Laura Moses, Tracy Reid, & Dan Longchamps

Meet Laura Moses, Tracy Reid, & Dan Longchamps, living each day with rheumatoid arthritis

Five years ago, Laura was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Six months later, her sister Tracy Reid received the same diagnosis — then eight months later, their father, Dan Longchamps. Three members of one family, all struggling with a debilitating condition that doesn’t just affect the small joints of your hands and feet, but can erode bones, deform joints, and even attack the skin, eyes, lungs and blood vessels.

“Over the next few years, we struggled to deal with this condition,” says Laura. “Even with strong medications, which have helped to control the symptoms, every day is a challenge. We wonder each and every day if we’ll be able to brush our hair or get dressed.”

All three are tremendously grateful for the support they receive from the Arthritis Society, not to mention the medications that are now available for rheumatoid sufferers thanks to ground-breaking research into this autoimmune disorder.

“Without the Arthritis Society and the research it funds into better medications, we would be facing disability and deformities. We wouldn’t be where we are today, able to manage our disease and living our lives as best as we can. The medications we rely on are strong, but they have allowed us to get our lives back.”

Laura Moses, Tracy Reid, & dan longchamps

Support that helps all three deal with everything that is part-and-parcel of having rheumatoid arthritis comes not just in the form of programs and services. It comes in the ability to tap into a whole community of people who face similar challenges in their day-to-day lives. “There’s a whole community out there that helped us be where we are today,” adds Tracy. “We’re as healthy as we can be, but we couldn’t have done it without that support.”

Dan, who let his daughters take the lead in helping him deal with rheumatoid arthritis, is equally grateful for that support.

Laura, Tracy and Dan — three family members struggling with the same debilitating condition — can’t thank the Arthritis Society enough. They call the Society their saviour, and are living proof that donating to HealthPartners works.