Posted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Voices of NMO
The first time NMO hit me was on the evening before Thanksgiving in 2010… I clearly remember it because my wife and I were on holiday in the United States. While standing in the brightly lit Times Square in New York City with flashing lights coming from every angle, I had to cover my left […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in News & Announcements
November 25, 2020 — The Sumaira Foundation for NMO is pleased to present “Understanding the Canadian NMOSD Journey”, a 6-part live webinar series featuring Canadian patients, caregivers, clinicians, researchers, and advocates in which a variety of disease-related topics will be discussed. Our premiere webinar will feature the nation’s first NMOSD patient who successfully gave birth […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, Patient, 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 […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, ON, Patient, TM, Voices of NMO
My name is Mitchel Navarro. I’m 34 years old, a wife, and a proud momma to two beautiful children – a girl and a boy. I have a bachelors degree in elementary education and was a teacher when this journey began. My days would begin at 5 AM and I’d finally be able to crawl […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, ON, Patient, TM, Voices of NMO
It started with a never-ending headache… Click the image below to watch Chasity’s video in which she describes her experience with optic neuritis. Although she has lost a significant amount of vision, Chasity believes that everything happens for a reason and is grateful to still be able to see her children every day through her […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in Caregiver, TM, Voices of NMO
Addison “Addie” Havens was a healthy two year-old little girl full of energy and spunk who loved to play with her big brother… The weekend of January 29, 2016 began like any other but shortly after, Addie came down with a fever. We monitored it and were able to keep the fever down with Tylenol. […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in Caregiver, NMO, Voices of NMO
On December 25, 2018, we finally received answers and a diagnosis after Dominic became ill on November 19th with what we thought was a bug that was going around his school… He was taken to Children’s Hospital twice in one week because he wasn’t getting any better with his symptoms. A couple of days passed […]
Read MorePosted by: The Sumaira Foundation in NMO, ON, Patient, 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 MOG, Patient, 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, 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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