The Revolution... or Some Crap Like That

    For the last week, an online group I've been a part of for several years has been advertising that one of the site's creators was going to be on the new ABC show "The Revolution"  talking about what it's like to live with Lupus and other chronic pain and chronic illnesses.  I admit that when the first commercials for the show came out last year, I was intrigued by the concept--FINALLY a show that helps others by learning to love themselves and how even the smallest of changes can have a big impact without having to do the extreme dieting, wanting to look like and live like the genetic freaks that are supermodels or the constant dieting, under the knife Hollywood actresses society feels we should be like.  I was wrong.  Before the show was even half over, I turned it off.  Yep, it was another one of those shows.  I tuned in today to see the interview with Christine and Toni Braxton about Lupus and cringed while watching the short segment about living with chronic pain.  It seemed that fashion and how to achieve, through strenuous exercise and expensive hair cuts, could make us look like Hollywood stars took up most of the show.  The chronic pain part was nothing more than a 5 minute blurb about how 1 in 5 people suffer from it, take a few pills, how to talk to your doctor, exercise, etc., and we'd be just fine.  Not to mention expensive massage therapy and acupuncture treatments (which most insurance companies do NOT cover).  Then it was Christine's turn.  Again, it was pretty much toned down as if Lupus isn't anything at all.  No mention of the hundreds of other autoimmune disorders, no mention that while some people when given the right treatments, can live semi-normal lives, but for others, even taking care of normal every day tasks can be challenging.  There was nothing about how one gets diagnosed other than to say that most doctors have no idea how to ask the right questions, what tests to do, and the hell that comes along with getting a diagnosis.  There was also no real information about Lupus (or any other disease) itself, except to say that yes, it is a recognized autoimmune disease that can take years for a diagnosis.  It was an hour of my life I'll never get back. 
       Essentially, all it did was put another face to Lupus, but it also bolstered the ignorant way of thinking--that we don't look sick, yes most of us by now have a diagnosis, but look at them on TV--they seem to be doing just fine.  And the truth is for most of us, we're not.  Even with diagnoses, it's a daily struggle.  Revolution?  No.  Just another idiotic television program telling us how we should be living our lives, what we should look like, but nothing truly informative.  Where's the change in that?