Our Own Miracles of Medicine Stories

Making miracles a reality

"A miracle of medicine actually saved my life, not once but twice. When I was in college, I ended up in the intensive care unit with a life-threatening infection after having a wisdom tooth pulled. With a month of treatment, I was still on the edge of death. It was a new anti-infective in clinical trials that ultimately saved my live.

"I'm also a cancer survivor who was initially given only six months to live. Those fights against what were expected to be fatal illnesses inspired me to reach higher and work even harder to make things better. They taught me to live life to the fullest, to appreciate the opportunities you have and your talents, and to make a positive contribution every day."

I am a Covance employee and my mother is 4.7 years cancer free.

I went with my mom, after her breast biopsy, to hear the results. When the doctor stated she had cancer she spaced out. My father had died a few years earlier of lung cancer due to working with insulation in old buildings. The cancer was no larger than 1/2 centimeter so the outlook was good. Mom had her surgery, lumpectomy, and went on [drug].

This medication is not without side affects but has kept her cancer free for almost five years. When she hits the five-year anniversary she can stop this drug, but she is grateful because it has kept the cancer from returning. My mom is 70 years old today, works everyday as a cafeteria lady. She and her boyfriend are always on the go -- camping, horse racing or just out enjoying the countryside exploring. She enjoys her life to the fullest with her four children, six grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.

I work at Covance Clinical Research Unit in Madison.

Late one night five years ago, I was driving back to Madison after visiting family near St. Louis. Over the course of about an hour, my right shoulder and jaw froze up and the thumbs on both hands began to throb making the trip home quite difficult. By the time I was able to get an appointment later that week with my physician, both of my hands were swollen like sausages and my fingers were pulling up into a clawed position. My feet and toes were so swollen I had to wear shoes that were two sizes larger. I am blessed to live in a community where there are many medical resources and care. My physician referred me to a rheumatologist and, within a week, I was diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA is an autoimmune disease. The exact cause is unknown, but it's believed to be the body's immune system attacking the tissue that lines your joints (synovium).

The prognosis — crippling debilitation and a wheelchair within 5 years. The disease was progressing rapidly but my doctor was hopeful that a new drug would halt the progression before serious damage was done to the joints of my hands and feet. My rheumatologist started me on a rigorous program of drugs. It took about two months for the drugs to slow the swelling and degeneration of my joints. At the end of two years, the drugs stopped working and the disease also began to affect my lungs and spinal column.

Because of my understanding of pharmaceutical research here at Covance, I did some investigating on my own and with my doctor. There were several more drugs available than even two years earlier, but the trick was to find the one that worked for me.

We decided to try a new drug. Within two weeks of starting the therapy, I had no swelling in my joints and the degeneration in my hands and feet was improving. Three months later, I needed a third spinal surgery but was able to restart the therapy within one week of the surgery and maintain the continued improvement of joint degeneration. I do have flares -- times when the joints in my body become painful and swollen, however those times are few and far between. My doctor now says the RA is "moderate" rather than "severe."

I have developed some "companion" diseases that are common in RA patients. Nevertheless, I am able to better deal with those diseases. Even, if in the future this new drug fails for me, it has given me three years of a productive life that I would not have had. Without it, I would now be living with crippling pain and deformity.

Thank you to everyone at Covance who worked on the development of this drug and to those who continue to watch its development and availability to people like me whose life depends on it.