NF

Today in class we watched a dated Dateline show on the disease NF - neurofibromatosis. The interview was on a 70 something year old lady who has NF and talks to first year med students at Harvard and MIT (she's been doing it for 15 years since that show). So, the interview was mainly the talk she did that year at Harvard. It shows a large lecture hall fill up with first year med students and she (sorry I forgot her name) was introduced to the class. People at the back at first could not see clearly of her disease. Btw, look up NF on wikipedia for a photo and explanation. She passed around a photo of herself when she was just 20 years old (late 1930s). She was a pulchritude - just like a movie star today. She said that she was diagnosed as a child and in her high school years she met a boy and fell madly in love. The boy's mother however called on her mother to tell her not to accept his date requests. Unfortunately, he left for service and she went off to college. She said that she was engaged for a bit after college but eventually never wedded. The interviewer asked her a question (I can't remember exact words but something about the best thing about having NF). Her reply was that  a boy at the hospital where she worked once was playing by himself, and she approached him and said what are you doing? He replied,  "I'm watering my garden." Then he said, "What's that on your face?" She replied, "Well, something went wrong when I was made and this is how I look." He said, "I like your face." This definitely touched her heart because she countered it with a devastating example afterwards where two children were tormented just by looking at her and they ran and cried. Extremely hurtful as you can imagine it.

So why was (or is) Harvard and MIT showing this lady to the class? Simply because in the medical field or actually everyday life, we often come across people who has some sort of deformity or disease, or just look different. Most of us do not have to have direct contact with them but definitely medical people will. So, how will you react if you met this lady today with NF? How should you react? Definitely not by staring and pointing or looking away when she realizes you've been staring. We have to learn to as medical professions or just everyday citizens to be able to look people in the eye and not to display any dismay or frightened emotions. This is just something horrible someone is going through and we do not need to make it anymore obvious or imbroglio.

By the way, the lady strips to the waist at the end of the lecture for show and tell. One young man thought this was very unethical to do so in a large lecture hall but as the patient wishes to do so, the professors/doctors must abide.

Finally, I want to mention a similar but less dramatic experience. One day during my last college year, I went to lunch with my bf and some friends. It was one of those Asian food court places where you buy your lunch and sit in the cafeteria style seatings. We got our food and picked a table. There were many empty ones around us. About 10 minutes later, 3 people sat at the table next to us. Two of the guys were mentally disabled and the other one was probably their guardian for the day who went off to pick up utensils. Obviously, they were fidgety, loud, and a little messy. I noticed my friend eyeing my bf and other friend if we should move tables. At that point, I really felt anger towards my friend because he was suggesting that we should move tables because of the two mentally disabled guys. Somehow, he must have felt unsafe or unsanitary to eat next to them. Really? Are you going to move now that you've already started eating and they just sat down? How blatant do you need to be? That's what I really wanted to ask him right there. But I didn't... I just said, I'm fine where I am. To this day, that scene is clear in my mind. I don't want to sit here and point fingers or anything but most of us there that day were hoping to become a profession in the medical field. I sure hope my friend who will begin osteopathic school (to become a D.O) this fall will not react the same way in the future.