Laura Burk Benson

2nd Visit to NIH and another relapse Journal entry by  Laura Benson  —  Jan 18, 2018 Colin has been getting progressively worse (again). Not only is his skin inflamed (again), but he feels terribly crummy, he is out of breath, very lethargic and extremely weak. At his last NIH visit for Human Trials (case study) the doctor noted a flair up during the exam portion of Colin’s visit. The primary goal of that appointment was to collect blood and skin for testing and research purposes.  Colin has volunteered to donate blood and skin to science at the NIH to help find a cure for DRESS syndrome.  Thankfully, we are blessed with an accomplished doctor who has the most experience and continues to study and researches DRESS syndrome patients, specifically in Asian communities. Colin went "home " (back to the Wounded Warrior Barracks at NSA Bethesda) to rest and recover (from the extensive daisy chain biopsy sites as well as the process of transporting ...

National Institute of Health (NIH) Journal entry by  Laura Benson  —  Jan 1, 2018 In November, while Colin was inpatient at Walter Reed, he was escorted to the National Institute of Health (NIH) for "Grand Rounds".  There, he was viewed by over 75 doctors.  One of those doctors, was Dr. Nagao who specialized in Dermatology and has an association with Japanese Dermatology Studies, who expressed an interest in Colin's condition.  His specialty is skin immunology and immune-mediated diseases.  At first, Colin was only going to be subjected to testing for medical and research purposes; however Dr. Nagao found his condition so interesting and similar to the Japanese studies that he asked to work with Colin on his ongoing condition alongside the teams of doctors at Walter Reed. So the question is what is going on with Colin?  Why does he still have DRESS syndrome - when most people only have this condition for 2-8 weeks?  And what can we do ...