Comparisons and Not Fair: I had a close... - My MSAA Community

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Comparisons and Not Fair

mbrooks20 profile image
mbrooks20
โ€ข26 Replies

I had a close friend of mine to tell me that it's not fair her daughter has type 1 diabetes and can't qualify for a check but that I get one for MS. She said that MS is nothing and doesn't affect anything and her daughter's is deadly. I got angry partly because I am going through a relapse and not feeling very well so I said well it's not fair that your daughter can walk and run and play and I can't even run anymore or walk during relapses. It's not fair that your daughter can enjoy going outside on summer days without almost having a heat stroke. It's not fair that your daughter can see perfectly out of both of her eyes when one of mine goes out during relapses. It's not fair that I am still young and I have to wear diapers when her daughter doesn't. It's not fair that I have to use a walker wherever I go so I don't walk like I'm drunk or fall because I get exhausted and need to rest my leg every so often. It's not fair that my left side is so weak that I can barely lift my leg when I'm not in a relapse. I'm sorry but while her diabetes can be life-threatening people can live full lives with it.

She is mad at me and refuses to talk to me now. Am I in the wrong for telling her this?

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mbrooks20 profile image
mbrooks20
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26 Replies
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goatgal profile image
goatgal

I'm sorry you and your friend hurt one another's feelings. Life itself isn't fair: we don't take our first breath with everything weighed out in equal portions. We are born to parents who love us or don't, we are born in peace or war, we are born to poverty, wealth or something in between, and the discrepancies between our lives increase with every passing day. What we each have to do, with MS or Diabetes or Cancer or any of life's multitudinous misfortunes, is understand that we weren't singled out for punishment, that none of us were given a head start in the race, that each of us is responsible to make the most fulfilling life possible given our situation, and forgive one another when comparisons or judgments are made. I hope you and your friend can mend this rift.

mbrooks20 profile image
mbrooks20โ€ข in reply togoatgal

I did feel extremely gulty after I said it and apologized immediately. I think the fact that she can work is what makes her so mad because she doesn't want to and I would love to go back.

goatgal profile image
goatgalโ€ข in reply tombrooks20

Sounds like she was resentful about working and saw you as having the leisure time she wants. I hope she is able to understand as well as you have! For many years, I have had a friendship with someone who takes umbrage easily over random remarks. She raises her voice, proclaims loudly that she will never speak again to the offender, storms off...and within weeks has forgotten the incident. This has created difficulties for her in her career, but she is still a deeply good person, just prone to flashes of anger.

Kenu profile image
Kenu

Right on ๐Ÿ‘. I think you did the right thing. You stuck up for yourself and the way it is๐Ÿ‘. Great for you, no one needs friends that donโ€™t understand and try to demean you ๐Ÿ˜–. You were absolutely right in your response ๐Ÿ˜‰๐Ÿ™๐Ÿพ๐Ÿพ. Ken

bxrmom profile image
bxrmomโ€ข in reply toKenu

mbrooks20 I agree with Kenu ! I'm glad you stuck up for yourself. Maybe after things settle down, she will see that she was in the wrong.

Jessie

mbrooks20 profile image
mbrooks20โ€ข in reply toKenu

I had to stand up for myself because no one else was going to.

Beckylp54 profile image
Beckylp54โ€ข in reply toKenu

Hi Kenu

I absolutely agree with YOU! NO one has the right to berate another person and everyone NEEDS to say how they are hurt by what someone may be say to them. Blessings becky

Jesmcd2 profile image
Jesmcd2CommunityAmbassador

My 2cents? Tell her it's really none of her business! You are considered disabled for a reason. If she is your friend like she says, then she would know this. mbrooks20 . My bestest took the time to figure out symptoms of MS! And I took the time to learn a bit about her daughter's hydrocephalus! Because that's what friends do!

Also, your on steroids, watch that anger๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿค—๐Ÿ’•๐ŸŒ 

mbrooks20 profile image
mbrooks20โ€ข in reply toJesmcd2

I learned all about her child's diabetes and went to classes to learn how to do the insulin with her.

mrsmike9 profile image
mrsmike9โ€ข in reply tombrooks20

Has she ever been to one of those meeting on MS or did research online???

mbrooks20 profile image
mbrooks20โ€ข in reply tomrsmike9

I don't think she has like she said she did.

Jazzihorsecat profile image
Jazzihorsecat

๐Ÿ‘good job in sticking up for yourself mbrooks! & hopefully you both can become friends again someday. Many Prayers ๐Ÿ™go out for ya. Do a candida cleanse after your relapse, sometimes our guts are all clogged up & leaky, then when we do a cleanse we really start to feeling better, I am, w/ the help of Ann Boroch's famous & awesome E'book, "Healing Multiple Sclerosis", & "The Candida Cure", She too had our M.on.S.ter & reversed it w/this amazing cleanse!๐Ÿ’๐ŸŒผ๐ŸŒธ๐ŸŒบ & Many 1,000's of people have tried it & did too, Ifwcz is too & her hubby doin great so far! I always highly recommend those to others to help out & also a Dr. Amy recommends this too.

