Tags

,

Day 9 of Bloganuary has arrived with the following topic:

What do people incorrectly assume about you?

People who do not know me very well assume quite a few things I think, and these (apart from number 2) are due to the after-effects of having (and eventually recovered from) Stage 4 advanced thyroid cancer. Here’s a list and the explanation:

  1. In the street they assume they must have offended me because I haven’t said hello (I can’t see faces until I’m up close, but then don’t want to stare).
  2. They assume I’m standoffish and aloof (I’m still almost as shy as I was when I was a teenager).
  3. They assume I like to hide behind sunglasses (I have AMD and cannot open my eyes outside without them).
  4. They assume I’m crying (my right eye waters permanently due to radiotherapy, but hopefully later this year there is an operation I can have to rectify this).
  5. They assume I might be predisposed to diabetes (In fact I have no working salivary glands due to radiotherapy and so must take a sip of water every 10 minutes or so).
  6. They assume I have a sore throat (I only have one working vocal cord, and for the umpteenth time…NO, I do not – I just have a permanently croaky voice).
  7. Some who haven’t seen me for a while still assume I must be dying (NO! I am alive, kicking, and have been cancer-free for 5 years).
  8. They assume I’m deaf if I use sign language to my husband across a crowded room (I’m definitely not, but try raising your voice if you have only one vocal cord).
  9. They assume I’m weird because I shy away from fragrances of any sort, and also animals (perfumes, after-shaves, air-fresheners, gloss paint, and any creature with fur for instance all have a tendency to make my neck swell – again due to after-effects of EBR -external beam radiotherapy).
  10. They assume I’m being over-dramatic when I tell them I cannot just go to a walk-in centre and have a Covid vaccine. (due to EBR my neck could react to anything my body is not used to and swell up alarmingly. I have to be monitored in a hospital for a few hours after vaccinations).
  11. Last but not least they assume I must be an invalid (I’m not. I live a full life just like anybody else, but I keep away from known triggers that might make me end up in A&E).