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.