Teen diagnoses her own disease: Being Empowered! June 11, 2009

Elizabeth Cohen published a fantastic article on CNN’s Empowered Patient column about a teenager who diagnosed her own Crohn’s disease.

Her doctors, no matter how hard they tried, couldn’t figure out the cause of Jessica’s abdominal distress.

In her Advanced Placement high school science class, she was looking under the microscope at slides of her own intestinal tissue — slides her pathologist had said were completely normal — and spotted an area of inflamed tissue called a granuloma, a clear indication that she had Crohn’s disease.

Although Terry was relieved to finally get a diagnosis, it was also tough for her to hear that she has such a serious disease.

Being empowered is a more than positive attitude, no matter what the majority of doctors think about it. I’ve been creating and designing resources and packages for empowered patients for a long time now. It’s hard to find them, but it’s really worth it. They can become equal partners in the treatment. And that’s what is important.