Here's a gentle description of what happened to my grandmother from the Arthritis National Research Foundation.
She once swam competitively, but no longer could. She had difficulty doing the shopping for her family. Everyday pleasures were dulled by pain. The simplest movements required tremendous effort and concentration.
Joyce Sontag was a victim of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a debilitating, progressive autoimmune disease. She was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 35 and lived 37 long years fighting the disease's progress in her body and in her life. Sadly, her family watched this decline without being given much hope for relief or remission, other than the treatment of symptoms.
Mrs. Sontag was hospitalized at the Long Beach Memorial Medical Center when she died from complications of rheumatoid arthritis in 1993. The treatments she received for RA from the late 1950s to the 1990s often had more negative side effects than positive effects for pain relief. The disease spread beyond the joints to other organs. Gradually, Mrs. Sontag became more and more debilitated, suffering acute weight loss and spinal column degeneration.
So, this is me urging you to donate to the ARNF or other organization supporting scientific research into the causes and treatment of arthritis.
Donate to the ARNF
(If you're wealthy, I will love you forever if your donation puts my Uncle in his place.)
