Reply #55: As a person with a chronic illness that is not cancer,

[BluePatriot]

I can understand why she would make a comment like that. My disease doesn't have parades or marathons or ribbons or talk shows. No one's given me a get well card. Mostly my disease just comes up in DU flamewars about weight. I've struggled with diagnosis for a year and a half.

I am actually getting a test that (hopefully) rules out thyroid cancer soon and the different way I am being treated by my peers after disclosing this to them is telling. When you tell the average person about cancer it's like a light goes off in their head and they support you and are nice and want to make things easy and good for you. But all my tests for thyroid and endocrine disease? Blank stares.

It's probably not that she thinks cancer is easy, but, she recognizes that cancer is more easily understood by others and that you get a great support network while tackling a disease like cancer. And support means a lot when you are sick all the time and frankly you can get jealous and bitter about the recognition and research other illnesses get as compared to yours. I have had dark thoughts like Ms. Romney and despite her husband being a creep I wish her good health.