Watching “Glee” is a fun family activity at our house, and last night there was a special episode after the Super Bowl. During the program, one of the main characters, Sue Sylvester, was talking to a student and said with a mocking tone, “I am sorry your mother can’t work because she has fibromyalgia.” Actually it sounded more like she said “fibermyalgia,” but my teenaged daughter (who also has the syndrome) and I almost fell off the sofa. Fibromyalgia had be mentioned on national TV in a prime time program, not in a Lyrica commercial? I am thrilled with the exposure.
Too bad she said it in a disparaging way (but that is her character). It is also her character to lump all of us into the “can’t work” category. True, some of us are too disabled to work, but some of us choose not to work or have been able to return to work because we are getting better. Some of us have never stopped working.
America, don’t be a “Sue.” Don’t lump us all into one group. Our symptoms are as diverse as those of any other illness.
Until the medical community and doctors listen to what we keep trying to tell them about the syndrome, we are doomed to be misunderstood.
We need to keep educating our doctors and anyone else who cares about our illness, our symptoms, and what we need to get better. One “Sue” at a time.