A New Normal | Northwell Health
Jessica Hancock’s life was ruled by her debilitating rheumatoid arthritis. Then a simple but revolutionary implant changed everything.
On a recent frigid January evening, when most New Yorkers were snuggling under their blankets, Jessica Hancock laced up her boots, took the train to Belmont Park and jogged up the steps of UBS Arena to watch her beloved Islanders. During the previous season, she would have opted for the elevator, because the stairs made her wince with every step. On this day she flew up without thinking.
“That was the moment I knew I had my life back,” she says.
For nearly two decades, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) had ruled Hancock’s life. The working mother from Patchogue, on Long Island’s South Shore, spent years on powerful medications — first methotrexate paired with biologics like Enbrel and Humira, and then an oral JAK inhibitor — but experienced breakthrough pain that spiked with every cold front and barometric dip. She functioned, but to say she enjoyed life was a stretch.
Previously published in Northwell Frontiers, Volume 1, 2026.