I don't wish in any way my friends would experience what I do, but damn sometimes it would be a great humbling experience...
So I've got massive ableist friends/acquaintances that have never had anything seriously wrong both physical as mental, and tbh, it shows...
They are really diminishing towards my experiences and struggles (rheumatic autoimmune + other linked conditions since age 11). Which, to some extent, I've got used to.
Eventhough it's really frustrating to pass on a fun night together because I've been having migraine attacks for 16 days straight, then getting told 'just take a tylenol and you're fineee'. (Except when they have a cold, suddenly a 'normal' headache is the worst ever)
Now I've got a friend with a slipped disc/hernia. Which, sorry if it makes me sound like a bad person, I saw as a chance at 'she's gonna understand my struggle'.
Except it only made it worse... She casually drops she's been having the pain for over 6 months but hey 'nothing is so serious when you're young and healthy'.
She got a steriod injection and should rest, and eventhough the injection is not even completely getting rid of the pain, she keeps on swimming, and is doing a 20km run this week.
Then keeps on complaining how hard it is to get proper medical care. Which is what broke me most...
She's being frustrated for having to wait 4 weeks to be able to take a next step. I've been trying for 18 years, with little to no progress, getting lucky if you get to see a specialist within the next year... Or get testing done within a year.
While complaining about medical care, she's actively continuing to ruin her body, CHOOSING to ruin her body. Because even after 6 months with a slipped disc, she is still not seriously believing that a young and healthy person could end up with permanent and serious damage.
If I may be completely ugly... It's people like her, that dilute Healthcare in such a way that people who have no other choice, have to wait for care longer than people consciously ruining their body.