Lena Dunham Has Yet Another Chronic Illness

Pokémon Sword and Shield are coming to the Nintendo Switch next week, and a massive leak yesterday just revealed which 400 Pokémon will be in the games. So I had the phrase “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” on my mind when I heard Lena Dunham had yet another chronic illness because let’s be honest, if it’s an illness with no external symptoms that causes you to be sort of lazy and unable to keep your plans with your friends but requires a lot of attention, Lena Dunham has thrown a pokeball at it. Same with STDs, I’d guess.

Dunham was caught walking with a cane by a paparazzo and decided to post the picture to her Instagram along with this a rather long-winded explanation.

I could choose to be embarrassed by these paparazzi pics- I mean, that’s probably the point of someone publishing them in the first place- but I’m really not. I could lie and say it was an early Halloween look (Don’t you get it? I’m going as a con woman leaving a Florida Keys jail after being acquitted of murdering her husband, and now she’s trying to get disability license plates.) But the truth is just: This is what life is like when I’m struggling most with chronic illness. An Ehler-Danlos syndrome flare means that I need support from more than just my friends… so thank you, sweet cane! For years, I resisted doing anything that would make my physical situation easier, insisting that a cane would “make things weird.” But it’s so much less weird to actually be able to participate than to stay in bed all day. And yes, you’d better believe I’m wearing my nightgown. I was walking four feet to the car to go to the doctor and I wanted to be full cozy. I mean, didn’t Bieber wear hotel slippers for like five years? Yeah, so I can wear my glamour nighty for two hours. And then an hour later, I’m in a meeting look tackling the job I love. That’s the two-fold life of a woman with chronic illness; we still rock our dreams and goals and passions (and fashions) and we live many lives in one day. Tell me about your day!

And then she posted a nude picture of herself.

I feel like if Lena Dunham wasn’t famous she’d be in jail for flashing people at the park.

Dunham got a neck tattoo that says “sick” earlier this year, and getting a neck tattoo is probably one of the better decisions she’s made in her life.