Doug Lindsay was about to begin his senior year in college when he became so weak that he had to drop out. It was a rare and mysterious condition that his mother and aunt also suffered, but no one knew what caused it, or how to treat it. As doctor after doctor said they couldn't help him, he realized he would have to do it himself. Lindsay studied endocrinology and found some tantalizing clues, but he knew he would need scientific help. So he went to the American Autonomic Society's annual conference, where there were plenty of scientists.
Lindsay arrived at the conference in a wheelchair, wearing a suit and tie, and presented himself as a Jesuit-trained scientist. He tried to comport himself like a grad student or a junior colleague to the scholars in the audience, not like a patient.
He was just a scientist living an experiment in his own body. During his talk, Lindsay argued that a certain drug might help him.
Several of the scientists disagreed with Lindsay's hypotheses about his ailment. But that wasn't unexpected. He didn't even have a bachelor's degree and he was telling doctors from Harvard University, the National Institutes of Health and the Cleveland Clinic something their medical training told them was impossible.
"They didn't patronize me. They treated me like a scientist," Lindsay said. "I was entering into a world of science I couldn't participate in because I was at home and couldn't be a grad student."
Dr. H. Cecil Coghlan, a medical professor at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, approached Lindsay after his presentation. Coghlan said he thought Lindsay was on to something.
At last, Lindsay had a medical ally.
In partnership with Dr. Coghlan, Lindsay underwent drug therapy that helped somewhat. Then he led physicians to a diagnosis, and worked out a surgical cure. Now Lindsay is a medical consultant, helping to identify and treat rare diseases. Read Doug Lindsay's extraordinary story at CNN. -via reddit