Stephanie Rodas, 28, has battled with anorexia since she was 13.
Over the course of 16 years, she has teetered on the edge of viability, at one point dropping to a life-threatening 55lbs.
And despite being sent to countless clinics and hospitals by her family, she always ate just enough to be discharged and relapse.
Now, seven months after a near-fatal encounter with some painkillers, the New Yorker is appearing on syndicated daytime TV show The Doctors to undergo a series of heart tests, blood tests and ultrasounds to find out how the disease has crippled her body.
In this extract, shared exclusively with Daily Mail Online ahead of Monday’s episode, Stephanie weeps as she asks the experts for help to recover from the disease which has been the norm for most of her life.