Everybody's got an opinion
First off, let me say I am not ranting about any one particular person, so don't get your panties in a knot.
I am talking about almost every human being I have ever met.
Inevitably, when you have an illness like mine, people will find out about it. In my case, it is usually because I tell people. Better to tell them "hey, I might have a seizure, if so, just chill" rather than have a seizure and the whole room freaks out, there's an ambulance called, a $3,000 hospital visit and a bunch of other crap. So, they know. Also inevitably, when people find out I am ill, they offer up whatever "cure" or "treatment" is bouncing around in their heads, usually something ridiculous, especially since they really have no clue what's wrong with me other than having seizures since I don't share the full info with them. Almost immediately after discovering that I am ill, people will pull out whatever grandma's cure for a headache was, or the latest colon cleanse fad, or in one case, I was told that eating wheatgrass would cure epilepsy.
In my heart I know they are trying to be helpful, but the more it happens the more I realize they are not ONLY trying to be helpful; they are trying to get attention. "Use my treatment so I can play doctor. Yes, I know I am a bagging clerk at Safeway but I KNOW what I am talking about!" Everybody wants to be more important than they are.
Maybe they don't realize that offering up unsolicited medical advice is extremely rude, presumptuous and dangerous? Do they think that I have not tried any reasonable treatment, because perhaps I don't really care about my life and I am just here flopping around like a fish? It is their condescending tone they use when I politely turn them down that I get annoyed by the most- that "Well, if you don't want to be cured, then I can't help you." No, you can't help me anyway, because you're a moron. Let me explain what my condition is, in layman terms:
My brain literally is not wired correctly. I have knots of blood vessels in certain parts of my brain. Think of these as one of those old fashioned telephone operator circuit boards. All the little plugs should go neatly into holes. Mine don't. They are knotted up, two or three plugged into the same hole, some plugged into each other. Where these knots formed, I have something similar to aneurysms. I was born this way. It did not form because of environmental causes. It cannot be changed. It is simply the way my brain is formed. It doesn't matter what I eat, what I smell or focus on, and working out can actually kill me if I am not careful. (blood rushing through those knots is a bad thing.) It doesn't matter how many colon cleanses I do or acupuncturists I visit- my brain will still be wonky.
So, all the "let me hook you up with my hypnotist- she can totally help" and the "oh, you should do the 12 day cleanse" or the "touching crystals will stop seizures" are just annoying, and a bit offensive. I wouldn't tell you how to live your life, or treat your illness, or raise your kids or anything else. I ask the same courtesy of others to me. If these people want to trade brains with me though... nevermind, I'll keep my own.
I am talking about almost every human being I have ever met.
Inevitably, when you have an illness like mine, people will find out about it. In my case, it is usually because I tell people. Better to tell them "hey, I might have a seizure, if so, just chill" rather than have a seizure and the whole room freaks out, there's an ambulance called, a $3,000 hospital visit and a bunch of other crap. So, they know. Also inevitably, when people find out I am ill, they offer up whatever "cure" or "treatment" is bouncing around in their heads, usually something ridiculous, especially since they really have no clue what's wrong with me other than having seizures since I don't share the full info with them. Almost immediately after discovering that I am ill, people will pull out whatever grandma's cure for a headache was, or the latest colon cleanse fad, or in one case, I was told that eating wheatgrass would cure epilepsy.
In my heart I know they are trying to be helpful, but the more it happens the more I realize they are not ONLY trying to be helpful; they are trying to get attention. "Use my treatment so I can play doctor. Yes, I know I am a bagging clerk at Safeway but I KNOW what I am talking about!" Everybody wants to be more important than they are.
Maybe they don't realize that offering up unsolicited medical advice is extremely rude, presumptuous and dangerous? Do they think that I have not tried any reasonable treatment, because perhaps I don't really care about my life and I am just here flopping around like a fish? It is their condescending tone they use when I politely turn them down that I get annoyed by the most- that "Well, if you don't want to be cured, then I can't help you." No, you can't help me anyway, because you're a moron. Let me explain what my condition is, in layman terms:
My brain literally is not wired correctly. I have knots of blood vessels in certain parts of my brain. Think of these as one of those old fashioned telephone operator circuit boards. All the little plugs should go neatly into holes. Mine don't. They are knotted up, two or three plugged into the same hole, some plugged into each other. Where these knots formed, I have something similar to aneurysms. I was born this way. It did not form because of environmental causes. It cannot be changed. It is simply the way my brain is formed. It doesn't matter what I eat, what I smell or focus on, and working out can actually kill me if I am not careful. (blood rushing through those knots is a bad thing.) It doesn't matter how many colon cleanses I do or acupuncturists I visit- my brain will still be wonky.
So, all the "let me hook you up with my hypnotist- she can totally help" and the "oh, you should do the 12 day cleanse" or the "touching crystals will stop seizures" are just annoying, and a bit offensive. I wouldn't tell you how to live your life, or treat your illness, or raise your kids or anything else. I ask the same courtesy of others to me. If these people want to trade brains with me though... nevermind, I'll keep my own.