Local man raising awareness for rare condition

Many people live with chronic diseases, some conditions you may have never heard of.

Eric Hanson has been living with Gastroparesis for four years. It’s a condition that affects the stomach muscles and prevents the stomach from working properly. This rare condition has drastically affected his life. So now he’s on a mission to raise awareness.

The condition has taken away his ability to eat.

“I do IV fluids 7 days a week and then I drink maybe three ounces on a good day, nothing on a bad day. All my food is run through my feeding tube and that’s seven days a week, I have to do it every day,” says Hanson.

He says he feels isolated. This condition has left Hanson unable to work, resulting in spending a lot of time at home.

“You’re sick every day, throw up nearly every day, and take a lot of medications trying to keep the symptoms under control.”

Hanson says few people know about the disease… And he hopes to change that.

“I did this last year and this year. The Gastroparesis proclamation, just hoping to bring more attention to it. There’s no cure so we can maybe find a cure to help other people that have it that are struggling too.”

He says he is thankful for his doctors and family support. He just wants to spread awareness so more people can feel less alone. There are online support groups, but Hanson hopes to start one locally.