When I was a little girl, I had this friend named
Dee-Dee. Actually I spelled her name DD
because I was too young to spell at the time & didn’t understand vowels,
but I did understand the alphabet.
Anyway, DD was INVISIBLE, mostly because she was my IMAGINARY friend. Actually that’s the only reason
she was invisible, but I digress.
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IMAGINARY friend, "DD" Image courtesy of Pixabay.com |
I think I invented DD because I wanted a sister, but GOD
gave me a little annoying brother instead.
I also wanted a best friend, but when you’re too young to pour your own
cereal, nevertheless, drive a car – creating a social life that would secure
you a best friend was next to impossible.
But I have a terrific imagination, so DD was born!
I can’t recall how long DD was an integral part of my daily
life – probably until I went to kindergarten and made real flesh-n-bones
friends. Of course, I don’t think I made
any best friends in kindergarten because I can’t remember any of their
names. As I recall, it wasn’t until 2nd
grade that I made a best friend. Hey – I
was a ‘late-bloomer’ in the friendship department, what can I say? Besides – I was terribly shy. (I know that’s probably difficult for some of
you to believe!)
But one day – whenever it was - DD just disappeared. I guess I didn’t need her anymore.
In spite of my late start, I did learn how to make &
become good friends with many a girl…and a few fellas, too. In the past I’ve actually prided myself on my
ability to BE a good friend. In the
past, I never imagined I’d have an actual shortage of friendships. But now I do.
I’m fairly certain it’s because I got sick. Not just temporary snotty mucous-kind of
sick, but chronically sick, as in
“there’s-no-visible-symptoms-so-some-folks-(former-friends)-don’t-believe-me-AND-there’s-really-no-
cure-for-this-shit-but-there-are-several-(mostly-expensive)-things-I-can-
throw-at-my-symptoms-even-though-I’ll-still-feel-like –hell-most-of-the-time”
kind of sick. Because there’s no
tangible qualities to the many illness labels I’ve managed to collect over the
years, some people have thought of me as a melodramatic hypochondriac. Can you believe that? What assholes!
This lack of tangible quality that my ailments lack places
them in the category of “invisible illness”.
Now I know what some of you might be thinking. Invisible = Imaginary. NO! If
you are one of those folks that just had that thought – might I gently suggest
that perhaps you are an asshole, too? If
so, here’s your chance to reclaim your status as an anti-asshole, so read on.
With regard to atoms, microbes & illness -- invisible is
NOT synonymous with imaginary.

Their conclusion? There are 5,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bacteria on earth; that’s fifty
million trillion trillion!! You’d think
with a group numbering that large that you’d be able to see those lil bastards,
wouldn’t you? Alas, they are INVISIBLE
to the naked eye – but they AREN’T imaginary!
From that bigass number, there are some nasty buggers that
cause disease. Some of those diseases
cause outward symptoms – some don’t.
That’s the main difference between a ‘visible’ and ‘invisible’
disease. Another important note is
that most invisible health conditions are considered chronic conditions (and
vice versa).
According to a study out by John
Hopkins University ,
in the year 2005, nearly ½ of all Americans (133 million people) were living
with some kind of chronic condition, regardless of age, race or economic
status. Of that number, nearly 24% had
2 or more chronic conditions, the prevalence of which increased with age and
according to gender. By far, women
suffer from more multiple chronic conditions than men do. I have no idea why that is so, but it
certainly seems a bit unfair, don’t you think?
Chronic health conditions influence individual’s lives in
unique ways, initial impact beginning with physical & mental health,
influencing employment status, and even the relationships & social life
that patients hold most dear. The
reason for this is because chronic illness affects everyone differently; some
are barely affected at all, while others face actual disability.
This disparity of experience contributes to the overall
perception of invisible, chronic illness because even those with the same
illness tend to make judgments about others, thinking if other patients
complain about their symptoms more than they do – they must certainly be
attention-seeking hypochondriacs. Yes,
we live in such a judgmental society, so quick to draw conclusions about others
& cast aspersions upon their character.
For example, every arthritis sufferer experiences their own unique pain
and within a particular range of severity.
For some people whose experience is on the lower end of the pain scale,
it is difficult for them to truly understand the crippling, disabling
experience of those suffering at the opposite end of the spectrum. Although I feel blessed that my own (Lyme
disease) arthritis pain is nowhere near the most severe part of the continuum,
I have still been ridiculed by my own (extended) family members whose arthritis
experience is different than my own.
It’s strange, but there seems to be some validity to that age-old
‘competition’ of “whose bruise is the most blue.”
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Photo courtesy of Teerapun/freedigitalphotos net. |
In addition to being strangely competitive and judgmental,
our society seems rather committed to the idea that “seeing is believing.” Combined, these attitudes only seem to
reinforce the ignorance and misunderstandings which thrive regarding both
chronic & invisible illness.
But here’s another eye-opening statistic: Of the 133 million Americans dealing with
chronic illness, a whopping 96% are considered “invisible” conditions. Also out of that 133 million Americans, 25%
of them have some kind of activity limitation – ranging from mild limitations
all the way to complete disability.
Perhaps the most startling statistics come from the website www.invisibleillnessweek.com, a
site committed to bringing awareness about the conditions & diseases which
can overwhelm and devastate the lives of millions upon millions of
Americans, suggest that 26 million
people are considered to have a SEVERE disability, although of that number,
only 7 million people actually use some kind of assistive technology, such as a
cane, wheelchair, etc. that would visually indicate a disability is present. Therefore, my rudimentary math skills tell
me that 19 million people are severely disabled without any visual cues
providing the “proof” for all those naysayers in our society that ‘must see to believe’.
If you ask me, that’s a helluva lot of severe INVISIBLE disability!
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DR.Wiseass LOVES cake! |
In all honesty, after years of illness – I do finally have
some kind of visual aid to give witness to the diseases and conditions that plague me. Because of the auto-immune version of
hypothyroidism (Hashimoto’s disease) that almost destroyed my metabolism, and because of the ongoing pain and fatigue of chronic Lyme disease that is so overwhelming it drastically limits
my daily activities, making exercise a near impossibility most of the
time - I’ve become a rather
large woman. In spite of my therapist’s
disapproval, I freely admit that I’m a big lard ass. Yet, instead of people understanding that
all my VISIBLE rolls of fat are indicative of years of debilitating illness,
many just assume I’m (literally) twice the woman I once was because I must
certainly be a big lazy-ass, and because I probably eat lots of cake. Some days I can handle those attitudes which
serve to reflect the cruelty & stupidity of others; but other days it just
makes me want to curl up into a little ball and do my best to become invisible
myself.
Unfortunately, such negative attitudes towards those with
invisible chronic illness run rampant – at least for now. Therefore, we must continue building
solidarity with our fellow ‘sickos,’ acknowledging the overwhelming ignorance
of our fellow man, followed by our own heart-searching decisions to ultimately
forgive them for ‘they know not what they do’.
Hopefully one day, we can eradicate such destructive & hurtful
attitudes if we continue to reach out & teach our fellow citizens about the
conditions that cause us such affliction, and even disabilities.
Unlike my invisible and imaginary childhood friend, DD, the
chronic illnesses which are my enemies, such as LD, CFS, FMS, IC, IBS, PFD,
OAB, etc. – they may all be INVISIBLE, but they are most definitely not
IMAGINARY!
Until next time...
Hugs & Kisses,
DR. Wiseass
~NOT a real doc; just a real wise ASS!
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