Lee-Anna
Behcet's
By the time she was 29, Lee-Anna already had achieved her goal of becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner-BC and a registered nurse. She was also the same age when diagnosed with Behcet’s disease, a rare autoimmune condition that causes inflammation in the blood vessels throughout the body. It was at that point Lee-Anna experienced step therapy for the first time as a patient.
Having worked in the healthcare field, Lee-Anna had seen first-hand when patients were denied their prescribed treatments. But that could not prepare her for what came next. “My symptoms got worse with each failed treatment,” she remembered. “The side effects were unbearable. This went on for months. Months turned into years, as I became sicker, weaker, and unable to function normally. I thought I was going to die.”
After a long period filled with chronic pain – and the eventual end of her dream career –Lee-Anna finally failed her insurer’s final preferred prescription and was able to switch to the one her physician had chosen years before. Now she works to make sure others do not have to face the same step therapy nightmare.