When Ingrid Nieuwdorp (55) from Den Bosch urinated, it was as if she were being treated with razor blades, she said last year. She was in such excruciating pain that she would rather die than have to feel the pain any longer. But she has completed treatment in Australia and it brought relief: “I no longer have conversations about euthanasia.”
Ingrid’s pain arose after a series of medical errors after the birth of her daughter 29 years ago. She has adhesions around her organs and they are pressing on her nerves. “A continuous pain of 220 volts,” she says. She suppressed her pain until she couldn’t anymore. She eventually used a nasal spray that cancer patients receive in their final stages of life.
“I still have so much to live for.”
Ingrid had conversations about euthanasia, but did not really want to die. “I still have so much to live for, but I can’t bear the pain anymore,” was her cry of despair last year.
A crowdfunding campaign raised more than 52,000 euros. Enough for a treatment in Australia, which had to reset her nervous system: “It is a very special therapy, in which new connections are made in the brain. This calmed my nervous system.”
With the help of equipment from the gym, Ingrid got back on her feet: “An employee said: ‘You’ll be back on your feet within a week.’ I didn’t believe it, but it happened.”
Ingrid reacts emotionally when she can sit again for the first time (private photo).
During the therapy, strange things happened: “My arms and legs started to ache shake. I noticed that because I had gone into survival mode, I had no contact with my body at all. Every specialist I speak to does not understand how I was able to endure that pain.”
In April and May Ingrid was in Australia, after which she continued the therapy in her own gym near home: “I do every movement very slowly. To let my body reconnect with my brain.”
“I had severe withdrawal symptoms and looked like a Parkinson’s patient.”
That got her back on her feet: “People who see me outside think I’m better again. But I can’t be up all day.” Ingrid also suffered a setback. “In Australia they already said it wouldn’t be easy and that’s true. After my doctor had me stop taking painkillers, I started experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms. I looked like a Parkinson’s patient.”
The doctors in Australia keep an eye on Ingrid via video connection. If her nervous system is stable, she can go to Switzerland for surgery. A doctor wants to cut away the connective tissue wrapped around Ingrid’s nerves with a new surgical technique.
In the meantime, Ingrid is far from healthy: “I once went to the theater for an evening, which took me a week to recover from. I can also walk the dog for a while and do therapy. I’m still in a lot of pain, but it’s doable. I am at the beginning of a recovery.”
Talking about thoughts of suicide helps. You can call the 113 Suicide Prevention Foundation 24 hours a day on 0800 0113 or chat via en 113.nl.
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Ingrid (54) is in excruciating pain and is thinking about euthanasia: ‘But I want to live!’
2023-11-28 17:59:37
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