22

As I cut the cake and made my wish, it occurred to me that what I wished for is something that most people wouldn’t even think of. It’s the same pang that hits me when I remember that not everyone knows what being in hospital is like, or that most people don’t have to push through exhaustion and pain in order to socialise. Even on the most joyful days, chronic pain still exists. It doesn’t detract from the happiness, but it does take up space. 22 marks the age that doctors promised me I would ‘grow out of it’ or that my symptoms would ‘settle down’. It is more than a birthday.