People are.....hmmm odd is probably the politest term

When people find out someone has an illness they usually react in similar ways. In my experience I've noticed  people can be shocked( of course,so was I) or sometimes dismissive.Or otherwise they know someone whos' cousins next door neighbours grandmas half sisters dad had MS .Now this is where it gets interesting, they either tell me some horror story based on misinformation,gossip and trying to sound clever or otherwise tell me I'm lucky it's not something worse and regale me with tales of someone else they know who also has MS and is a triathlete, climbs mountains and will be representing Australia at the London Olympics in Roman/Greco wrestling or synchronised swimming(is that REALLY a sport?)
I'm not exactly sure what they hope to achieve with any of these reactions or how I'm so to respond. The OMG so and so died from that!!! I had an interesting conversation with an in law of an in law ( makes sense to me!) He asked me why I used a walker so I told him I have MS and my legs are dodgy,sometimes my balance is off and the walker keeps me stable and means I can walk further and stay on my feet for longer.He says "oh okay my grandma had that she was in a wheelchair when she could get out of bed and had no bladder or bowel control" me.... "um,oh wow how tough for her" him "yeah she died" me... lost for words.... " I'm hoping that the treatment I'm on will help me stay as healthy as I can for a very long time" I then very quickly looked for an escape,found a friendly face and got away from him as fast as I could. I think that maybe these people are trying to be supportive? and don't think before they speak or otherwise they're just dumb.
The one's who tell me how fantastic someone else is doing leave me feeling not good enough,like if only I tried more or ate the "right"foods or had a different perspective I could achieve monumental physical feats too.
The ones who do the most damage though are the ones who just disappear from your life,without a word.Stop making contact,avoid contact,don't return calls when you make them,cut calls and visits short when they are made.I think that says more about them and their issues than it does about me,I need to remember that when I get down from missing people.
Hmm,yep,people are definately odd!!