“ How many years have been wasted? How many joints are now destroyed? How much damage from steroids is too much? Diabetes? Osteoporosis? If we can identify which medication is best to start with, you start with that drug and keep that patient from experiencing what I’ ve experienced.”
— Pamela McClain, MD
PARTICIPANT STORY
PARTICIPANT STORY – PAMELA MCLAIN
STARTING AT THE FINISH LINE, THE SEARCH FOR TREATMENT: PAMELA MCLAIN
The Diagnostic Odyssey
Pamela McLain, MD, was diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis( JIA) at the age of eight. At the time, the only treatment was aspirin, steroids, and casting her wrists or other involved joints to prevent mobility. Over the years, she developed numerous additional medical issues. Her story is complex, and her search for effective treatment led her to the Alabama Genomic Health Initiative.
Pamela enrolled in medical school at Tulane University, where she met her husband, David. By June of the next year, they married and she transferred to Washington University in St. Louis to complete her medical school training while David completed his residency in rheumatology. During medical school, Pamela’ s rheumatologist completed a rheumatoid arthritis test which, not surprisingly, revealed the positive rheumatoid factor associated with her known JIA. Following medical school, Pamela and her husband moved to Birmingham, Ala., where the two set up their respective medical practices: Pamela as a surgical dermatologist, David as a rheumatologist. Pamela’ s arthritis and other medical issues became increasingly challenging in her daily life, requiring multiple medications and leading to significant side effects.
Aside from her successful medical practice, Pamela’ s great passion was competing in equestrian competitions known as three-day eventing. She competed in the Pan-Am games for the United States and was listed as a possible member of the U. S. Olympic team. Pamela’ s medical challenges were becoming more and more debilitating, interfering with her ability to compete. After a competition in 1984, she was hospitalized due to extreme fatigue and illness and learned that her red and white blood cell counts were exceptionally low. Light bulbs went off for her husband, who connected Pamela’ s long history of joint and blood vessel inflammation with her low blood counts, now confident that his wife in fact had lupus, a chronic disease that causes inflammation and pain in any part of the body. Lupus causes the part of the body that is supposed to fight infection to instead
“ How many years have been wasted? How many joints are now destroyed? How much damage from steroids is too much? Diabetes? Osteoporosis? If we can identify which medication is best to start with, you start with that drug and keep that patient from experiencing what I’ ve experienced.”
— Pamela McClain, MD
10 Alabama Genomic Health Initiative Annual Report 2020