A kind thought about physiology

I’ve long thought that there was something wrong with my immune system. Other people come down with a rotavirus or norovirus or whatever GI-system-disrupting virus, their body reacts dramatically for a day or two, then they bounce back, good as new. Sometimes that happens to me, but more often I end up with a milder version that lasts for ever so much longer. ( Cut for mild TMI )

So I’ve thought my immune system didn’t work right. It doesn’t muster up the energy to do whatever it’s got to do to shake things off properly; it diddle-dallies around with it, half-heartedly and endlessly, instead. But today J. said the kindest thing, and I think it makes sense. Maybe humans evolved so that people’s immune systems do it one way and others the other, because for communities, it wouldn’t work very well if everyone became catastrophically disabled, however temporary, all at once. If some people can stay more functional, even though they’re sick too, and sick for longer, then things can still get done.

It’s very nice to feel that maybe my physical flaws are just a variant of “normal.”