Posted by: The Sumaira Foundation in MOG, ON, Voices of NMO
It was the late 1990’s. I was in my 30’s had constant pain down my left arm, and even though I couldn’t tie the symptoms down to any single event, my orthopedic surgeon had me on the surgery schedule assuming I needed a spinal fusion to fix a slipped disc. Then my MRI results came […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, ON, Patient.e, TM, Voices of NMO
I have a rare, chronic neurological disease that affects my central nervous system. It’s caused me to become temporarily half-blind and feel throbbing pain everywhere… I was diagnosed with Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) also known as Devic’s disease (similar to MS) last month after my MRI scans showed optic neuritis and brain lesions — and it’s completely shattered […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Patient.e, Voices of NMO
Tamanika Zinger was on her first date with her now husband, 16 years ago when she experienced her first symptoms followed by 2 years of hearing loss and residual vision issues. At first, she was diagnosed with vertigo and then multiple sclerosis… Please watch Tamanika’s beautifully-crafted video about her journey with being misdiagnosed with MS […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Patient.e, Voices of NMO
Imagine this: You’re driving on a highway, and suddenly, your hands stop working completely. You can’t grip the wheel. Imagine the terror and the confusion… And then imagine, that, thank goodness, your husband is in the car with you and takes over driving before you get into an accident. You assume something crazy happened and […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, ON, Patient.e, Voices of NMO
Life before NMO – I was an active mom, worked as a home health nurse case manager and an avid marathon/half marathon runner… Before work, I would wake up at 4:30 am most mornings and meet my running buddies for a six mile run. On Saturday’s, we would do our long runs which were 13-21 […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, ON, Proche-aidant.e, Voices of NMO
My name is Veronica and this is my NMO story. I am not a patient but a mother/caregiver of an NMO patient. I have always been in a way, made fun of because I am THAT parent. You know, the one that takes their kids to the doctor for anything and everything. I thank God […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Patient.e, Voices of NMO
My name is Sherry. My experience with my disease is a little different and backwards… I was taking care of my father who had MS for many years and experienced sporadic health issues but never at the same time. I began to notice that these issues were becoming increasingly worse, with more signs and symptoms […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Patient.e, Voices of NMO
Back in 2013 and 2014, I completed two 100km walks to raise money for Oxfam – something I am so proud to have done! BUT in 2016, when I tried to do it a third time, I trained right up to walking 50km in a day however, I was suddenly unable to sleep, to stay […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in MOG, Patient.e, Voices of NMO
Now that I have been diagnosed with Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Antibody-Associated disease, or MOG-Ab disease, I have met others who are afflicted and have listened to their stories. They all start similarly, with an acute attack, out of the blue, and always marking the start of an unexpected turn in health. My story is different. […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Patient.e, TM, Voices of NMO
It all started when I was 20 years old – I went to urgent care because I was experiencing excruciating pain in my upper back to the point of tears. The urgent care team told me that I had a urinary tract infection and sent me home with a prescription for it. Two days later, […]
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