AITAH for making fun of my father for his back pain after he ignored my meningitis?

r/

So I (23F) have been having meningitis for a couple of days now. Woke up with a high fever and unable to move my neck, I knew right away what it was, and went to the doctor out of fear it might be bacterial. It’s actually viral so it’ll go away on its own in a couple of weeks, but there’s no treatment and the symptoms are driving me crazy, specially the neck pain. Pain meds won’t work and I can’t stand up longer than a couple of minutes without feeling that my head will fall. It’s like having a real bad stiff neck, and my head is fixated in one position because the pain of moving it is unbearable.

My father (51M) has this habit of making fun of other people whenever they are hurt or something. He’s always complaining about his back pain (he’s had two surgeries for herniated discs) but he seems to believe he’s the only one who can experience pain. Everyone else? He makes fun of. I seem to have been created without any desire because my health is pretty messed up. Anytime I complain about the slightest pain, he’ll make fun of me, or tell me I’m just exaggerating and need to grow a pair.

So today, with my meningitis making my neck feel like it’s on fire, he asked me to go to the store because his back is hurting. I told him, in the nicest way possible, that I couldn’t go either because I can’t even stand up for long, let alone go on the street. He was pretty offended and started going on me about not wanting to do it, saying that I should just tell him I don’t want to instead of making up excuses, and that I’m being a whiny little bitch and that I probably didn’t have so much pain.

So I lost it and told him that many people had worse back problems than him and weren’t complaining and crying like a baby and they were even working, which he hasn’t for like 10 years because of his surgeries. I mocked him saying “my back hurts so much I can’t walk” in like a mocking tone of voice. He got more offended and I told him that’s how it feels when he makes fun of me. It’s the first time I’ve done it but I’m so tired of him making fun of me when most of my health problems are his fault anyway and he never took me to the doctor as a child (we live in a free healthcare country btw so money wasn’t the problem), so it just got worse over time, and I had it all diagnosed when I turned 18, when I could’ve spent my childhood working on all my health problems. I also have real bad back pain because of scoliosis but he makes fun of it??? Idk.

Was I really so much in the wrong? I know it was childish from me but I just couldn’t stand it anymore. If it’s important, I work and I contribute with money for the household. I’m just living with him because of some things that happened, but I don’t really need to, and I had been living on my own since 18. So that’s not even a point here.

Comments

  1. Max_Danger_Power Avatar

    ESH, and if you have meningitis, you better stay up on the care. That can kill you.

  2. Head-Mango-250 Avatar

    NTA. Meningitis is serious and can be life-threatening. Your dad’s a massive hypocrite who neglected your health as a child.

  3. Empress-Palpetine Avatar

    You are not the AH, probably not best idea to do the same thing this is yours pent-up frustration and it’s surprising you didn’t blow up even more. You need to set boundaries and if he doesn’t respect them then you need to detach.

  4. avid-learner-bot Avatar

    Damn right NTA… your dad sounds like a real prick. I mean, the guy’s got back issues and he still has the nerve to diss you when you’re dealing with meningitis? That’s cold-blooded. And don’t even get me started on his history of neglecting your health as a kid, that’s some messed up shit right there. You finally call him out for being an asshole and what happens? He gets all butt-hurt and offended… typical. Listen, OP, you do you and don’t let people like that bring you down. Life’s too short to put up with disrespect from family members, ya know?

  5. maskedcloak Avatar

    Absolutely NTA

  6. lovescarats Avatar

    NTA, dad is a narcissist.

  7. Capital-9 Avatar

    I think you can forgive yourself. You were feverish and in pain. The best people can react poorly when feeling bad.

    Sorry about dad. Back pain can be so pervasive, but why doesn’t he keep up on his meds? He should NEVER run out! I always get mine 5-7 days ahead of when I’ll be running out. Show him how to calendar it with an alarm to remind him to get a refill. Pathetic.

  8. Ginger630 Avatar

    NTA! Your father is an AH. I hope you can move out after you recovered.

  9. whatalife89 Avatar

    Toxic relationship for sure.