Young Arthritis Patient’s Life is Back in Motion

BRI - Illuminations Luncheon - Virginia Mason

For nearly five years, Elizabeth Moseley suffered silently. Soreness in her back at age 19 grew to an excruciating pain throughout her entire body. Both Elizabeth’s maternal grandmother and great-grandmother were diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disease that causes painful swelling of the joints and surrounding tissues, as very young women. Scared of the possible diagnosis, Elizabeth kept her agony silent until the pain grew to be unbearable.

On Nov. 14, 2010 Jeffrey Carlin, MD, head of rheumatology at Virginia Mason Medical Center, officially confirmed her rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. After months of standard treatments, Elizabeth’s pain had lessened but her joints remained swollen and tender. Dr. Carlin suggested that she consider joining a clinical trial being conducted by Stanford Peng, MD, PhD, Clinician Researcher at Benaroya Research Institute (BRI). The study involves a musculoskeletal ultrasound, a way to assess arthritis which may be more objective than physical examination, and a mixture of medications to lower disease activity or send it into remission. Elizabeth is participating in a six-month trial and her symptoms are going into remission. Her life is literally back in motion. You might catch her commuting daily by bike from Magnolia to Eastlake to her new baking job – if you can keep up.

On behalf of Elizabeth and all the other individuals suffering with rheumatoid arthritis, thank you for donating to Benaroya Research Institute. With clinical trials and research, BRI is identifying better therapies for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases and helping patients get their lives back.