Why are we called Zebras?
- Pam Mills
- Jan 29, 2015
- 1 min read
Many people asked me why do I call myselft a Zebra? The answer is simple.
In medical school doctors are taught the phrase, "When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras". In other words, doctors are taught to look for the ordinary, the common, such as the cold or flu. They are taught not to think about rare diseases often because, well, they are rare. Afterall, who would want thier doctor to just jump to some rare possible life threatening disease and later find out it was just an ordinary cold? No one. So thinking horses is a good thing for doctors to do in most cases, but once in a while a zebra will come along, like me.
My rare disease is Common Variable Immune Deficiency, also know as CVID or gammagobulinanemia. I was diagnosed with this disease in 2010 after a severe case of pneumonia. CVID is not common when it comes to everyday diseases. CVID is the most common of its class of Primary Immune Deficiency Diseases. One of this disease's signature traits is that the symptoms vary from patient to patient. The key to this disease is the lack of sufficient IgG or gammagobulin. There are other medical factor that a doctor needs to take into consideration when thinking about diagnosing a patient with CVID. But, I am not a doctor, just a patient. And this page is for me to share with the world what it means to live life as a zebra.
For more information on CVID and Primary Immune Deficiency Diseases please visit the Immune Deficiency Foundation at www.primaryimmune.org.
