Where in the world is Carmen SanDiego?
Written by: Amanda Henderson, January 24, 2018
Do you remember watching this show in the 90's with baited breath, making it through another episode in a desperate attempt to locate the elusive Carmen SanDiego? In my day dreams, I believe I have an idea of what may have actually happened to her, and I find it more interesting than what she may have actually been up to. What if Carmen simply needed a lot of 'sick days'? Maybe all of those 'bad guys' giving us clues were doctors in different parts of the world trying to help Carmen find the right answers to her debilitating maladies. Different parts of the U.S. alone tend to provide different answers to different patients, keeping the chronically ill at a level of confusion, misunderstanding, and lack of treatment that tends to keep us just as evasive as Carmen SanDiego, herself.
I've found myself in an unfamiliar circumstance that I've had to learn about and study up on to maintain any sense of self on this uninvited quest. I also try to keep people within the loop of understanding so that I don't become as invisible as my illness. It's a delicate balance of providing excuses for those who are unsure of are afraid of what my life has become, and needing contact and closeness with the same people who might not be able to handle being around a chronically ill person who can't seem to recover. In joining support groups online, I find that many are in the same boat- their body requiring a ghastly amount of down time in order to have any semblance of normalcy at any given time (something that normal's often don't understand, and I don't blame them) - the antithesis of that, finding themselves alone so much of the time that they wonder who cares, understands, or believes what a struggle their life has become. Being ill without a cure leaves the patient hanging in a balance between sympathy for sickness and the inherent need to stay away from the seemingly cursed for fear of a) catching it or b) that person noticeably withering away and hurting others deeply. Psychology backs up all of these reactions to the ill, and if medicine can't provide solid answers for a cure, this is the limbo that many end up in, indefinitely.
It's been said knowledge is power, and I believe it's the bridge to connect all of us. The more people become educated about chronic illness and the lifestyle that many are forced to endure, the more HOPE there is to be found in the world. Take a hint from Carmen SanDiego- she was created to bring knowledge to us about geography. If we continue the hunt and search for clues together, maybe we'll find her hanging out on a beach somewhere with better answers... and a pina colada.
