Rosa has been suffering from severe pain in her knees, ankles, wrists, and elbows for the past fifteen years because of rheumatoid arthritis. Rosa has known about her diagnosis for many years, but has been unable to afford the medical care she needs to improve her symptoms because she is also diabetic and needs to buy those medications.
Rosa has been relying on over the counter pain medications from the local pharmacy to treat her joint pain, but they don’t work well enough to alleviate the pain of daily activities. Rosa has to take several breaks in her 10 minute walk to work in order to be able to stand the pain.
Rosa lives with her youngest daughter, who is 17, in a one-room adobe house. Her other two children are married and have children. Her two grandchildren, who are two and a half years old and two months old are the lights of her life! Since she and her husband are separated, she has been supporting her children by herself with only her small salary as a shopkeeper in a traditional Mayan textile shop. She often sacrifices food for herself in order to help her children and grandchildren. Medical care for her arthritis has seemed like a luxury she cannot afford.
With $367, Rosa will receive medications to control her symptoms, prevent future arthritic episodes, and help her get back to her daily life. Treatment will help restore her range of motion, help her be able to walk longer distances without having to stop, and allow her to run and play with her grandkids!
Rosa says, “I want to regain my health because there are days when I have been in very bad health. Sometimes it gets so bad that I can’t walk. What I want is to be able to walk and move forward with my life.”