Fakers have made me cynical

I work as a hospital-based midwife.

At the moment we have a pregnant lady under our care who genuinely has EDS. Her symptoms are mainly gastrointestinal-related.

It was an unplanned pregnancy; she has a jejunostomy; has faecal incontinence; lots of GI symptoms. A decade of steroids has caused Cushings Syndrome. She has a stack of other symptoms, and being in her 40s, it was a miracle that she got pregnant, but here she is.

I think what the munchies don’t realise is how much harm they’re doing to people who are genuinely unwell. This lady is so kind and lovely, yet the cynical side of my brain is trying to persuade me she’s faking.

But she doesn’t have an emotional support animal, a glittery walking stick or a TikTok describing her experience.

I’d love to read some input from any other healthcare workers or even from sufferers themselves whose symptoms may be ignored thanks to “sufferers”.