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Eighteen year-old Jessica Terry had been suffering from stomach and digestive problems for almost half of her life, despite the fact that none of her physicians could diagnose her ongoing issue. And you know what they say, right? If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. So Jessica did. After looking at her own intestinal tissues on pathology slides in a high school AP science class — slides her pathologist had said were completely normal — she found what was called a granuloma, a clear indicator of Crohn’s disease.
Crohn’s disease is an affliction of the digestive tract and is also a type of inflammatory bowel disease. The main symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, appetite suppression and weight loss, amongst many more symptoms. In extreme cases that go untreated, the patient can sometimes end up with a colostomy bag, which is, for lack of a better term, an external “poop bag.”
Despite learning of the potentially tough news, this bump in the road didn’t get Jessica Terry down. To the contrary, it inspired her to write a book on Crohn’s Disease in order to educate children on the condition. Jessica hopes to see it published in the near future. She graduated this Spring from Eastside Catholic School in Washington state and plans on attending nursing school this Fall. I wonder if this girl’s future plans could entail medical school, possibly. She’s the type of person that should be a doctor, unlike some of the halfwits out there that slap a diagnosis on you and write a ’script simply for the insurance payment.
It’s completely appalling that a child’s complaints could go overlooked for eight years and chalked up to simple chronic stomach pain. There’s nothing simple about chronic stomach pain. Hell, there’s nothing simple about chronic anything. There are entirely too many Dr. Cretins floating around in the medical world and far too many of them shouldn’t be licensed to drive, let alone licensed to practice medicine.
However, let us be inspired by this forthcoming generation that Jessica Terry belongs to and may her diligence in finding the right answers be an encouragement to us all.
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I totally agree that sometimes doctors don’t have a clue. I went from having perfect health to having to get a couple organs removed, ovarian cysts removed, and a tumor removed. Their answer to why this all suddenly happened in the period of a couple months? Oh wait, they don’t have one…
You pretend to want answers but you’re really just after attention.
Good for her – I’ve had Crohns for nine years (along with some other lovely things like arthritis that are normally part of the package), and one of the most difficult things is finding doctors that actually know what to do with it.
Crohn’s disease is notoriously difficult to diagnose, mainly due to the fact that most people will have different symptoms from one another, and it can appear anywhere along the digestive tract (making it harder to pinpoint). Added to the fact that it’s incurable, Crohns is a tricky bastard.
It really is shameful the way it goes untreated in children – hell, I had to collapse and spend three months in hospital before the doctors thought that maybe losing 3 stone in two months wasn’t normal for a ten year old.
On the plus side, I’m going on some hardcore drugs in a weeks time (injections, yeah baby) so hopefully they’ll put me in remission. You know it’s good when it’s delivered in an enormous box, surrounded with cold-packs and with massing “CHEMICAL HAZARD” signs on it ;)
/oversharing over.
I’m battling the same type of problem (stubborn abdominal pain with no apparent cause). Last year my pancreas just shut down out of nowehere, and I was in and out of the hospital for severe abdominal pain for most of 2008 and early this year. While Chron’s is a horrible disease, this girl is lucky – she has a support structure. I can’t tell you how humiliating, depressing, and anxiety inducing it is to have everyone tell you that you aren’t in pain, that you’re a drug seeker, etc. I feel so horribly for this girl, but she is a very smart, and brave girl for taking things into her own hands.
Did they accuse you of being “depressed” and hand you an anti-depressant? That’s typical doctor M.O. when they cannot diagnose a female patient, they question your sanity. grrrr
Of course. When I got sick last year, I was pressured to start an anti-depressant. It was horrible; all the anxiety and depression I had about being sick got so much worse. I’m a ‘black box’ girl – I have the oppsote desired effect.
I just went to the ER the other day because I’ve been waking up with excruciating abdominal pain that does really abate. I went to urgent care first, and the doctor there thought I needed the ER instead. I avoid the local ER because they won’t listen that my stomach is still hurting even after all the surgery I had to correct the problem.
*opposite and ‘really doesn’t abate’
I spent several years going from doctor to doctor when I was younger and no one had a clue as to what was wrong with me. Ten years later I found out I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have such a hatred of so many doctors from all of those who just gave up and didn’t even try to figure out what was wrong. I’m so sad for this girl but glad that she knew her body and her mind well enough to know that something was wrong and she had to figure it out.
Rheumatoid Arthritis crew, represent! XD
I know how you feel – it takes so long to find someone who actually takes you seriously. Just gotta keep making a nuisance of yourself until they get so fed up of ya that they run a load of tests to make you shut up. Then it’s all “you’re lucky we figured this out so quickly!”. Spare me.
(BTW – when I was younger I had a doctor named Dr Butts. He specialised in digestive problems. God-damn that made me laugh)
My first female doctor’s name was Dr. Cox. Oh how the giggles ensued when I was 12!
Oh I hate the RA tests!! I’m only 21 and the side effects from all the drugs they give you pretty much ensures that we will have no working organs by the time we’re old and crippled.
Its 100% true. I have taken people out of doctors offices to hospitals, and looking at their notes have, on some occasions, actually struck my head on the side of my ambulance in full view of the patient, pedestrians, and the cops. Some just make something up (which I have to believe, because if it’s their educated guess, they should be egged in the parking lot) in order to get the person out of their office.
Dr: She has appendicitis
Me: Ok. Ma’am where’s your pain?
Woman: My chest. It feels like when I had my last heart attack
Me:……
There’s case in Orange County where a man had chest pains and said he thought he was having a heart attack. The paramedic diagnosed it as something else and didn’t even ride along with the patient. The guy died in the ambulance.
Fellow medic. When I did my internship, my preceptor’s partner wouldn’t agree to give a diabetic, middle-aged woman with -crushing chest pain-, hyperglycemia, and nausea the standard MONA treatetment, because he didn’t feel it was a cardiac issue.
Me = so speechless,
Stories like this and mine make me wonder how some doctors obtained a PHD.
When I was young I would constantly wake up with burning throat pain, enough to keep me awake all night. I saw several doctors throughout the years. The diagnosis I would receive over and over again was “it’s the start of a cold, you’ll get over the soar throat in day or two” then shoo me out.
I finally saw this brilliant woman who diagnosed me with acid reflux after briefly telling her my symptoms.
Can’t believe it took me years to relieve me of the pain of such a simple, treatable, and well-known condition.
Thank you for letting me know what I really want. I appreciate it