Remembering Our Humanity A DOCTOR'S OWN PV DIAGNOSIS PROVIDES PERSPECTIVE DURING THE COVID OUTBREAK IN NEW YORK Mert Erogul, MD
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ike many patients with pemphigus, my journey of experiencing symptoms, being diagnosed, and receiving treatment was one of anxiety and uncertainty. I remember sitting with my wife around the time of my initial symptoms. We were just starting our lives together, our first child had been born, and we had bought a house. I had a spot of skin on my chest that mulishly refused to heal. I put every manner of cream and ointment on it, I took vitamins and collagen supplements, and bought an aloe vera plant. Then another spot appeared on the side of my nose. It took me awhile to connect the dots and to realize they might be the same problem. And so, the disease did not come as a lightning bolt that changed my life overnight, but rather something insidious and unrelenting that slowly dawned on me, a gradual realization rather than a sudden revelation. Eventually I was covered with lesions and getting blood tests and biopsies.
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