For the last decade, Annie Holland has survived solely on nutrients fed to her through her veins.
The 24-year-old hasn't dined on a meal in her adult life, and has now spoken out about her heartbreaking symptoms that led to a terminal diagnosis at just 22 years old.
Giving a timeline of how her short life has gone so far, the Australian explained: “At just age 12 I started getting sick not thinking much of it. By age 15 it was getting worse I had been back and forth to doctors with numerous issues.
"By age 16 my life started to change forever. By age 18 I was given a diagnosis. By age 22 I became terminal."
Annie Holland hasn't been able to eat a meal for 10 years (Cover Images)
Annie gets her food through IV nutrition, which according to the University of California's Medical School, is the administration of nutrients directly into the bloodstream through a vein - and is used to deliver a high concentration of nutrients that the body needs to function properly.
“When I was a teen, I started struggling with dizziness, fainting spells and digestive issues,” Annie, of Adelaide, shared.
“Doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me until eventually a urine and blood test confirmed I had Autoimmune Autonomic Gangliopathy (AAG).”
The disease is chronic and causes her immune system to attack healthy nerve cells, but in Annie's condition it has worsened over the years and has meant medics have had to remove more than 10 feet of her bowel, leading her to develop 'intestinal failure'.
Annie was just 22 years old when she discovered her illness was terminal (Cover Images)
It means her intestines cannot absorb enough nutrients and fluids to sustain the body.
“It’s hard to explain to people what it feels like to never be able to eat,” she said.
“Food is such a normal part of everyday life for most, but for me, it’s something I can’t even consider. There’s a lot of isolation that comes with it. I can’t join in on social meals, and the smell of food cooking can make me feel incredibly sick.
"It’s hard to be around something that’s a normal part of life for everyone else but a danger to me.
"I isolated myself from society because I was stuck going through hell whilst everyone moved on with their life’s. Spending months and months on end in hospital, going months with no visitors. I didn’t want anyone to know I was sick. I just gathered I would get better and I could remove that 'era' from my life. How wrong was I."
She continued: "I never thought this would be it. I never saw my life ending soon but not being able to plan or even think about the future just breaks my soul.
Annie has set up a GoFundMe page to help support the medical center where she has received treatment (Cover Images)
“Months of horrible torturous symptoms, procedures, surgeries and awful medications. One of those being high dose steroids. Anyone who has had steroids know the awful side effects that come along with it. One of the most obvious moon face and fluid retention. Leaving me sometimes gaining 20 plus kilos in one week.
“The pain, the suffering , the loneliness no one can understand until they have been in that position."
Annie has now created a GoFundMe page to help support the facility where she has received treatment.
The funds raised will go towards hiring additional nurses, providing training for medical staff, supporting families of Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) patients, and purchasing essential equipment like a Fibroscanner, which can cost $20,000 to monitor liver health.
"My illness may be terminal, but I want my legacy to be about helping others. I’m not giving up. There’s so much more I want to do to help others, even if my time is limited," she added.
English (US) ·