“No matter how old you are, it is difficult to hear your doctor tell you one day that you have a problem you had never heard of before, that you would have to live with that problem for the rest of your life, and that you had a long and difficult process ahead of you. The conditions and hardships of treatment, the limitations brought about by the problem, the loss of work and strength are part of these difficulties that your family will face together with you. But the most difficult part is understanding and explaining your feelings as you experience these hardships.
“It is really difficult to live with this reality in a community that has no education in ilnesses and disabilities. The ignorant people, the ones who turn to aggression out of their fear of the same thing happening to them, the ones who inflict pain from the lofty heights of pity… Besides all this, being ill or disabled in a country where living conditions, buildings, and even roads are not suitable even for healthy people, where there are no support institutions, where the insurance systems go bankrupt, or being the family of such a person, is a difficult, despairing and sometimes maddening situation. Unfortunately, the efforts of non-governmental organizations or associations organized by patients and their families are not sufficient to solve all these issues. Still, all those efforts are necessary. It is just as necessary for patients and their families to take responsibility for their problems and work on them as it is for communities to raise sensitivity.”
After these words, Prof. Dr. Semerci answered the questions of the participants.
