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The Phone Call That Changed Everything · The World Knowledge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, good afternoon, listeners. Thank you so much for listening
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: to Lament of Hope podcast. As you guys know, we
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: are nearing our 300th episode, which is amazing. And so
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: many people from around the world with different struggles and stories.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: And it's all because of you guys and your support.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: So I'm super grateful. I feel like I have to
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: say that every time I start because I just it
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: always blows me away when I think about it. And Today,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: I'm sitting down with Stephanie Packer, and I don't know,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: some of you may be familiar with her story. The
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: latest article I could find, and maybe I just didn't
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: do enough research, was about 10 years ago, and she
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: was in the news talking about being terminally ill. She
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: had outlived her terminally ill diagnosis. She was still very sick,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: but she hadn't died, which doctors had said she would,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: because she had a chronic, and still does have a
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: chronic autoimmune disorder where if i'm understanding this correctly it's
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: scar tissue that builds up in your lungs right that's
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: like a simple way to kind of put it yes
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: yeah and um she was told she would die she
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  Speaker 1: has outlived that diagnosis by many many years she's now
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: in her 40s and this article i read was when
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: she was in her 30s she's a mother to seven
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: children um from two marriages and And she just had
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: an incredible testimony about her life. And she's become a
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: voice that has spoken out against euthanasia and assisted suicide.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: And I really wanted to dive into this topic because
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: there's been so many reports recently of individuals choosing assisted suicide,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: not just because they're in pain, but in emotional pain,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: where they're depression or crippling anxiety has been a reason
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: to die and has been celebrated. And so I really
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: wanted to hear from someone who many people would say
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: has all the right to die because they're in pain,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: their life is, to them, doesn't look as great as
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: it would be for other people. But I wanted to
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: hear another perspective because that's something that Stephanie has had
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: an opportunity to do if she wanted, but she has
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: chosen not to. And so, Stephanie, thank you so much
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: for being on the podcast.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: Thank you for having me. I appreciate you putting this
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: out there and making sure that people get a full
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: idea of everything that's happening.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Stephanie, I want to start out so that people can
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: just get a taste of what it's like to be
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: in your shoes. What does a day look like for you?
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: This week has actually been pretty rough. I spent the
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: weekend in the hospital, woke up in the middle of
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: the night with crazy chest pains and my arm was
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: like on fire. It was pretty miserable. And, um, so
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: I went over to the ER and ran a lot
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: of tests and my body just all of a sudden,
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: just my chest wall and everything became super inflamed and
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: was causing a lot of pain. And then, um, this
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: week I also have my, my infusion that I do, uh,
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: to slow the progression of the disease. And, um, you know,
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: going to the infusion center, it's really a trip. Talking
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: to other patients there and seeing everything that they go through.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: And it's just, it's encouraging being there. And by the
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: time you leave, the medicine just kind of wipes you out.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: So I had a really long night last night. I
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: aspirated in the middle of the night. Basically, it's like,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: acid reflux that you end up breathing into your lungs
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: and then you're choking for a couple of hours afterward.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: So it was a long night. And then this morning
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: I called the doctor and we start steroids and antibiotics
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: and all this kind of stuff to prevent a lung infection.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: And I see for people watching, you have oxygen that
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: you're breathing in. Yes. Do you, because I have seen
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: some interviews, but this was a while ago again, where
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: there was an oxygen and then other times when there was,
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: are there days where you have to have the oxygen
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: to breathe or is it now at a point where
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: you have it all the time?