Burnett School of Medicine at TCU Students Assemble Care Kits for Patients with Chronic Skin Disease
Students at the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth got donations from Neutrogena and Cetaphil to prepare care kits for people sufferning from Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS), a painful skin condition that causes abscesses and scarring on the skin
FORT WORTH – Imagine not being able to do the simple things in life such as walking, sleeping, brushing your hair or even going to work.
“For me, it was worse than childbirth,” said Fort Worth resident Shari McFarlane. “It’s very painful and you lose your life and your way of living changes drastically.”
McFarlane is talking about living with Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS), a painful condition that causes abscesses and scarring on the skin.
“The disease is chronic,” said Max Pekarev, M.D., Assistant Professor at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU and founder of Thrive Reconstructive Surgery in Fort Worth. “It affects you tremendously from the mental standpoint because it’s hard to do anything and you’re in so much pain.”
Now, students at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU are joining the fight against Hidradenitis Suppurativa to help patients like McFarlane. They’ve teamed up with Thrive Reconstructive Surgery and put together care kits filled with skin care products that patients can use to help prevent the spread of this disease.
“A lot of these patients don’t have the medical support that they need,” said Nicole Feyzjou, MS-2, at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU. “That’s why I think this project is really nice because we’re able to kick-start that skin care journey for them just to give them that extra support that maybe they haven’t had in the past.”
Students asked Neutrogena and Cetaphil to donate products to go inside the care kits along with other products.
“It’s good to know there are people out there who are working and helping us,” McFarlane said. “Because there are so many people who have no clue about what we have and what could possibly help.”
For people with HS, breakouts typically happen where there are sweat glands, normally around the groin, bottom, breasts and armpits.
McFarlane says she struggled with HS for 26 years until she found Dr. Pekarev and discovered he was an HS specialist. She was able to get the care she needed and is now enjoying life again.
“He saved my life; he literally gave me my life back and I’m just so thankful for that,” McFarlane said.