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redbandsocietyfans:

sickkidchronicles:

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It’s special because it brings attention to the fact that children and teenagers with chronic or life threatening diseases spend long periods of time in the hospital. It shows that just because they’re sick, doesn’t mean they don’t have their good days or moments where they can let loose and have fun. This show is absolutely progressive. There are endless possibilities to which the writers and directors could take the storyline. There will be a handful of LGBTQ characters, Nurse Kenji being one of them, and the kids are the minority. This show is highlighting diseases that are often unheard of (like Cystic Fibrosis) and raising awareness for them. It’s relatable to teens with health problems, family/friends of teens with health problems, teens who have family/friends with health problems, etc. But I also think it’s a great/relatable show for staff members at hospitals, people who want to learn more about these diseases or what the hospital life is like, or just anyone. Its got a great mix of humorous and emotional scenes. And for every unrealistic thing, there is equally something little that is realistic/done right.

Yeah how about we talk about the fact that there’s no sense in representing any kind of illness if you aren’t going to portray it in even a somewhat accurate way. Same with hospital life, that’s not how it is at all either. The show is doing more harm than good for people with CF, cancer, eating disorders, heart conditions, ect because you’re giving the false idea that this is easy. That we look and act fine. That the hospital is fun. That there is any sense of normalcy at all to being sick in the hospital. It’s not relatable to teens with illnesses because the characters aren’t going through what we go through at all other than being inside a building called a hospital. Nothing but misrepresentation being spread. As someone with CF, I would rather them take it off the air than give people this kind of picture of what I go through. It’s a damn injustice.

As someone who spends large sums of time in the hospital, and has numerous health problems, I disagree completely. I mean obviously…I run this blog. If people want 100% accuracy on a certain disease or hospital life, they can watch a documentary or read articles on Google. This is a TV show- it’s here for our entertainment. I don’t think the show does any harm. If you don’t like it and disagree with how they’re representing these diseases/hospital life, then don’t watch it. Oh, and your stay in a hospital is entirely how you make it. If you mope around then yeah, it’s going to be how you described it to be. But if you’re positive, even on the worst days, then it’s exactly like the show portrays it- fun, happy, etc. Maybe that’s why I’m one of the favorite patients at my hospital because even on days where my pain is off the scale and I’ve thrown up 15 times, I still crack jokes and put smiles on peoples faces.

I’m not typically one to argue but the way this show is being written worries me. I don’t know what you have that puts you in the hospital often or what you go through, but here’s my take on this whole thing. I have Cystic Fibrosis. I have a disease that isn’t government funded. 70,000 people worldwide have it. Every single person that has it suffers until they ultimately drown in their own mucus. It’s slow and painful. Most people have no clue what it is. People understand the word cancer. People understand to a degree what “heart condition” the general term means. The words “eating disorder” speak for themselves. Unless you’re educated on it, hearing the words Cystic Fibrosis on a tv show isn’t going to give you much of a picture. So when people see something in the media that shows CF they assume that I go through what that particular character goes through. We aren’t asking for exact medical accuracy. We’re asking for people to have a picture of this disease that brings real awareness. For Dash to have CF, yet he smokes pot, runs around constantly, and doesn’t cough until he fakes it to get out of something even though he lives in the hospital because he’s on the transplant list is damaging to my disease’s community. I have watched many friends who were all on the transplant list die from this disease at young ages. It didn’t matter how positive they were in the hospital. Days were spent being so weak they couldn’t walk. Having such poor lung function that they have to be on a ventilator. Being on high doses of morphine because the pain is so unbearable. Literally starving for air and constantly struggling. It was miserable to watch them suffer. You cannot make dying fun or positive or beautiful. With CF because we get such little time in the media it is our duty to make sure justice is done for us and all that have fallen from this disease. To make sure people know that we’re a worthy cause and that we’re actually dying from this because guess what, if people don’t donate to our foundations no research is done to find cures for us or even medications to make life easier. I want people to be moved enough by our stories and struggle and triumphs to help us. And the way they’re showing Dash to the masses that likely don’t know what CF is, that’s not being done. I also want CF patients to have something real to relate to and invest in. I want all of these things for all of the other diseases shown on Red Band Society too, but this is my personal connection. 

I know what CF is, and I’m sorry you have it. None of the diseases I have are very well known either and receive $0 from the government, too. There has only been one episode so far. Yeah, Dash smoked and fake coughed, but they mentioned his Postural Drainage Therapy and showed his Volumetric Incentive Spirometer. Like I said, this isn’t supposed to be like the Mayo Clinic has a TV show. It’s supposed to be entertaining. At least they were medically correct in some of the things they mentioned and are TRYING to raise awareness. If one of the characters had any of my diseases, I would be grateful for their awareness efforts, whether they would be 100% accurate or not, but that’s just me. There are still many episodes to come, so don’t completely rule out the fact that some people could be educated on CF, just from watching this show. There’s nothing more I can do, if you really have a problem with the show, contact the writers/directors/producers and tell them. I’m just a fan and have no say in how they portray CF. Oh and the show donated $20,000 to CF last month :) I hope you have a good rest of the night.