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Phaedra Hise, who suffers from a rare form of arthritis, is pictured with her daughter, Lily. (Photograph by Steve Krongard) |
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haedra Hise suffers from a rare form of arthritis that left her father's spine so stiffened he couldn't bend over to tie his shoes. Very few women develop this painful, incurable disorder, called ankylosing spondylitis, and Phaedra felt alone -- until she happened onto an arthritis discussion group on the Internet. "My doctor had only treated a few other patients with the disease, and there's no support group in Boston, where I live," she says. "Online, I can talk to people who know exactly what's going on." A writer and pilot, 31-year-old Phaedra also wanted to start a family with her husband. She didn't worry about her ability to care for a child, but feared a pregnancy punctuated by flare-ups of spondylitis. "I couldn't imagine carrying and delivering a baby with this pain," she says. "I didn't want to be in agony for the whole nine months. I asked about it online and got a lot of reassuring responses." With such emotional support, Phaedra made it through the pregnancy. In December, she gave birth to her daughter, Lily.
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