Look I am not gonna lie, if I did not have ITP I would probably ask some of these questions myself! And sure, between close friends & family, it is not that bad! But when other people that are not that close to me start asking these things, it’s pretty effing annoying.
“You Don’t Look Sick?”
This one’s my absolute favourite! Every single time I hear this internally, I am screaming “WTF” half the time I don’t even respond to it because what can I say without sounding like a complete smartarse. I’m not even sure how people expect me to respond to this “ yeah, I just totally fake my illness for no reason ”or “I just love the attention and enjoy spending time in hospital” like seriously how am I supposed to respond.
“Are you sure you should be drinking”
I do actually think people mean well when they ask this however, as you know I did a complete alcohol free ban and my platelets didn’t increase so I figure what the hell bottoms up.
“Bruising is not that bad, I bruise all the time”
Oh, do you now? Have you had your platelets checked? What if, you were told that the bruising you are experiencing could lead to you ending up in emergency? Or that the bruising you are experiencing could be internal hemorrhaging. How would that change your mindset of your bruise?
“You look tired!”
I feel like this is a polite way of saying “you look like shit” but when your ITP is playing up fatigue can set in and no matter how much sleep you get it never feels enough. You are exhausted and no doubt look exactly how you feel.
“I read about your condition, it doesn’t seem that bad”
Thanks for taking the time to read about my condition and assuming that because I am not on death row, it cannot be that bad. Just because you read something on google, this by no means defines my experience or makes my experience with this condition any easier.
" If it was that bad you wouldn't........."
wow.... thank you for your judgement. Obviously, you don't know much about my condition and the fact that it is unpredictable. Or the fact that I have addressed my limitations with my doctor. But good on you for disregarding my condition based off your own observation.
“What are you doing about it?”
I am all for taking responsibility and putting my own life into my own hands. However, there is NO CURE! So what I am doing about it, well I am surviving that is what I am doing about it.