It means living with a condition or disability that has an impact on you every day but on the outside, you look fine.But when they use facilities like disabled parking spaces, disabled spaces or priority seats, they face judgement because people don’t believe they are ill.Each week we speak to a different person about their experiences.
‘If I go to a football match, I take medical letters with me in case I face difficulties with the stewards when wanting to use the lift. ‘I couldn’t sleep. I would have night sweats. I had lost 5kg in weight without noticing. I made several trips to the GPs, I had several blood tests, x-rays, ultrasound, ECGs but they couldn’t get to the cause.’
He says: ‘I was told I had either Crohn’s disease or cancer. The next five days were agonising. I was hoping for the best in Crohn’s yet expecting the worst in cancer.’ ‘I was devastated, I was shattered and I questioned the point of even having any treatment as I signed the consent forms for chemotherapy.’He adds: ‘It was happy birthday, happy Christmas, happy new year, with not much to be happy about. I questioned whether I’d see another year.
‘From waking up each morning and getting ready for work, now I wasn’t sure if I would wake up each morning. It was primarily home and hospital.’Four years on, Mo has had lots of different types of treatment, including chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, including removing his colon and giving him an ileostomy bag.
I have alot of the same stigma affecting me as i can look as normal as most with my illnesses all being hidden from the baked eye, doesnt help when u put a front up and hide alot aswel...
Best of luck to this guy