Friday 25 November 2011

Never Have I Ever..

This post asks me to think about something I've never done but would like to in relation to my condition. The main one which keeps cropping up when thinking about Crohn's is one of the major gripes I have, people belittling or making light of my illness. People making ludicrous comments or using what I have as an excuse to play the hypochondriac.
I find this incredibly insulting and ignorant. I completely appreciate people who maybe have a genuine interest in Crohns and asking questions, perhaps at times too bluntly, so I bite my tongue and answer them as best I can whilst remaining relatively cheerful..
The issue I have is when people (who clearly do not have the first clue what we go through) discount any symptoms or complaints as over-reacting or exaggeration. This, in my case couldn't be further from the truth. Infact, I blame myself partly for the length of time it took to establish a diagnosis. If I had been more open and honest with the doctors from the beginning they would have had more to go on. That's a valuable lesson I've learned, in as much as I have to speak up and not worry about being judged as that is what the doctors are there for - to help make me feel better.
I think because I've been made to feel in the past that I've been perhaps going overboard when complaining of symptoms, it's taking a while to realise that I wasn't - if anything I was holding back!
But the point of this post was to explain what I NEVER do. And what I never do is speak up when I'm offended. Just silently seethe at the time then bore the boxers off my beloved later by ranting about it. I don't know if there even is a point to voicing my fury at idiotic comments? The person making the comment in the first place clearly is so insensitive that it would more than likely be irrelevant what I said in return. I would just be winding myself up more than I already do and that's just not good for my health ;) So I'm going to try and elevate myself to a whole other level and try to stop myself from getting bugged in the first place. That way Arthritis and Crohn's may break my bones but uninformed comments will never hurt me ;)


This post was written as part of NHBPM - 30 health posts on 30 days

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