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Teen Diagnoses Self in Science Class

by Leila Brillson on June 13, 2009 at 12:01 PM

Paging Dr. House. The stomach pain, vomiting, and fever that Sammamish, Washington teen Jessica Terry had endured for the past eight years stupefied doctors, forcing the high school senior to regularly miss class. Then, last January, Jessica borrowed one of her intestinal slides from her pathologist, took it to her A.P. Biomedical Problems class, and looked at it under a microscope. The problem, to her eyes, was clear.

According to Seattle's KOMO News, Jessica spotted in her intestinal tissue what she believed to be a granuloma -- a cell with a dark center that indicates Crohn's disease. After consulting with her teacher, fact-checking online, and then e-mailing the slide to another pathologist, Jessica had confirmation, a mere 24 hours later, that her intuition had been correct. She'd been afflicted those eight long years by Crohn's disease -- an autoimmune disorder that attacks digestive cells.

Even though Crohn's gets progressively more difficult to manage as the sufferer ages, Jessica is relieved to know what she has. She starts nursing school in the Fall, and has just finished penning a children's book on living with Crohn's. If she's half as intuitive a writer as she is a scientist, it'll be a best seller. [From: CNN.com, via KomoNews.com]

Tags: diagnosis, health, medical, science, teen, top

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