"But you don't LOOK sick."

How many times have I heard this?  Oh let me count the days.  Days when my elbows, wrists, and hips hurt so bad I could hardly move.  Days when I had the little "floaties" in my vision that I just knew would be followed by a migraine.  Days when I had been accidentally glutened and had to return home until the side effects subsided.  And especially days when the fatigue was so bad, all I wanted to do was veg on the sofa under a blanket.  Yep, all of those days.  I have often wondered why people feel the need to point that out, but then, I realized that the average person does not have any knowledge of "invisible illnesses".  I used to get really offended when people would say this.  I would often come back with, "Do you say the same thing to a woman who is eight weeks pregnant?"  Because she doesn't look pregnant. 


One day I came to a realization.  It is not a perfectly healthy person's responsibility to do the research on Hashimoto's, or Lupus, or Multiple Sclerosis, or any other autoimmune condition.  It would be nice, but it's not required.  And it isn't mainstream media's responsibility to highlight our illness like they do breast cancer or prostate cancer.  Those are big deal diseases, and I get that (although I do daydream about how great it would be for the NFL to have Thyroid Awareness butterflies on their helmets in January).  What is required, however, is that we are our own advocates.  When people ask questions, answer them.  When people say things like, "You don't look sick," explain it to them.  When I was first diagnosed with Hashimoto's in 2010, I had never heard of it.  I was referred to an endocrinologist after my OB/GYN discovered a goiter in my neck during a routine annual exam.  And truthfully, I didn't know what a goiter was either.  At the end of the appointment, my endo told me the ultrasound showed some "suspicious areas," and that my blood results had confirmed Hashimoto's thyroiditis.  He then told me it really wasn't that big of a deal, and very common, and then gave me a three paragraph Wikipedia packet about Hashi's and a prescription for Synthroid (yikes!).  So for the first six months, I was under-medicated and uneducated.  But slowly, I started to research what was going on in my own body.  What is it?  How did I get it?  What do I need to be doing to feel normal again?  And I'm still answering those questions. 
So the next time someone tells you that you don't look sick...take it as an opportunity to teach them what you're going through, because you won't get the chance otherwise. 

Healthy.  Happy.  Hashi's.