Human Interest
 

A 10 year-old African-American female was seen in the CPS clinic recently, presenting with skin lesions consistent with neurofibromatosis (Elephant Man’s Disease).  A history revealed she had been seen in our clinic four years ago, at age 6, for the same provisional diagnosis of this disease.  She had been referred to M.D. Anderson hospital for further treatment. Somewhere between that time and now, the child was returned home to her biologic family, where it seemed, she had received no medical follow-up or treatment for the neurofibromatosis (skin lesions).

 On her visit with us, a careful medical assessment was made of her present condition and she was again referred to MD Anderson Neurofibromatosis clinic, for further treatment. M.D. Anderson was experiencing a slight overload in their neurofibromatosis clinic and it took several persistent phone calls to get her the appointments she needed.  But Anderson found her past referrals and stated she had had one visit in the clinic but had not returned for any of the other appointments and they were happy she had returned.

 Neurofibromatosis is a serious disease that affects 1 out of every 3,000 people in the US .  This little girl’s future looks brighter, thanks to the efforts of our doctors and staff at the CPS clinic