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Transcript The video for this interview is also available. Andres' Interview Contents: Segment 1: How he first learned he had the disorder. Segment 2: Thoughts and concerns about having a family. Segment 3: Ways to get support. Segment 4: His hope for people with the disorder. Segment 1: I found out about my NF through my parents at a young age. I don't exactly remember when, but as early as I can remember, I was always going to see an NF specialist every year. When I was in Boston, that was Dr. Korf. And even when we moved around the world, we would always find somebody to take... to go see or we would come back to Boston every year. Segment 2: Right now, my bigger concern is I guess when I have a family and what I'm going to do. That, I think, bothers me more than my personal future. That's probably due to the fact that because I've been quite lucky and haven't had any problems, I think I don't expect any problems, but you never know. I guess I wouldn't approach informing my partner about it until it was fairly serious, but even then, I'm hoping they have a cure by the time that I'm ready to have children, but I don't know. It's on the back of my mind, but it's always there. I just got to live with it and deal with it when it comes up. Segment 3: I think that people should get as much information as they can. That's the way that they should educate themselves of what could possibly go wrong, the worst scenario, but they should also talk to somebody who doesn't have anything to at least feel like there's a chance because there is a chance. I'm not exactly sure what the percentage is, but there is a chance that they can have a normal life. I don't think, for me personally, I haven't really sought out any information recently but I know that right now, because of the Internet, it's really not only a way to get information but also to link people. So I'm aware that there's pen pal services and there's families that are willing to help and to talk to other families, and I think that can be a very comforting thing. Segment 4: I think what I would want people to know is that it's out there. I guess a lot of people don't know a lot about it. People, I guess, wouldn't know that I had it if I just walk down the street but it's still out there and people should know about it. Especially that way they can get more funding and hopefully they can find the cure.
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