18 Year-Old Outsmarts Doctors

There's the old stereotype that adults are smarter than kids. What do kids know, right? Adults have more experience. It turns out, however, that you need more than experience to get by in this world. You need passion and a meaning for what you do, and that's just what happened here.

18 year-old Jessica Terry saw various doctors over the years, complaining of odd symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pains, and inconsistent weight loss. Each doctor had a different diagnosis, citing everything from irritable bowel syndrome to colitis. Others said nothing was wrong at all.

Jessica stated, "There were just no answers anywhere... I was always sick."

Not only was she sick of this mysterious illness, but she was sick of the doctors' incorrect diagnoses. Finally fed up with their excuses, Jessica decided to take matters into her own hands. The perfect moment arose when a group of local pathologists paid a visit to her high school and lectured her class about analyzing slides. Inspired, Jessica decided to try it out and brought in slides of her own intestinal tissue to her Biomedical Problems class.

After carefully analyzing the slides, Jessica discovered a large, dark area showing inflammation on her intestinal tissue. This type of sign is called a granuloma, which is an indication of an intestinal disease.

To be sure of her discovery, Jessica called over her teacher, Mrs. Mary Margaret Welch, to have a look at the slides herself. Mrs. Welch then emailed the pathologist from the lecture asking about the granuloma sighting. Within 24 hours, the pathologist responded confirming the granuloma's presence on Jessica's intestinal tissue.

Dr. Corey Siegel of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center said, "Granulomas are oftentimes very hard to find and not always even present at all. I commend Jessica for her meticulous work."

Other doctors were, of course, shocked and impressed at her findings.

Jessica is now properly diagnosed with Crohn's disease. Though she will have a hard time fighting this illness, her future still looks bright as she plans to begin nursing school in the fall and publish a children's book about Crohn's disease to inform the younger generation about its dangers.

It just goes to show you, sometimes adults may not have all the answers, and it takes a teen or a kid to help them.