The Neverending Medical Journey: Dealing with Doubters

I just change my doctor I'm 19 and I get that all the time

It’s been 7 years and I’m just now getting in with a rheumatologist. Still just told it’s a muscle issue.

I wasn't taken to the doctor as a kid other then school stuff. So now that we have insurance I can go and now I have a long list of diagnosis. And most of the people are me are just like "they are lieing if you had that you would of known from a young age" I honestly just ignore them I'm getting help and slowly being able to function

One time they said it was the worst facet joint arthritis ever seen in a patient and started talking to my mom she said she wasn’t the patient and he just looked at me and stopped talking finally he said I must have the wrong scan Spoilers It was the right scan

Yes by the time they did an MRI my sciatic nerve was almost severed now I have peripheral neuropathy

When I was little I was healthy but half way through 6th grade I knew something was wrong but no one believed me. I recently found out I was right. If you ever want to talk, you can message me 307-417-0599. We can talk about anything.

Yup, definitely get comments like that. I tend to fall back on sarcasm a lot (oh yes I’m definitely doing this to get unsolicited advice and be bombarded with disbelief- who wouldn’t want that). What’s really helped is finding my community and chronic illness memes

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dealing with lifelong medical issues isn't easy, and there are always gonna be people who will give you grief for it. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder a few years ago but have been dealing with it since puberty, and since it's an invisible issue I definitely get a lot of flack. how i respond to these people usually depends on how sassy I'm feeling, but I also have sarcasm bred into me lol. responses range from ignoring comments to intellectual explanations of human anatomy to the rare but priceless "well stupidity is invisible but you definitely seem to have that". it might sound lame but the best way to deal with people like that is to kick ass and do your own thing. people who say things like that usually do so because they see disabled or chronically ill people as frail and pathetic, so they're almost complimenting you (in an unintended and incredibly backhanded way) in saying that you're staying strong in the face of what you're dealing with. because that's what they can't wrap their head around at the end of the day: someone having to deal with hardship constantly and still living a good life. they're not nearly strong enough to do the kinds of things we have to do every day, so they can't imagine anyone actually doing that and being happy. it's all about knowing that you're stronger than they could ever hope to be and taking care of yourself regardless

I get that from people who have no clue! I just tell them I pray they NEVER have to deal with a serious health problem.