To Tell or Not to Tell

We were having dinner the other night and the conversation was on my lupus condition.  I mentioned that I would want to keep my condition known only to my immediate family members and a close friend.  I would not want to let my colleagues and others know about it, although many well-meaning people were asking what happened to me.  My child asked why?  I told her I want to live normally as far as possible and would not want people to look at me differently.  In the US, apparently lupus was listed as a " disability" which qualified people with this condition with some state benefits or rights.  I said there were still many people who have misconceptions about lupus thinking it was an infectious disease (perhaps due to it's name or perhaps because of the rashes/skin conditions that lupus tend to cause) or it was something related to AIDS since they both were related to immunity system.  She laughed! Guess she was laughing about the ignorance of these people!  But she promised she would not tell others about my illness.