The device sits on her vagus nerve, sending electrical pulses and activating anti-inflammatory pathways to restore immune system balance. It has allowed Perry to ditch the stool at her church and sleep pain-free.<\/p>\n
\u201cI keep waiting to have some bad days, but I\u2019m not,\u201d Perry said. \u201cI\u2019m still amazed by it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Treating rheumatoid arthritis<\/p>\n
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes inflammation, pain and swelling and affects roughly 1.3 million Americans<\/a>.<\/p>\n It disproportionately affects women.<\/p>\n Originally from Indiana, Perry and her family moved to San Antonio in 1988. Perry was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis shortly after, following years of unexplained stiffness, pain and fatigue.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was pretty scary at that point, being just barely over 30, and not knowing what would happen,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Doctors were hesitant to start her on medication, which at the time came with more severe side effects. But her flare-ups were becoming more severe. She was struggling to stand up and sit down in chairs and couldn\u2019t play on the floor with her young children.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI pretty much broke down in the doctor\u2019s office and said, \u2018You know, I don\u2019t care if I don\u2019t live as long, I want to live now,\u2019\u201d Perry said.<\/p>\n She cycled through numerous medications over the years, including gold injections, once the go-to treatment for the disease, which have been largely replaced by safer and more effective medications. She has also tried 10 biologics, from a newer class of treatments that block specific parts of the immune system.<\/p>\n Many helped, but side effects and persistent symptoms remained. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been through about everything,\u201d Perry said.<\/p>\n The SetPoint implant, approved<\/a> in July 2025 to treat moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, offered a new approach for patients whose symptoms persisted or who couldn\u2019t tolerate the medications\u2019 side effects.\u00a0<\/p>\n Instead of suppressing the immune system, the device sends mild electrical pulses to the vagus nerve, a major nerve involved in regulating various bodily functions and inflammatory responses.<\/p>\n A different way to target inflammation<\/p>\n Dr. Daniel Peterson, a neurosurgeon at Ascension Medical Group Seton Neurosurgery, performed Perry\u2019s procedure at Dell Seton Medical Center in Austin. He was also involved in the SetPoint clinical trials<\/a>.<\/p>\n Neuromodulation devices have been around for decades, initially used to reduce the frequency of seizures in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy<\/a>. Researchers became interested in the vagus nerve after noticing that epilepsy patients who received vagus nerve stimulation also experienced improvements in other conditions they had, like autoimmune conditions, Peterson explained.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat this device does is stimulate branches of the vagus nerve that influence those inflammatory pathways,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t suppress the immune system, it modulates it back toward normal.\u201d<\/p>\n The implant procedure itself is minimally invasive. Surgeons make a small incision in the left side of the neck and place the jelly-bean-sized device around the vagus nerve. Perry said her surgery lasted about 15 minutes and she was back home before lunch.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI fixed dinner that night,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was the easiest surgery I\u2019ve ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n Patients charge the device wirelessly once a week for about five minutes. Perry\u2019s device activates automatically each morning around 4 a.m. while she sleeps, based on settings programmed by her rheumatology team.<\/p>\n Within weeks of the procedure, Perry said blood tests showed her inflammation levels had dropped significantly.<\/p>\n Dell Seton became the first hospital in Texas to implant the device and one of the earliest sites nationwide to participate in the clinical trial, Peterson said, enrolling 34 patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/RheumatoidArthritis_ChronicPainIllness_AutoimmuneDisease_MedicalTreatment_RetiredChurchVolunteer_Bak.jpeg\")
Susan Perry hand-mixes ingredients for lemon crinkle cookies for a youth event that her church is catering on June 2, 2026. Perry says before she received her implant, she could not work with her hands or be on her feet for very long. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782370884_618_RheumatoidArthritis_ChronicPainIllness_AutoimmuneDisease_MedicalTreatment_RetiredChurchVolunteer_Bak.jpeg\")
Susan Perry moves around her church kitchen, gathering ingredients for lemon crinkle cookies for a youth event. Before receiving the implant, Perry had limited mobility and would need frequent breaks while doing her volunteer work. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782370885_413_RheumatoidArthritis_ChronicPainIllness_AutoimmuneDisease_MedicalTreatment_RetiredChurchVolunteer_Bak.jpeg\")
After receiving her implant, Susan Perry is now able to comfortably work without needing to use a stool alongside other church volunteers for longer periods of time. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n