The candida diet.com

Many Blessings๐Ÿ™๐ŸŒบ๐ŸŒธ๐Ÿ’๐ŸŒผJazzy๐ŸŒน๐Ÿ’œ

mbrooks20 profile image
mbrooks20โ€ข in reply toJazzihorsecat

I just bought the book healing multiple sclerosis. I am looking forward to reading it.

Jazzihorsecat profile image
Jazzihorsecat

Yay! ๐Ÿ™ mbrooks! You'll absolutley luv it!๐Ÿ’— great, yummy recipes & so much less expensive than any io the ๐Ÿ’Š๐Ÿ’‰DMT's out there, & healthier too...๐Ÿ‘please keep me updated how it goes k. Luv ya!!xxxoo Jazzy๐ŸŒน๐Ÿ’œ

mbrooks20 profile image
mbrooks20โ€ข in reply toJazzihorsecat

I will

Sounds like she needed a reality check and you gave her one. How thoughtless to say something like that to you. Not much of a friend if you're asking me. I'm an RN and know lots of people with type 1 diabetes that are working and have full lives. Some have a worse case than others, but the couple of patients I've had that aren't working were young and not taking care of themselves. It's hard for young people to tell themselves no, but you have to if you're going to get by with DM1. I feel bad for her daughter and maybe she's eating right and doing what the doctor says, but that was a really shi++y thing to say to someone with MS. People have no idea.

IFwczs profile image
IFwczs

I can't believe you still consider her a friend! Your answer was good.

mbrooks20 profile image
mbrooks20โ€ข in reply toIFwczs

I have always tried to practice forgiveness.

IFwczs profile image
IFwczsโ€ข in reply tombrooks20

Some people don;t deserve it.

Beckylp54 profile image
Beckylp54

Hi mbrooks20

I am sorry you had to be treated so awful by your friend. Not a very good friend to say and be the judge of your disease. She obviously has NO IDEA the constant struggles and EVERYDAY of life symptoms pain emotional ups and downs people living with MS go through daily! Living with MS you DON'T get much of a break! Then add cancer or heart disease or diabetes on top of living with MS. I am PROUD of YOU for standing up for yourself! That's a hard thing to do especially if your mind doesn't work well like mine. Finding your words to the meaning you want to come out of your mouth. Especially when you're attacked like that from someone you thought was a friend.

My prayers are with you.

This is just another time we have to defend and deal with having an invisible disease such as MS!

Becky

MarkUpnorth profile image
MarkUpnorth

You're not wrong. Many already said it better than I could. Yes, I think so many of us would love to trade places. It is what it is. Everyone has their own burdens in life. Diabetes is a nasty disease too. It takes a lot to control it, but it can be. I had several relatives die from it. It can be ugly. But till the end, it is not as disabling. My father as an example, who didn't control it nearly well enough, just as my other relatives. The loved all the bad stuff knowing it was bad. But, even after many surguries, and more plastic than original equipment for veins in his legs, and a few missing toes...he was able to do a lot.

Disability kicks in when you Can't work anymore. It's not a prize granted when you simply get sick. I worked for decades with M.S., pushing myself probably more than I needed. Ever try to climb a ladder when you could barely walk because you legs were like aldante spaghetti? Use your arms to pull yourself up! Be driven to jobsite after jobsite because you could not. If you do it right, you do whatever you can to keep on going. I did till right up till the end, then went "comatose" for a few years after retiring. I'm still fighting...to get better. Your friend is just starting her journey. Get on with it.

mbrooks20 profile image
mbrooks20โ€ข in reply toMarkUpnorth

thank you I just finished the classes for diabetics so I would know what to do with her daughter because I wanted to make sure I knew all I could about type 1 diabetes.

mrsmike9 profile image
mrsmike9

She was no doubt speaking out in anger which riled you so you spoke back. I would think right now she is regretting that she spoke to you that way. It is a shame there is not much help for diabetics, especially that the insulin company has raised the rates for the medicine so much. I feel for her but she had no right to speak to you that way. I think you spelled it out just fine (I would have said worse so good for you).

hairbrain4 profile image
hairbrain4

I personally feel you had every right to stand up for yourself. MS has a mind of its own & flares up without notice no matter how careful we are. Diabetes is controllable as long as the patient is careful with what they eat & take their insulin as needed. It's not generally a disabling disease unless they don't take care of themselves & lose their sight or their legs.

falalalala profile image
falalalala

I don't think you are wrong at all for giving her an education.She might be mad or embarrassed but you did her a favor.Don't be too hard on yourself.

For what it's worth,I have both of those diseases and if I had to pick one over the other to have,I'd take type 1 diabetes over MS any day.

rjoneslaw profile image
rjoneslaw

U did the RIGHT thing

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