{"id":4689,"date":"2016-04-01T01:23:22","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T05:23:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dsavannah.com\/blog\/?p=4689"},"modified":"2016-04-01T20:35:07","modified_gmt":"2016-04-02T00:35:07","slug":"2016-a-is-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dsavannah.com\/blog\/index.php\/2016-a-is-for\/","title":{"rendered":"#dSavannahDefects – A is for…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A\" … awareness<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Hi. My name is dSavannah (pronounced dee-Suh-v\u00e1n-uh) and I have a host of invisible illnesses. In this here #AtoZChallenge2016, I am planning on writing about these illnesses (and others), as I told you in my theme reveal<\/a>. I am doing this to raise awareness<\/b><\/span> for mine and various other invisible ailments.<\/p>\n

Obviously, there are tons of illnesses that people know about: cancer, for instance, or high blood pressure. There are also a ton of illnesses that are relatively unknown, such as CVID<\/b><\/span> (Common Variable Immune Deficiency<\/a>, a disorder that impairs the immune system; people with CVID are highly susceptible to infection. That means they get sick all. the. time.), which is suffered by a dear friend of mine from college, or fibromyalgia<\/b><\/span> (a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, sleep, memory and mood issues), which I suffer from.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And there are the mental illnesses<\/b><\/span> that are still very much taboo to talk about in this country, much less have. People with severe mental illnesses are likely to die 28.5 years earlier than the rest of the population, according to study published in JAMA Psychiatry<\/em> and discussed this past November in a post by the National Institute for Mental Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Just because we look <\/em>fine doesn’t mean we are<\/em> fine. Just because a normal-looking mom has a disabled tag and rides a cart in stores instead of walking doesn’t mean she’s faking it. (She’s had an ankle transplant, actually, and her ankle causes her horrible pain every day of her life.)<\/p>\n

So that’s it for awareness.<\/b><\/span> I just want people to know that there are conditions and illnesses that you know nothing about. Be aware, and stop judging. Cuz being judged sucks.<\/p>\n