered through immense pain as a result of continuously being incorrectly told she had Crohn's disease
'It all started when I was 11 at school camp and I started getting diarrhoea and losing blood with bowel movement and rectally,' Claudia Wright told Daily Mail Australia (pictured is her in hospital being tested)
'I was put on immune suppressants steroids, pain medication. I went through a number of medications to find the right one,' she said
Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes painful swelling and redness – inflammation – inside the digestive tract.
This can lead to symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhoea.
Inflammation is a normal way in which the immune system defends the body when fighting off invaders, such as bacteria or viruses.
Usually, the inflammation is switched off once the invaders are destroyed. In Crohn’s disease, a problem with the immune system causes the inflammation to continue, damaging the walls of the digestive tract.
Source: Health Direct
'I was put on immune suppressants steroids, pain medication. I went through a number of medications to find the right one.
'That kept going to the next few years, until I reached 15 years old.'
The severe migraines, shortness of breath, chest pains, and pain in her limbs, along with severe cramping and fatigue, plus the bowel symptoms didn't stop.
'I was in Year 10 then and I missed 70 per cent of school that year because I was in and out of hospitals,' she said.
'I saw a naturopath, neurologist, gastrologist and I did every imaginable scan from MRI and CT scans.
'After two years of suffering with the pain so immensely, and they're not finding out what's wrong because for a lot of it the pain was bad in my head they thought it was
