–adjective
| 1. | constant; habitual; inveterate: a chronic liar. |
| 2. | continuing a long time or recurring frequently: a chronic state of civil war. |
| 3. | having long had a disease, habit, weakness, or the like: a chronic invalid. |
I was diagnosed at age eight with type 1 diabetes. This is not your grandmother's diabetes. Type one is an auto immune disease that destroys the insulin producing cells of the pancreas. It is also called juvenile diabetes because it usually affects otherwise healthy juveniles. It has no cure, it is chronic. It cannot be cured, only controlled with diet and exercise, and daily insulin injections.
Fast forward 18 years. I was a new mother. My baby was eight months old. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Another chronic auto immune disease.
So many people use the cliche, " you are more than your diseases". I am, but a lot of what I am is because of my diseases. I have spent a lot of my life masking the fact that I live and have lived almost every day of my life with a chronic illness. It is exhausting to do that and has caused me a lot of worry and pain. So today I say, "I am chronic ". There is absolutely nothing wrong with that no matter how uncomfortable it makes someone else feel.
