Ee gads. Losing part of intestines doesn't sound like an American hunger issue. More like self-neglect or disease. Even if she couldn't get to a food bank, there are churches in every community, yes? Since the market crash of 2008, church food banks among other sources have kept me alive, since I have hypoglycemia, a potentially fatal disease caused by hunger. If I can do it for 10 years while fighting multiple food allergies, surely she can find charity? There were some serious gut aches before I figured things out, but at some point, you talk to other hungry people and figure out ways to survive.
The quantity, quality and all out availability from food banks and churches vary. The one near me took days to finally get an appointment. I had made a meal from some of the assortment and dutifully figured the mixed vegetables from a can (generic and probably expired) would have nutrition, right? Well something wasn't right because I yakked up the entire meal afterwards. I can still taste the can in my mind to this day. Some of the offerings were terrible enough that you are lucky enough to get the basic caloric input and keep it in.
*On the intestine, I had a coworker that had this same issue. She came down with severe abdominal pain to the point she was sweating. Same operation and so forth. She was about 30 at the time, ate health food, was well groomed and so forth. I don't recall that she even drank. So its not necessarily neglect. So some kind of disease or malformity.
