I think everyone has stories like this. Two come to mind; one when I was still recovering from surgery and halfway through radiation. I was in a mall, in a wheelchair, my leg and arm still bandaged from toe to hip and wrist to shoulder respectively, my "railroad track" scars allover my face and neck, with the added bonus of having lost half the hair on my head, including half of my moustache.
A little girl walking by said to her Mom "look, Mommy, a Monster!"
Mom was mortified, did not know what to say or do. I told the young lady I had had an operation, and I really wasn't a monster, she said "oh, O.K." and they walked away with her explaining to her Mom that I wasn't a monster, that I'd had an operation.
The second was this January, in San Diego. We went on a tour of the Midway, and one of the docente's ( a retired Navy aviator) came up and asked where I'd served, and how I was wounded. ( I'm a Canadian, never did military service) When I explained my scars to him, he didn't apologize, or say anything patronizing. He shook my hand and told me that by the looks of it, I'd fought a tougher battle than he had, and he'd flown combat missions in three wars.
Funny thing is; I didn't find either offensive. I did find it offensive when people would avoid looking at me during the worst of my treatment, pretending that I wasn't there. THAT bugged me, a lot
Wayne