Invisible Illness Week Post 4: What social/emotional implications can "invisible illness" have on someone?

Have you ever been at a party? You're having fun. Eating. Enjoying the company. And then it happens. For whatever reason you get sick. Is it food poisoning from the dodgy looking deviled eggs you ate? Did you drink too much? Someone breathe in your direction? Doesn't matter. You're sick and you can't go home yet. It's the worst feeling ever. And it happens to me ALL of the time.

If I don't know what's in a dish at a potluck, I don't eat it. If I do and it contains something that will upset my stomach, I don't eat it. If there's nothing I can eat, then I don't. Or I suffer the above consequence.

And then there are those times when you have an event or work or something that you can't miss and you feel like absolute crap. It's like the absolute zero of the sick world. And I'm talking if you felt any worse you'd be laying in the hospital on life support. But you still get up. You still press on. You persevere. And no it's not like going to work with the flu.

Another thought. Will there be a toilet at this destination? This is one I had a hard time with this past summer. I went camping at a campground an hour from my home. And I had never been there before. And there was only one bathroom (other than outhouses-ick!) within walking distance. While this wouldn't even phase some people it was a big step for me to remove myself from my comfort zone. And I am proud.

While its one thing to have a bathroom available it's a whole new thing to be visiting it every 10-20 minutes. Especially in a crowded party-like situation. You cannot truly understand the magnitude of embarrassment when you have to excuse yourself to use the facilities AGAIN. And AGAIN. And AGAIN. Embarrassing isn't a strong enough word.

I think this is one of the worst aspects of this disease. The social and emotional embarrassment CD forces you to live with. It's horrible. It's degrading. It downright sucks. But what choice do I have. What choice do any of us Crohnies have? Listen to our doctors. Take our meds. Keep smiling. That's what we do. We laugh. We hope. We hold our heads high. We fight.

And one day we will win.