Rachel Rabinowitz

To say the last year and a half has been challenging would be an immense understatement. It started with a torn meniscus and subsequent surgery in the winter of 2016, followed by a herniated disc after the knee recovered and very persistent IT band syndrome. All of this was on top of lupus, which I was diagnosed with at 16 (I am now 25).

Everything had been improving: my knee was getting back to normal, and I was starting to feel like myself again. Then the pain started. Sharp, agonizing, unrelenting pain in my right lower back and leg. I was quickly referred to Dr. Moley by my previous rheumatologist, who was able to see me that same day and schedule an MRI a few days later. We discovered that I had a lumbar herniated disc.

I was willing to do anything to make the pain stop, and it turns out that anything was 3 cortisone injections in my spine. Fun, right? However terrified I was of the needles, I felt safe and in the best hands with Dr. Moley (and still do). I started a regimen of physical therapy at the Integrative Care Center once the cortisone started working, and I should add that Michelle Shafiro is one of the best therapists around.

While I'll always have lupus-related symptoms and pain on bad days, I'm most definitely moving in the right direction -- all thanks to Dr. Moley and my ever-growing team at HSS.