Dr. Tanya Quinones-Santiago Ar t i cl e “If I could talk to my 18-yearold self, there is much I would educate myself on to better equip myself of the challenges I would encounter on a daily basis in my journey with lupus.”
Ever since I can remember, I have always wanted to help people in such a way that I would have a lasting impact on their lives. Growing up as a pastor’s kid I was immersed in service—service to God, family, the church community, and the world as a whole. If you ask any child what he or she wants to be when they grow up you may hear a plethora of careers ranging from lawyer to doctor to firefighter and so forth. But rarely is it the case that what a child proclaims as a “dream job” actually turns out to be the profession they end up in. I happen to be one of those unique cases. And what is that you ask, a doctor! I have always had a strong desire to impact the health, well-being, and quality of life of those around me. You can say that I was destined to be of service, but never did I imagine that my own life and health experiences would be of service to others. It was my senior year of high school, and I was so excited because I was one of eight students in the city to be selected into the medical careers program. This program allotted for half of the day spent at your high school and 6
LIVING WITH LUPUS MAGAZINE
the other half at the local hospital studying anatomy & physiology, pathologies, shadowing doctors and surgeons, and getting an inside look as to what medical school and a career as a doctor would look like. And I was in Heaven! The experience made my desire to become a doctor stronger. And during this time I had decided I wanted to be a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. One thing about me, if I set a goal I will not stop until I achieve it! During the final semester of my high school career, I started to notice strange symptoms occurring in my body. I was fatigued all of the time, no matter how much sleep I got. My fingers and toes would go numb and my joints ached. During that time, we were studying autoimmune diseases and I learned about lupus. The more I learned the more I thought “I may have this.” So, I asked my mom to schedule an appointment with a rheumatologist, and she did. I let the doctor know that I thought I had lupus, and he looked at me and said he would run tests but that I looked healthy. At my follow-up the doctor had a look of shock on his face when
he told me that every marker that they look for in a person with lupus was positive. So, there it was, I was diagnosed with lupus and Raynaud’s phenomenon, given a prescription, and sent on my way. I knew at that point I would not be able to achieve my dream of being a surgeon, you can’t cut if your fingers turn numb. But that did not stop me from becoming a doctor. I went on living my life like a “normal person.” I had flare-ups but kept going as if nothing was wrong with me. At that time, I did not know that a larger percentage of people living with lupus are of minority descent. I am Puerto Rican, but luckily I had access to good medical care. Many minorities do not have this luxury. And even with my good care I did not get appropriate lupus education. I do not feel that was due to me being a minority, but more to the fact that doctors no longer have the time they used to have to speak with patients. Which is why I decided to become a Doctor of Physical Therapy as it would allow me a longer time to really treat and have a more hands on approach
