Transcript REACTION PAPER ON SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS

REACTION PAPER ON SYSTEMIC
LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS
GROUP 4 – MARCELO, PAMELA TO
MENDOZA, GRACIELLE MAY
FACILITATOR – DR. REMEDIOS CORONEL
REACTION PAPER ON SLE
• Last Saturday, September 5, 2009, we had a
workshop on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.
Five patients shared their experiences with
the disease in front medical students. They
were from different age groups, backgrounds,
education and socio-economic status. Each of
them enlightened us on how SLE affected
their social, psychological, physical, financial
areas of life and even future career plans.
REACTION PAPER ON SLE
• Their personal stories while enduring the disease made us
realize that we are so much blessed and that we should be
grateful to God for those blessings. One of them was Robelle,
wherein we realized that we should stop complaining that we
have many exams and that were stressed with med school
because we are fortunate that we are able to go to school not
being hindered by any physical disease or ailment. Another
patient named Sylvia who’s been suffering from SLE for 19
years taught us the virtue of acceptance and a positive
disposition in life. Ana., who had a brain abscess taught us
that even if you’re an SLE patient, you can still be productive.
Lastly, the twin sisters Mercy and Grace are those SLE patients
whom we think of the most because they are still minors.
What will happen to them if something happens to their
mother? Who will take care of them?
REACTION PAPER ON SLE
•
Systemic lupus erythemathosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that is still being
researched on by medical experts to have better understanding of the diseases
and to improve its management. The workshop was also a good avenue for
medical students to learn because we’re seeing and hearing first-hand account
from actual patients. We were amazed as to how SLE was able affect the different
systems of the body and cause a wide gamut of ailments from cataracts to life
threatening infections such as brain abscess and lupus nephritis. Although I have
some idea about this disease that mainly affects the female population, hearing
the accounts of five actual patients including the 16 year-old twin sisters
broadened our limited knowledge about SLE. As complicated as the disease may
sound, it can also complicate the person’s situation especially when it becomes
symptomatic. It can delay or put your dreams on hold temporarily or permanently
just like the medical student patient or even the twin sisters at their young age.
Instead of going out in the sun to play, or go shopping or just mingle with friends,
many has to apply topical medications or maybe even stay home because of the
limitations that SLE sets in their social lives. Obviously, the monetary impact can be
unbearable especially if the resources are scanty.
REACTION PAPER ON SLE
• The conference only took more than an hour but the
enlightenment and the challenges that it left on the
medical students is vital and, we believe, will linger.
We have learned that understanding the disease is not
contained in the pages of book references and class
lectures. The patients can uncover the secrets of the
disease, its clinical manifestations, case-to-case
approach on managing it and many more. Hence, the
need for more public awareness about SLE should not
only be encouraged but instituted and persistently
propagated by public and private health organizations.