TeriAnn was in the best shape of her life in her early 40’s, so she was surprised and disturbed to find herself on a plane unable to lift her carry-on luggage into the upper compartment. Initially she thought, “What did I pack?” Later, she was watching a movie with her father and was unable to get up from a recliner chair.
Her doctor ordered blood tests, which returned with abnormal results. TeriAnn was lucky to be diagnosed within a month, but she found out she had life-threatening polymyositis. Her rheumatologist said her disease had started so suddenly and accelerated so rapidly he expected TeriAnn would be in the hospital soon. He turned out to be right.
Please help people like TeriAnn find support for this rare disease
TeriAnn was grateful to find The Myositis Association (TMA) and went to her first support group meeting downstairs when she was still in the hospital. She had never met another person with myositis before, and now she was in a room full of them. “You have no idea what a relief it was to be with people who really understood what I was going through,” she said.
“Later, I attended my first TMA conference, and it was fantastic. Everyone there gets it.” TeriAnn was especially grateful that TMA brought in firefighters to talk to myositis patients about falling and getting back up again. “That’s kind of what TMA does. They help you get back on your feet emotionally and physically when myositis has knocked you down.” TeriAnn is grateful to be in remission now, but she still attends support group meetings to stay in touch with friends she met through TMA.
Please make a gift to TMA today to provide education and support to more people like TeriAnn!
Your generous support of TMA will help us reach and inspire many more people with this rare disease. Thank you so much for your support.