Recently, I had the misfortune of losing my wallet. Anyone would be upset and worried about losing something that contained your credit and ATM cards, driver’s license, school ID, cash, car keys, and apartment keys. But I had another concern: as soon as you open my wallet, you can see a medical information card that gives away all kinds of personal health information.

If I were ever in an accident or had another emergency, it’s a good thing that this information is so easily accessible. But in this case, I couldn’t help but wonder who was going to read it. There’s no way whoever found my wallet wouldn’t see it. I had managed to keep my illness a complete secret from everyone but my close friends and professors, because I didn’t want to be treated differently. Would this be the day that everyone found out?

As soon as I got back to my apartment, reached for my keys, and realized my wallet wasn’t in its usual place, I set out on a trek across campus to retrace everywhere I had been that morning. I went to campus security and told them my plight. Nothing had been turned in. I went back to the classrooms I’d been in earlier in case it had fallen out when I sat at my seat. No luck.

Finally, I went to the front desk of one of the buildings where I’d had class. Without a word, the secretary handed me my wallet with a little smile. Nothing was even missing. Some kind, honest human being had turned it in.

What you need to understand is that, a few weeks prior, this secretary had given me a really hard time about being late to order some course materials. The school was trying to make only one order, but whenever stragglers like me missed the deadline, they had to place another one which cost more money. In all fairness, I shouldn’t have waited until the last minute, but when it was all I could do to just get out of bed in the morning and fight through crippling depression and extreme sleepiness all day long, ordering textbooks wasn’t really a top priority.

“You should have done this five weeks ago,” she said angrily that day. “Oh, you don’t have a checkbook with you? Go to the bank right now and get some cash.”

I wanted to cry. Do you have any idea what I’m going through right now? I thought to myself. If only you realized that I truly am doing the best I can. I never wanted to cause anyone any trouble. I wasn’t just being lazy and inconsiderate by waiting this long.

But ever since I lost my wallet, this woman seems to be treating me a bit more gently. I’m sure that she looked in my wallet and read my card. Now she does know what I’m going through.

I’ve often wondered what would happen if I carried that card on the outside for everyone to read. What if we all were more open about what we’re up against? I have frequently longed to just come out and tell everyone, “Hey, I have this awful disease. It sucks. Please give me some extra love.” But I haven’t. Maybe it’s time to rethink that…

When you live with an illness with such a profound impact on your life, there’s always a struggle between telling people what you’re dealing with so that they can understand you better and not telling people so that you can maintain a sense of privacy and maybe even forget that there’s anything wrong with you on the good days. I still haven’t figured it out.

While I certainly wish I had never gotten PANS, the one good thing it has done is make me a more compassionate person. I’ve come to realize that everyone has a card—struggles, difficulties, and bad circumstances that, if we knew about them, would explain some of the seemingly annoying or inconveniencing things people do. You rarely get to read someone else’s card, but I’ve learned to try to give people some grace, because I have so often wished for others to do the same for me.