I am 15 years old and I have a list of conditions, but the one that most affects me is Klippel-Feil. Klippel-Feil is a bone disorder characterized by the fusion of two or more vertebrae in the neck. This condition limits me from doing most “young people” stuff, like sports, amusement park rides, carrying kids on my back and shoulders. These “normal” kid things put me at risk for breaking my neck more easily or getting seriously injured.
A lot of the time I try to pretend I have nothing wrong with me. I try to hide the medications that I have so people don’t see them, and I try to do the things I can’t do so I don’t seem different. In the end, I always have to pay in some way, whether it’s feeling the pain for weeks after, or having anxiety the whole time I’m doing it, thinking that something could go wrong.
I’m coming to a realization lately that I don’t have to hide my sickness, or overdo myself to not seem different. This is the body I believe God put me in for a reason, not to hide it or overdo it. I believe He put me in this body to take care of and learn from so I can help others who might struggle with the same things I do.
It’s OK to be sick, this is you. Just because you are sick doesn’t make you any different from someone else. We’re all people.
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I was diagnosed with hashimotos thyroiditis when I was 11. Then when now being 17 I have been diagnosed with klippel feil, and gelastic seizures, POTS, duane syndrome and juvenile arthritis
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