The story of Cliff
IgG4-related disease has been around for centuries … but only in 2012 did anyone fit puzzle pieces together. It’s been called “A black crow flying through the dark night of medical history” It shows up in the over dozen places of the body: orbital pseudotumor of the eye; Mikulcz’s disease; Kuttner’s tumor; Hashimoto’s thyroiditis; Reidel’s thyroiditis; interstitial pneumonia, autoimmune pancreatitis,..
I had the last one: a tumor diagonised as pancreatic cancer. In spring of 2011, they operated on me: a Whipple operation to remove much of my pancreas. To the amazement of the surgeon, the tumor he removed wasn’t malignant … but it was a mystery. It was sent to several labs and finally diagnosed as IgG4-related disease.
Whew — good news. Thanks to researchers at Harvard Medical School, my disease is under control.
I’m alive today because researchers have begun identifying the pahogenisis of the IGG4-related diseases.
Thanks to medical researchers, I’ve seen my children graduate.