David Price of the Boston Red Sox took the Gastroparesis Pie Face Challenge, along with teammate Brock Holt.

By Jessica Kenney

Many times throughout our daily lives, we are encountered with ads for donations to research various diseases, medications, or fundraisers for cures. But there are some sicknesses that are barely recognized. Gastroparesis is one of those illnesses.

Gastroparesis is defined as “a condition in which the spontaneous movement of the muscles- motility- in your stomach does not function normally.” This means that the stomach is prevented from emptying properly. It can cause nausea and vomiting, and cause problems with nutrition and blood sugar levels. Five million people live with this disease, and although there are some treatments for it, there is no cure.

One person who is very familiar with gastroparesis is 19 year old, Andrew Belliveau.

Andrew was diagnosed with gastroparesis when he was eleven years old. His symptoms included extreme nausea and vomiting anywhere from 10-15 times a day. Because of the limited awareness about this disease, Andrew often found it hard to communicate to teachers and coaches what he was going through. He could barely go to school, and freshman year considered himself the “ghost of St. Mary’s” where he attended high school, because he could only stay for about an hour and a half before having to leave. Going to public events and playing sports was difficult, because he was always feeling sick and had to leave constantly to throw up. Andrew states that gastroparesis took away his childhood, considering he was diagnosed so young, and that he was “existing in life but not living.”

Andrew eventually had a gastric simulator, or as he explained it “a pacemaker for the stomach,” put in. This simulator kick starts motility and keeps it going, and since getting one of these, Andrew has not had any symptoms of gastroparesis.

Andrew Belliveau demonstrates the Gastroparesis Pie Face Challenge, a fundraising program intent on benefiting research into finding a cure for the stomach disorder.

Although this was an extremely positive thing for him, the success rate of these simulators varies, and going through insurance to get one is a long and difficult process. Andrew said that one of his biggest goals in life was to do something to raise awareness of this disease, to promote more research that may eventually lead to a cure for this debilitating illness.

Knowing he wanted to do something to make more people aware of what gastroparesis is, Andrew began thinking of ideas. His mother pitched him the idea of starting a challenge of some sort. Andrew recalled the board game Pie Face, which became popular a couple years ago. He was also inspired by the wildly popular ALS Ice Bucket Challenge which began in 2014, a challenge that thousands of people took part in. Andrew liked that this challenge used common household items, and he decided he wanted to do something similar. He figured that whipped cream and a paper plate or pie tin were easy enough items to get a hold of. Thus, the Gastroparesis Pie Face Challenge was born.

On July 27, 2016, just before August, which is also Gastroparesis Awareness Month, Andrew officially started the challenge, and the rules are simple. Pie yourself in the face, donate a dollar to G-PACT, (Gastroparesis Patient Association for Cures and Treatments) a non-profit organization and support center for people dealing with this disease, nominate somebody else, and spread the word.

This challenge is simple and enjoyable to partake in. It also is symbolic of the disease, because as participants in the challenge are not actually eating the pie, it represents how those who suffer from gastroparesis cannot eat at times, because their stomachs cannot empty properly. Andrew’s main goal of this challenge was to raise more awareness of gastroparesis that would hopefully lead to more research and a cure.

Andrew is a huge fan of Boston sports, including the Red Sox. At the end of December of 2016, he tweeted David Price of the Boston Red Sox, and asked him to participate in what had been dubbed the GP Pie Face Challenge. Price responded that he would take the challenge, and Andrew was thrilled. He says he was “overly ecstatic” about Price doing the challenge and that it “meant the world to him…I couldn’t even describe how great that felt.”

A few days later, Price uploaded a video of him taking a pie to the face, and he also challenged Brock Holt of the Red Sox to take the challenge. Since then, Holt has taken the challenge as well, and has passed it on to Andrew Benintendi, who also participated. Many more have joined in as well.

Andrew would like to recognize his parents, Tom and Eileen, his sister Julia, and his girlfriend Kaitlin for their encouragement throughout his fight with gastroparesis and in creating this challenge. “They taught me to never give up…they have been my rock,” Andrew says of his support system.

This challenge and Andrew himself are proof that it just takes one person to start something great, that your struggles do not define you, and that if people take just a little bit of time to participate in something simple and fun, it can make a difference in so many lives. So grab your whipped cream and pie tins everybody, and take part in the Gastroparesis Pie Face Challenge.