What Part of Incurable Don't They Get?

Living with multiple chronic diseases which includes psoriatic arthritis, has brought to light just how ignorant people can be. I am sorry if this sounds harsh, but seriously, some of things people have said in regards to my condition make my head spin. One frustrating conversation I had went like this:

Them: What is the cause of your pain?

Me: I have psoriatic arthritis.

Them: Can’t your doctor do something for you?

Me: There isn’t a cure. They may be able to slow the progression, but that isn’t guaranteed. Best case scenario is keeping me as comfortable as possible.

Them: There has to be a pill or something your doctor could give you to make you better.

REALLY!!???? What part of incurable did that person not hear???!!!! Not only that, but if there was a cure, don’t you think that I would be asking for it? Nobody wants to live in constant pain. Nobody wants to become a regular at their doctor’s office. If there was a cure, 7.5 million people in the United States alone would not be suffering from this debilitating disease.

It can be tiresome trying to explain my symptoms and how they affect my daily life to someone who has no understanding of my disease, but I will do it to help educate them. However, when they also insist that there is a way to heal my body I walk away.

I can attest to the fact that there are medications that can improve our lives. For me, that medication was medical marijuana. While the improvement has been greater than anything pharmaceutical medication I tried, it still isn’t a cure. But improvement is all we can expect; to have hope for a cure the cause of this condition must first be discovered.

If only there was a site like Psoriatic-Arthritis.com around back when I was first diagnosed. It would have made explaining my condition and the treatments available a lot easier.