Well, we have finally made it to February, and it is National Heart Month!
No, not like Valentine’s day and candy hearts.
National Heart Month brings awareness to all people who struggle with heart disease.
When you think of heart disease, what do you think of?
For me personally, my mind immediately goes to some of my grandparents that have had heart surgeries and pacemakers.
Which is kind of ironic that I do not think of myself considering that I was diagnosed with a chronic illness having to do with my heart.
You may be thinking:
“Lindsay, you are way too young to have a heart disease!”
“But you look fine when I see you in public!”
This is specifically what I want to touch base on this month!
You cannot see heart diseases, they are an invisible illness.
Heart diseases do not just mess with your heart. They cause many other symptoms and can be caused by a number of things.
There are heart diseases most people think of like –
- High blood pressure
- Pericarditis
- Arrhythmia
- Congenital heart disease
- Heart palpitations
- Heart attack
There are illnesses that affect your heart that do not get much awareness like –
- POTS
- FND
- Dysautonomia
- NCS
All of these listed, and many more, are all invisible illnesses having to do with your heart. And even though some of them get more awareness than others, they are all represented during Heart Awareness Month.
Just because you cannot see the disease does not mean it is not real.
I was just recently diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), after struggling with my symptoms for over a year.
I had a headache that never went away, I was losing my hair, I was fainting, my heart rate went off the charts just from me standing up or raising my arms, I was always too hot or too cold, and worst of all, school took so much out of me that I never did anything once I was home. I was so tired, so sad, and feeling so sick, that I would just go home to my bed and cry.
My medicine did not help with this either. It made me so anxious that I was hyperventilating and sobbing uncontrollably.
My goal in writing this article is not to make you feel bad for me and everyone else who struggles with invisible illnesses. Honestly, my goal is to make you feel proud of everyone, myself included, who struggle with chronic illnesses.
It is a constant battle to do everyday activities, let alone go above and beyond in our schoolwork, extracurriculars, and social lives.
When I am having a bad flare up day, and people are telling me to just “calm down” or asking me “weren’t you just fine yesterday?” It makes me feel so upset because the majority of people who say these things have never come close to having to live a day like I do.
One of my favorite sayings is:
My invisible illness is more real than your imaginary, medical expertise
Now I know some people are trying to be helpful when they say certain things, but it still does not help the fact that most just do not believe us or do not care.
Sometimes I put myself in another person’s shoes. Someone who does not have a pulmonary issue, someone who has been healthy all of their life, is still doing the sport they love, and is not in constant pain every day.
When I do this, I can see where invisible illnesses can be very hard to believe mainly because of the variety of symptoms, causes, and most of all, the lack of treatment and cures.
Not everyone with a heart disease and/or invisible illness have the same exact symptoms, but it is incredibly common to have good days and bad days. So some days we can wake up completely fine and others we can barely get out of bed.
This does not mean we are “faking” “doing it to get out of things.” or worst of all, “doing it for attention.” Our bodies just react certain ways to different situations. We have no control of that, and making us feel bad about ourselves does not help! Trust me, we already feel bad enough as it is!
The reason that I am constantly feeling down in the dumps, is because I am constantly reminded that there is no cure for the disease I have.
Sure, there are treatments that can help alleviate the pain and help with my symptoms but my illness will never actually go away.
This is the reality for I would say for 99 percent of people with chronic illnesses.
We are given a diagnosis after weeks, months, even years of fighting with parents and doctors, and then when you finally get answers they kind of just let you go.
This is not because they are bad doctors, it is literally just because they cannot do anything for you.
That is why this month is so important!
Not all invisible illnesses deal with your heart, but if you are going to pay attention to any this month, really try to spread awareness about those who silently suffer due to heart diseases. There is so much more to them than what meets the eye!
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