Limited Understanding: Can Others Ever Really Comprehend?

I’m often surprised by how many people utter the words “I understand” or “I get it” or “I know how you feel.” They don’t. They can’t. They don’t live in my head. They don’t share a nervous system with me. They don’t share a digestive tract with me. They don’t share my skin. They don’t know how it feels to not be able to fall asleep because of a sickeningly irritating and itchy rash has taken over your skin. They don’t bloat up and have intestinal pains at the mere thought of food. They aren’t plagued with migrating pains that come on at the drop of a hat and stick around for a few seconds to a few weeks (I’m just finishing up week 3 of consistent pain in my neck/shoulder area and day 2 of hip/knee pain). They don’t know what it’s like to have all of this and more going on in their bodies day in and day out. They aren’t sitting here typing while pain radiates through my right side, from abdomen to collar bone.

A tip for all of those people who don’t have Lyme disease, but who interact with someone who does: Just be there. Don’t tell them that you get it, because you don’t and those words just make them feel more isolated and alone. Tell them that you’re there to help in any way you can. Tell them that you care about them and want them to get better. Offer to help them out with something. Offer a shoulder to cry on. Give us hugs! Pray for us. Love us. Reiterate to us that we’re not alone in our fight. Remind us that you are there for us. That’s all we want…someone to show us that they care. The medical community has largely turned their backs on us and just to know that people out there care about us makes a world of difference to our mental abilities to fight this terrible disease.

A huge THANK YOU to my wonderful husband who gets it. He doesn’t understand my disease, doesn’t know exactly what I’m going through, but he understands that what I need from him is not understanding, but rather, love. Pure and simple.

Have you hugged a Lymie today? They could probably use it….