Our Invisible Team
Since Alex and I live in Ann Arbor, we have met several researchers for a variety of diseases. We recently attended a dinner at which we sat next to a cancer researcher, and our conversation inspired me to share a thought about these people that most of us never see or meet.
While physicians conduct research, they often conduct it with people who never see patients. They’re the ones who sit in labs day after day, month after month, year after year hoping to unlock the many mysteries of our various illnesses. They’re the ones who can not only pronounce 36-syllable words but who also understand their meaning! Yes, they have brilliant minds, but the ones I've met also have great passion as well as compassion. They're all too aware that people’s live depend on their work.
I wish that words could describe the fire in their eyes when they talk about their work so that you could see what I have seen – the dedication and commitment of people who don’t give up when they reach a roadblock. Instead, they strive to find a way around it, over it or under it, and their persistence has already given us more gentle, more effective treatments for a variety of illnesses.
These wonderful people are perfectly content to work behind the scenes. They are our invisible team, working tirelessly to help us all. They’ve made enormous progress in recent years and their work has given many of us the precious gift of time. And every time I meet a physician, a researcher, a lab assistant or anyone else who's involved in research, I realize even more that none of us is alone in this fight. We have many allies, most of whom we will never meet – but they are powerful, committed, and dedicated to helping each and every one of us.
Betsy