Chronic Pain | College | Invisible Illness | Mental Health
On Entering College In Pain And Leaving College With Chronic Illness
I earned more than just a degree from college.
My college experience ended several months ago amid the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic. The graduation took place in the living room of my empty college apartment in Wisconsin, many miles away from my family in New Jersey and my extended family all over the country. It was a somber and rather uneventful ending to four years of rigorous classes, many hard days of pain, and various unforgettable experiences. I’d like to reflect with you, reader, on a couple of things I learned along the way.
Ignorance is bliss (sort of): entering college without a diagnosis
Most of my young adult life was spent in the dark. I was blind to the fact that the pain I experienced in my body was abnormal, something that might seem completely unexplainable to most people.
As a kid, I complained of many things hurting, but my parents didn’t think too much of it. I don’t blame them. Kids are known to make up symptoms in order to escape class.
