"There's nothing wrong with you. You look fine."

When I was younger, I was active and would rush to be around friends and family. We lived life like there were no worries. Then, I started hurting while I was out with them. Later I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

Living with an invisible illness

You would have thought I was contagious. My friends moved on, and my family freaked out. They didn't know what to say around me. I heard the line, "Oh, there's nothing wrong with you because you look fine." I even got the line, "You aren't disabled because you don't look disabled."

After awhile, most of my friends and family drifted away. My ex-partner told me one time that she was too young to take care of a disabled person. The friends still around me treat me like a normal person enjoying life as we go.

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