Posted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Voices of NMO
It started innocuously. In 2008 we moved to Ottawa with my employer for my career in pest control. On a gray, cloudy but humid day, I was out removing a wasp nest for a client. She pointed to the nest hanging off a tree branch, about 10 feet away, and I thought to myself, “not […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in MOG, Patient.e, Voices of NMO
It all began with a tremor. It was September 2018, and I was off on maternity leave after having my second daughter earlier that year. As nice as that should have been, I was probably at one of the lowest points in my life. I’d been diagnosed with post-natal depression a few months earlier. In […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Patient.e, Voices of NMO
My name is Christy and I’ve been fighting this disease without knowing what I was up against since before 2008… I started calling this thing my “venom” because it reminded me of a venomous character that took over my entire being without letting go. My venom’s name is NMOSD (neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder). It relentlessly […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Proche-aidant.e, Voices of NMO
Jarrie grew up on a farm and declares himself a simple man. I think otherwise. I think Jarrie is a man for whom love is simply enough. Jarrie married his high school sweetheart, Donna, on Valentine’s Day in 1975. She died on New Year’s Day in 2021. Donna’s health began to deteriorate when she contracted […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Uncategorized, Voices of NMO
My NMO journey started just a few weeks after having my first baby girl in August 2020. Being a first time mom, I had no idea what postpartum should look like therefore, some of my symptoms in the moment were overlooked and hard to tell what was actually happening! About 5 weeks after having my […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Voices of NMO
My name is Ryan. Three years ago, I was living the dream. I was happily married to my best friend, and we have three beautiful and perfectly healthy children. We all lived together in our new home in Westwood. For the past seventeen years I worked for what is now called Eversource Electric, the largest […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in MOG, Proche-aidant.e, Voices of NMO
When your daughter suddenly goes blind in one eyes, you feel helpless. When the doctors don’t know what it is or why it happens, you feel frustrated. When this happens in the midst of your divorce, you wonder if the stress of the situation caused the problem. So you do your best. You encourage your […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, ON, Patient.e, Voices of NMO
My name is AnneMarie and my journey with NMO began in 2002 when I was just 16 years old… One April morning, I woke up with a stabbing pain in my lumbar spine which was getting progressively worse. My mom rushed me to the local emergency room where they had taken x-rays and done bloodwork. […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, ON, Patient.e, Voices of NMO
My name is Jaime. I live in the small town of Exeter, Pennsylvania. I am a wife and a mother to a beautiful and healthy 15 year-old daughter. And I have NMO. I’ve been paralyzed from my waist down three times. I’ve lost my eyesight due to multiple bouts of optic neuritis attacks that have […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Patient.e, TM, Voices of NMO
My biggest fear in life was that I would have some incurable sickness or disease. Not heights, nor spiders, nor public speaking. It was getting sick. Both of my parents had a myriad of physical and mental illnesses throughout my whole life, which seemed to be getting worse as the years went on. My mother […]
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