Raise your hand if you’ve called out sick from work or stayed home from school for something as simple as the common cold? Well, I’m just going to assume most of you reading this actually raised your hands.
The common cold—it’s no big deal, right? It sucks, sure. But after two weeks of various stages of coughing, sneezing all over people, thousands of tissues, and gulping down medicines that don’t seem to work, you’re as good as new! Simple as that.
Or is it?
Maybe for “healthy” people, it’s as “simple as that.” But for people with Common Variable Immunodeficiency Disease (CVID), it’s FAR from simple. In fact, the common cold for people with CVID could turn lethal. CVID makes people who suffer from it more vulnerable to getting infections from certain forms of bacteria and viruses. All humans are at risk for getting bacterial and viral infections, but CVID increases that risk ten-fold.
For that reason, going to places where there are large groups of people is OUT OF THE QUESTION. Shopping? Nope. Amusement parks? Forget it. School? Not so much. It’s hard to empathize when you’re not walking in their shoes, but these realities can be devastating for people with CVID—people like Victoria, a young girl who posted a video on Youtube detailing CVID and what it means for her life.
Life isn’t so simple for Victoria, and the lack of understanding surrounding her disease only makes it more difficult. At school, she’s made fun of. She experiences incredible fatigue nearly 24/7, along with a host of other symptoms, not to mention side effects from her treatments—treatments she’ll have to undergo for the rest of her life. Sadly, there is NO CURE for CVID.
I encourage those who know nothing about CVID to educate yourselves about it. As Victoria bravely mentions, she’s not contagious. YOU ARE!
It’s time we stop looking at people with rare diseases as “different” or “untouchable,” and begin spreading awareness about what we can do help make this world a better place.
