The other day I told someone about my friends, this person knows me sorta well but not like super well the person was confused to why half the friends I talked about had chronic incurable diseases, She asked very kindly “Why do you have friends who are ill?”  And I tried to give a good answer but I didn’t do so well..

  So here is my answer…

 When you are in school you make friends who like some of the same things you like. When you are a working adult you make friends with people who like the same stuff you like. If you like going to clubs or going to see people perform you make friends with people who like the same. Its a human thing. You need something in common to keep being friends and to talk. When you are diagnosed or just become ill, you suddenly can’t relate to a lot of your friends or to anyone. But when you make a friend who also is ill you can relate, Oh you vomit four times a day? Oh have you ever done blank? Its a weird thing but you can talk about stuff that others would see as not socially acceptable.

  My friends and myself talk about vomiting and getting stuff in a feeding tube, we talk about pooping and talking medicine and ports and picc lines and we talk about pain and walkers wheelchairs getting tired, we get it. And it’s because we understand it. I was in the hospital and I was FaceTiming with my friend Macy and she wasn’t weirded out when I showed her my picc line and when I vomit while we are talking.

   We need people that also have chronic illnesses even if we don’t get to see them a lot in person it helps knowing you aren’t alone. My friends and myself some of us have none of the same diseases and other friends we have one or two of the same diseases, but we all can understand each other on some level, sometimes just someone being able to understand the tired feeling is so helpful, when you are so tired but can’t sleep when pain sets in. it’s nice to know you aren’t alone.

  Yea we talk about random things, I had a long text convo with my friend today and we talked about nothing but vomit.. it was on going for about an hour and it wasn’t like we were being gross we were just talking about our day. Life has a chronically ill person isn’t just watching netflix, it’s normally for me anyway watching netflix with a heating pad and vomit bucket.

  When you have people who make you feel like it is okay to be well you. Is a very happy fact. So I guess I am trying to say the reason I have friends with chronic incurable diseases is because I need friends who can relate to me on some level. I need people to tell me “Are you napping?” “Did you take you’re walker?” I need people to make me feel like what I am living isn’t boring old shitting life but it’s a good life nonetheless. And my friends make me feel that way. They make me feel like we can press on. That every day is weird and random and pain is a part of every day but we can get through it. I think that when diseases make you feel horrid you know that life with this disease can be ever so changing.. Life has been fantastically amazing even in comas seizures and other things it doesn’t make it less just different..

  So yea…..

Shayweasing it…