Sounding Out Patients
Several patients make their voices heard, sharing their personal experiences with us.
In the “The Patient’s Side of the Story” series, several patients make their voices heard, sharing their personal experiences with us. Janet, Linda, Tamás, Oriana, Begonya, Thomas, Estelle and Veerle look back on when they first learned of their diagnosis and their daily battle with disease. They describe the ups and downs, their worries and their hopes… but also provide practical advice and explain how research contributes to their story. And vice versa.
Episode 1: Janet West
In 2019, Janet West was diagnosed with tongue cancer and underwent an eleven-hour operation. Her story that is presented in the first episode of “The Patient’s Side of the Story.”
Episode 2: Linda Stone & Tamás Bercecky
Although Linda Stone has Sjögren’s syndrome, and Tamás Bercecky was diagnosed HIV-positive and suffers from depression, their two stories share many similarities.
“It’s important to see that all of us go through very different experiences in life. It’s something that happens to you, that’s thrown at you by life. So that’s why I think it is important that whoever works in research and development or even in pharmaceutical marketing, actually listens to patients and that these different experiences are taken into account.”
Tamás Bercecky, participant in the “Patient’s Side of the Story” project.
Episode 3: Estelle Jobson & Veerle Aertsen
Estelle Jobson has endometriosis, while Veerle Aertsen has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Estelle and Veerle: two women, two stories and two inspiring, engaging journeys!
Episode 4: Oriana Sousa
Oriana was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer at the age of 22. Thanks to her ingenuity, perseverance – and despite relapses, she is on the path to recovery. Oriana has been in remission for eight years.
“[When I was diagnosed with cancer,] I was shocked and felt all kinds of emotions thinking about everything that was going to happen. It was crazy to be an ordinary person and then suddenly have my life threatened by a fatal illness. It all happened so quickly. To top it all off, I learned of the diagnosis on December 24th. I walked into the operating room knowing only that I had a large tumor in my ovary. It could be benign. That’s what I was hoping for. On the 24th, when the doctor told me the bad news, I was devastated.”
Oriana Sousa, participant in the “Patient’s Side of the Story” project
Episode 5: Begonya Nafria & Thomas Smith
For the fifth and final episode of the series “The Patient Side of the Story,” Begonya Nafria and Thomas Smith look back on their commitment to patients, especially younger ones.
Find all the episodes – and many others – on the “Patients Ensemble” channel: https://www.patients-ensemble.fr/universe/6509aeef213a2f9da88c86de
This series of podcasts is a project that came about from the collaboration between Servier and the Saclay Research & Development Patient Board. Made up of 18 patients representing ten different diseases1, the Boardworks with Servier’s R&D teams to better integrate the patient viewpoint into the research and development of new drugs.
[1] Patient volunteers who applied to the European Patients’ Academy on Therapeutic Innovation (EUPATI), an innovative pan-European initiative involving 33 organizations, led by the European Patients’ Forum with partners from patient associations, universities and non-profit organizations, as well as a number of European pharmaceutical companies.