Family Support - Or Lack Thereof

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I'm Kim from SC- don't post much but read alot and something just hit

me today that is really bugging me and I wanted to ask if any of you

have experienced the same and how you handled it.

I come from a long line of hypochondriacs. No one has ever had any

sickness or disease, or experienced any pain worse than the women in

my family. Blah, blah, blah...

As a result, I've learned to suck up my pain, work through it and get

on with my life. God forbid if I'm feeling too tired or achy to carry

the load for everyone. No one will listen, as they're too busy

moaning about how sick they are.

Well, I'm scheduled to have my gall bladder out next Tuesday and

according to one member of my family - I don't really need to have

surgery. I haven't had the crippling pain that she had when she had

gall stones. Just because I can't go to bed for a week and cry and

whine to everyone about how bad I feel - my pain isn't real. I'm

sorry but I've had RA for 21 years and I've learned to develop a high

tolerance for pain and a low tolerance for complaining!!

Do you think I'm being over-sensitive or do I have a valid gripe? How

do you try to explain to your loved ones that it's not fair to

discount someone else's pain just because you've never felt that way?

And while I'm at it - how about people that try to give you

unsolicited advice as to how you can cure your arthritis?

Oh that really frosts my britches. You know the type - " If you

wouldn't drink so much caffiene, eat red meat, pop your knuckles when

you were young, do some exercise, watch so much television, etc. you

wouldn't have arthritis. " Like it was my choice to have this awful

disease. If you've ever received any of these comments, do you

respond nicely or let them have it with both barrels?

Thanks for listening.

I feel much better now.

Kim