Over 4 years, she was treated with oral antirheumatic drugs and on-and-off painkillers. Although treatment helped Lily to control her condition, the disease changed the way she lived her life. However, in May 2014 Lily's family decided to seek help from another rheumatologist recommended by a family friend. After seeing the new rheumatologist, Lily and her family were informed about an ongoing rheumatoid arthritis clinical trial. Lily decided to enroll for the trial. After some ground-level investigations she was qualified to participate in the trial.
Within weeks of starting the trial treatment, Lily's symptoms began to ease. A few months later, she was back to a new normal life. After completing the treatment, Lily underwent another 6 months of safety follow-up to check whether she had experienced any long-term side effects. Luckily, no major side effects were reported and she ended the trial with positive results.
Finally, Lily said "I was tired and I was in pain. Once I started my treatments, I began to see a painless future. My rheumatologist was the one who explained to me the importance of research and I wouldn't be so positive about clinical trials without him." Lily has accepted that she must live with her silent disease and drug therapy for the rest of her life.
Now, Lily leads an active life with her three-year-old baby girl and her husband. Also, she has a very strong relationship with her rheumatologist and she is constantly supporting his research works as well. Her only hope is to have more treatment options to control rheumatoid arthritis, or better yet a cure.