Recently, I bought a cane. My fibro has gotten to the point where some days I'm not sure whether or not I could walk places I needed to go. I have been wrestling with the idea of buying a cane for sometime now. But I'm 17 years old, I couldn't stand the thought of having to use something to walk. I have came to accept the fact that I have this sickness, but I haven't completely came to the reality that I may have to things like a cane. I know how people will look at me when they see me. A "perfectly healthy teenager" using a cane to walk into the store. Not that I really care how people look at me, because something being chronically ill has taught me is everyone has a story and you don't know everyone's, so why would you assume when you don't know? The thing that really bothers me is the people walking with me. My friends, family, etc. What do they think? My boyfriend made a comment that stuck with me. He said, "The other day I was with you and you walked perfectly fine, today I see you and you need a cane to just walk." That stuck with me. He didn't mean it in a mean or rude way, he was just making a comment. I thought about that all day long. How crazy it must seem to my family/friends that one day I'll be fine but maybe the next, I have to cancel my plans because I can't move. I know that if I was a friend of a person like me, I would think that they were crazy. These thoughts have been stuck in my mind ever since Dustin made that comment. I guess my question is, how do you break feelings like that? I don't want to feel like I'm embarrassing my friends when we go places and I need my cane. Does anyone have any advice on how to handle situations like that? If so, leave me a comment here or tweet me: @kelsoopadoo
Thanks for reading!
-Kelli
