Why do people even family members think my sickle cell is a joke?

[Anonymous]

To anyone who have sickle cell has anyone made fun of your illness, think you faking your illness, my illness is just an excuse.. etc I’m just wondering

[petitedollbabee]

Sorry I have no idea what sickle cell is, but I’ve dealt with a lot of chronic illness in the past, and had a lot of family think I’m faking it or just be generally rude about it. I remember back in 2020, I was bedridden with illness and in hospital a lot, and my brother was very insensitive - telling me to “just go for a walk and you’ll feel better” or telling me I’m lazy for laying in bed all the time. One time just to prove my point, I got out of bed and tried to cook myself some dinner, I fainted after 10 minutes in the kitchen and my brother had to turn the stove off and carry me back to my bed. He sort of believed me after that.


I lost around 30-40kg with my illness and i had family accuse me of having an eating disorder for attention. I didn’t have an eating disorder, I was just severely sick..

[sage2021]

You'll have to ignore their ignorance about your sickle cell disease because if you listen to their opinion about it and it gets really bad, you will need to go to the hospital for medical care for it. Don't ignore your body when it's signaling to you that something's wrong with you.

You can always call 911 on yourself if you need to. That is if you live in America.

[sage2021]

Thank you for the MHO 🧁🌷

[LiamJHayden]

Because they're idiots? People with mild SCD live longer with strong family support.

[UnusualWeirdo]

Isn't that what family does tease and downplay what you do or have.