A 19-year-old is addressing invisible illnesses by sharing her own experience of living with Crohn’s disease.
Recently Aimee shared her story on Facebook to encourage body positivity for people also suffering from Crohn’s disease.
The Crohn’s Disease Specialist Beverly Hills describes Crohn’s disease as a form of inflammatory bowel disease.
Symptoms such as skin lesions, digestive pain, and rectal bleeding to name a few, often are precursors for Crohn’s disease. This disease is considered an “invisible illness” because the symptoms are rarely visually noticeable.
Aimee Rouski went through an ileostomy at the age of 15 and since then has had an ileostomy bag attached to the outside of her abdomen which collects waste. Also, Aimee had her large intestine and both of her leg muscles removed due to Crohn’s disease.
Throughout her post she is standing up for not only herself but others like her who suffer from “invisible illnesses”.
Sh
e reached out to her social media community because Aimee wanted others like her to know they are not alone.
In the conclusion of her post Aimee wrote,
“I’ve always been okay with the stuff that has happened to me, but some people have real difficulties accepting these things so I just want to say this. No one will know unless you tell them. People who know will still love you and still find you beautiful. Your illness is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about.”
Aimee’s moving Facebook post has garnered over 4,000 shares and 12,000 likes. Many people on the social media site voiced their support for Aimee and others like her. By sharing her experience, she has brought to light the many issues that are associated with “invisible illnesses” and has improved thousands of people’s knowledge on the subject.