Teen diagnoses her own disease in science class – CNN.com.

This is the ultimate in being your own best advocate. When you can’t find answer, continue looking, even if you have to go it alone. I think it especially highlights the need for quality control measures in pathology and medicine. We are allowed to routinely get second opinions on major decisions, but what about when lab results yield little help?

My dog Sol was diagnosed with early stage renal insufficiency at age 2. Kidney failure, an old dog’s disease. The diagnosis happened after a year of failed behavioral modification efforts on my part, consultation with a very active and diverse online pet community, and persistence. After behavioral modification yielded no change, I consulted with very informed friends, and then went back to my doctor and said “Please humor me. I strongly believe this is medical.”

Without that advocacy, small inconsistancies and abnormalities in lab results are routinely discarded as insignficant. If we had not been specificially looking for a problem, those insignificant discrepancies would not have been red flagged. Because we were looking for something specific, those small, insignificant red flags led to more tests, which led to more insignificant red flags, which led to an ultrasound, and an astonishing discovery. Small kidneys. My dog had either been born with a congenital defect of the kidneys or been exposed to a toxin as a puppy (we adopted him when he was a year old; his previous life is a mystery except that he was obviously kicked and he has a mysterious, non-identifying tattoo on his abdomen).

Kudos to this extraordinary young lady. Coincidentally, this story also highlights the importance of science programs in schools. These children are the doctors, and pathologists!, of tomorrow.