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| My beautiful flawless sis! |
I know of a positive benefit of research. Research has affected my family
in a positive way. Research has helped my family to figure out a chronic skin
disorder my younger sister has. When my sister was a child, she had the
clearest most beautiful skin out of me and my older sister. We were secretly
jealous of her flawless skin. However, when my sister started high school, her
skin was not so flawless. Her hair began to fall out, she became itchy all
over, and she started to get bumps and blotches over her skin from head to toe.
My sister and family were devastated; we had never seen this happen before. We
took her to so many doctors and no one could tell us what the cause was. So my
sister began to do her own research by studying her symptoms. My older sister (a
pharmacist) did her own research as well to see if any medications she was
taking could have caused this skin disorder. One doctor performed an allergy
test which yielded no results. We conducted our own research and had her
eliminate certain foods and drinks from her diet which helped a little. After
talking to different doctors, reading different books and typing her conditions
into Google my sister figured out that she had Psoriasis and Eczema. She was
able to get in contact with a very good dermatologist who confirmed her
conditions. Her doctor was very amazed that no one else knew that it was Psoriasis
and was proud of the research she has done. My family was very relieved once
this was found out and my sister was able to start receiving treatments. My
sister continues to research her condition and continues to discover something
new about Psoriasis. If we all gave up we would never know what condition she
had and she would not have the ability to start treatment on time. Her skin is
not as flawless as it used to be but with much care she is getting there and
she is still beautiful to me!
It is indeed a life changing and touching post. Your post has shown that research does not have to be high scaled and complicated. It also shows that we conduct research everyday.
ReplyDeleteDear Dorcas,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry your sister had to go through this experience. I do feel and relate to her experience at some level because I do believe in trusting our instincts and also that we are our own best advocates. There is something to say about being emotionally involved in a situation that makes us fight harder. I have had, on many occasions, to be my children's advocates in doctor's offices and insist on more tests or different diagnosis because my instincts were telling me something was wrong. Doctors might not have been able to relate to your sister's feelings and to them your sister was only just another patient. When it happens to you personally, the stakes are higher and your drive is stronger. Which to me means that researchers that are driven by personal situations can be either very efficient or take bigger risks in order to find what they want.