Submitted by:
Norman F. Herzog
Mgr. Engineering
UNO Television
University of Nebraska at Omaha
6001 Dodge St.
Omaha, NE 68182 USA
v: (402) 554-2516
f: (402) 554-2440
e: nherzog@unomaha.edu
Categories:
Health care/health services
Keywords:
Innovative or improved ways of doing things
The Story:
This documents an intensely personal use of the Internet. My daughter was scheduled for major surgery in October of 1991 for correction of scoliosis (curvature of the spine). In late summer of that year I decided it was important to learn more about scoliosis. A library catalog search over the Internet led me to discover that another daughter had symptoms which could mean our family was affected by a serious hereditary disorder known as Marfan Syndrome. A WAIS hypertext search of the database online-mendelian-inheritance-in-man using the keywords scoliosis and arachnodactyly (long, spidery fingers) suggested an even rarer condition known as Beals Syndrome. The bibliographies found led me to physicians who knew how to diagnose and treat it. The course of treatment became more involved, but had the diagnosis been missed, the consequences would have been very serious. It is not an exaggeration to state that the Internet may have saved my daughter’s life!
I acknowledge the contributions of my employer, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and its Computing and Data Communications department for providing this resource, along with the many others who are involved in the Internet.