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Spanish Posted by: The Sumaira Foundation in MOG, Patient, Voices of NMO
Life was good in the spring of 2015; no, it was great! In 2012 I completed my master’s degree, which allowed me to change careers. I was leaving behind the demands of being a first responder. I enjoyed being a paramedic and loved working in law enforcement, but the truth was it had taken a […]
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December of 2020 started perfectly. I recently accepted my first job offer after completing my undergraduate degree and anticipated my start date in the new year… In the second week of the month, I fell ill to what I thought was the stomach flu. I was soon rushed to the hospital after extreme nausea refused […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Patient, Voices of NMO
My name is Hali and I am a 19 year old Scottish Law student living with NMOSD. — It all began in August 2021 when I developed a rash on the left side of my neck. It caused extreme nerve pain in the brain when touched the area and would trigger shaking spasms. I then […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Patient, Voices of NMO
My name is Shekita Green and I have neuromyelitis optica. I am the mother of two teenagers, the wife of an Army vet and an entrepreneur. In my “past life”, I was a person who was heavily obsessed with working. I don’t know what it was, but work gave me life. No one should have […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Patient, Voices of NMO
Born and raised in Tokyo, Mamiko Sakaida always loved singing and wanted to become an opera singer. In pursuit of her making her dreams come true, she studied opera in Bologna, Italy, where she trained with the best of the best in her industry. Mamiko’s life suddenly and drastically changed in 2016 when she became paralyzed from […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Patient, 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, Patient, Voices of NMO
My name is Shanice. I was born and raised in Jamaica and now reside in Toronto in Canada. I am a second-year medical student aspiring to be a physician in obstetrics/gynecology. I have always considered myself to be a very healthy individual with a very pepping personality. When I started medical school in 2017 in […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Patient, Voices of NMO
The differential diagnosis: It is a skill we learn early in medical school and it is designed to guide the clinician on considering the possible underlying causes of a patient’s symptoms. A good differential diagnosis includes possibilities of each category: neurologic, cardiac, hematologic, infectious, etc. We are taught that the best physicians approach a patient’s […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Patient, TM, Voices of NMO
On the evening of Sunday, 17th January 2010, my mother was putting up a fight with my brothers and I to go to bed while we were chasing each other through the house. We had school the next day; I was 12 years old at the time. At 4am the next morning, I woke up […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, ON, Patient, 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. […]
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