10:15am May 22, 2013

➸ In today's society, chronic illness is viewed as a personal failing

When I recently read the phrase, “I’m embarrassed to be sick,” it made my stomach clench and my breath catch.  That’s exactly what I’ve been feeling: this vague sense of social unease even with close friends, a reluctance to be seen or even talk to people–especially those that knew me before I became chronically ill.

At the age of 55, after a lifetime of seemingly unrelated physical complaints and inexplicable pains that kept worsening, I was finally diagnosed in 2012 with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a genetic flaw which leads to defective connective tissues.  This results in chronic pain and many other health problems, as body parts aren’t held together properly, joints dislocate spontaneously, tissues stretch or tear, lose elasticity, and wear out early.

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