This week, the news that Selena Gomez had been recovering from a kidney transplant due to complications with her chronic condition Lupus was released into the media world by Selena herself.
I have many friends with Lupus who gave a sigh of relief that somebody who was incredibly famous was talking about her Lupus. It gave my friends a mixture of feelings; hope, that you can still live to the fullest, follow your dreams, like being a performer. Then there was fear that Lupus could do something like this – is everyone so lucky to have a friend who could *just* give them a kidney?
There are many different forms of Lupus. It is autoimmune and this basically means your body’s immune system attacks itself. Selena suffers with Lupus Nephritis, which is caused by Systemic Lupus Erythematous (SLE), and is an inflammation of the kidney. Through surveys, it has been discovered that most people have barely heard of Lupus. It is deeply concerning that this is still the case…so surely any press raises awareness of the condition is good?
Behind this comes the reason why poor Selena had to make such a big revelation. Her fans were questioning why she hadn’t been promoting her new music that had been released in the early summer, at the same time she had been secretly having the kidney transplant. Although Selena shows great bravery in telling people, do people need to know everything about her life?
Also in the news, a new documentary called Gaga: Five Foot Two, where Lady Gaga speaks about her troubles with the chronic but invisible and little known about condition, Fibromyalgia. She has had to cancel her appearance in Rock in Rio due to chronic pain. Her idea for doing the documentary, is to shed some light on the suffering of those with Fibromyalgia. She put on twitter how she hoped that people could share and support one another.
Both these people have stood up as ambassadors for the retrospective conditions they suffer with. It’s a sign of bravery to share so much but on such a global level, where one is free for everyone to judge you, despite the fact that they are both still suffering.
In a small way, I think we can all help. Talking about our chronic health to other people, can surely only bring understanding. I have always tried to speak about the reality of my situation, yet sometimes, the other side of honestly talking about chronic health…people not believing one because ‘you don’t look ill’. These brilliant examples of Selena and Lady Gaga both do not look ill, yet are. One carries a war wound, which leaves people with no doubt and the other has a documentary that shows the rough of what she is going through.
Why does everyone need a picture of the war wound before they are satisfied that this person with no doubt is suffering? Is it because they look picture perfect, (you know make up can be applied like war paint and will hide a hell of a lot)?
However, some conditions do simply remain invisible and difficult to understand because there is no research done into them. Hopefully the more research, the less prejudice and the better lives can become for those sufferers. This is why those fighting for understanding in a harsh and critical world, like Selena Gomez and Lady Gaga, should be applauded for their bravery in bringing awareness to misunderstood conditions.