CHELSEA HILL had battled stomach pain all of her life, but it was particularly bad when her mother rushed her to the emergency room on June 23 with suspected appendicitis.

A CT scan showed that the teen's appendix was fine. Her stomach, however, was four times its normal size.

Further testing showed that Chelsea had a relatively rare condition in which the duodenum--part of the small intestine--is squeezed between two arteries, making it impossible for food to pass.

"The surgeon came to us and said, 'I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your daughter has a very, very serious condition called superior mesenteric artery syndrome,'" recalled Catherine Dziok, Chelsea's mother.

EARLY SIGNS

Since birth, Chelsea, now 15, had struggled to keep food down. And when she did, she often complained of stomach pain.

For years, the family endured vague diagnoses. She has "abdominal migraines," one doctor told them. It's all in her head, said another.

At least one doctor suggested Dziok was purposely making her daughter sick.

So the diagnosis that evening at Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU was, in some ways, a relief. They finally knew what they were dealing with.

Still, these past few months haven't been easy. Chelsea can't eat much, so she gets nourishment from a 3-foot feeding tube that snakes up her nose, down her throat and past the collapsed intestine.

The arrangement leaves her at increased risk of respiratory infection, so the high school freshman has been homebound since January.

The best chance for a cure is an experimental surgery in Germany, but it's out-of-network so her health insurance won't pay for it.

So Chelsea's family and friends are on a mission to raise $200,000 to pay for the procedure, which is tentatively scheduled for mid-May. They hope a charity golf tournament next Monday at Lee's Hill Golf Club will help with that effort.

"Since June, this has been our life. We do think this is the best shot for her future," said Dziok. "Whatever we have to do to get there, we're doing."

A FIRST DIAGNOSIS

Though the family now lives in Henrico County, Dziok was raised in Spotsylvania--she attended Courtland High School and ultimately graduated from James Monroe--and Chelsea was born at Mary Washington Hospital.