Most of us hope and pray that we get to grow old; that we live out our years in as much happiness as can be obtained and perhaps peacefully slip away in our sleep when the time comes.
Sadly, that doesn’t go for everyone.
If you’re relatively hale and well today then you should be desperately thankful. Tomorrow, after all, is promised to no one, and money, fame, and riches pale in comparison to the simple blessing of being healthy.
The heartbreaking story of 25-year-old Annaliese Holland should be a poignant reminder of that fact. Suffering with a debilitating, incurable medical condition, she revealed recently that she wants to die by voluntary assisted suicide.
Since she was a young child, Annaliese, from Australia, has been in and out of hospitals.
“I’ve been sick since being a child really, I lived in and out of the hospital ever since I went in for nine months,” she told news.com.au.
“It actually took until I transitioned to the adult hospital that we found the diagnosis, and it came back that I did have this autoimmune disease that was causing it all along.”
The disease in question is Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy (AAG), an extremely rare condition caused by the body’s own immune system mistakenly attacking the body, leading to a raft of terrible effects.
As per reports, just 100 people in the US are diagnosed with AAG each year. It’s not always terminal, though in Annaliese’s case it is.
AAG impacts the autonomic ganglia, part of the nervous system that deals with involuntary bodily functions, that is to say functions we don’t consciously control.
The result is that a sufferer’s body can’t process the signals from nerves properly, causing disruption to a number of bodily functions. Annaliese’s case is so severe that she is unable to eat anything; her nutrition comes from a specialized source pumped directly into her body.
The Cleveland Clinic state that common symptoms of AAG can include things like constipation, dilated pupils, dry mouth or dry eyes, fainting, urinary retention, and low blood pressure when you move to stand up.
Worst of all, the condition is so rare that there is no standardized treatment for it at present. Medical help is instead offered on a case by case basis, with treatment focusing on managing and minimizing symptoms where possible.
The success of this, of course, varies from patient to patient, and Annaliese has a particularly virulent case.
Over the years she’s had to undergo multiple operations, resulting in meters of her bowel being removed.
“My stool would back up so much that I would throw it up or drain it out my tummy,” she explained. “I was put on something called Total Parenteral Nutrition or TPN and that’s basically a bag of nutrition that’s delivered directly into your bloodstream through like, a line in your chest.”
Tragically, Annaliese has made the heartbreaking decision to end her life with the help of assisted suicide, legal in every state in Australia. Since making the decision, she’s been busy doing things she has always wanted to do, which she compiled in what she refers to as a ‘F*ck It List’.
“For me, I don’t want to have to wake up every day with anxiety about the pain that I know is ahead for me,” she said.
“The pain of starving to death when they can’t feed me anymore, or the horror of sepsis. Knowing I can go when the time is right is just a huge relief.”
We are sending our thoughts and prayers to Annaliese and her family as they navigate this major decision.
READ MORE
- 25-year-old reveals reason for assisted suicide
- Four deputies from same department died by suicide 6 weeks apart
