Aaron Francis, born and raised in New York City, was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis (MG) in 1999. He talks about the importance of allowing loved ones to help during overwhelming moments with MG.
Transcript
They love you, you know. Accept their love and accept their hate. They’re not pitying you. They’re not looking down on you.
I went down to the house one time. We were just chilling, and we were watching — we were watching “Mystery Science Theater 3000”. We watched that, and we would be cracking up on it for hours. Alan gave me a drink. He gave me some Hawaiian Punch, and it fell out of my hand. He saw that it bothered me.
He didn’t get upset. Alan had his local cover wood, you know — it stains the wood. He didn’t get upset at me.But he didn’t let me sink into self-pity. He said, “Don’t worry about it. It fell out your hand. It’s no big thing.” It bothered me, but he was cool. I knew it was bothering him, but he kept me cool. So if Alan’s gonna stay cool, I’m gonna stay cool. But it did bother me.
But I accepted the love, you know. They help us, like, “Don’t worry about it. You’re gonna get past this. You’re gonna get past this.” But you can’t give up, and you can’t give in to depression.
A lot of times — I’m not gonna lie to you — a lot of times, I just wanted to hide in the room and cry. It’s like, I can’t believe this happened to me.
I’ve never been locked up, I don’t do drugs, I don’t get into trouble, and this hits me. This came out of nowhere. I was working when I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. I had a job, everything was good, and this came out of nowhere. Alan and the rest of my brothers, they all praised me, like, “You’re so brave.” I tell them, I said, “It’s not being brave. I was mad, I was upset.”
I look at stars, I get sick, and they smile, and I’m like, “How did he deal with it?”
Christopher Reeve was my hero. You know, I love Superman. He’s one of my favorite characters. And when he got hurt, I’m like, Superman can’t walk? Come on, that doesn’t happen. The fact that Christopher Reeve smiled — he didn’t want to be pitied. And I’m like, If he can do it, the rest of us can, and I can do it.
So get up, and you deal with it. Let your family love you, let your family be there, let them help you. You’re not strong enough right now. Let them carry the weight for you. You know, you have to accept their love.
It’s not pity. It’s love.
