Karen Butler, 67, said 18 abdominal surgeries have reduced her stomach to about the size of a golf ball since an ulcer first ruptured in 1996.
In 2020, her doctors decided it was time to operate again but first, they wanted to get Butler to a healthier weight.
To that end, her medical team ordered Butler to receive nutritional IVs, known as TPN, at home for several months prior to surgery last April.