How Being A Carer With NMO Changed Me

My mum is a carer. She has been a carer for around 4 years. She was also my carer during my NMO attack and recovery. She is a wonderful woman, the most empathetic person I have ever met and she built an amazing connection with her clients.

After my recovery, I was deeply depressed. All I could think about was my own situation, how bad it was and if life would get any better. I had never worked with anyone who had issues themselves. I couldn’t relate to anyone but I also couldn’t understand other people. I could say I had a lack of empathy before, only because I hadn’t seen the world the way I have seen it now.

My mum thought that starting a job in care would make me feel better in myself. I would see other people’s struggles, build a connection with them and feel proud to be supporting them live their day-to-day life. She was absolutely right.

Caring for others

Initially I was hesitant as I had bad symptoms myself and wasn’t used to being as active anymore. During that time, my sciatica had just started and it was really hard to do day-to-day things. However, I gave it a try.

I worked as a carer for 6 months. In that time I saw people who had no family, were severely sick, and felt like my situation was nothing compared to what they had gone through. Some people were so lonely that they would hire a carer just for someone to talk to. I loved hearing them talk about their experiences in life. A lot of them had achieved so much during their prime.

It made me motivated to do something with my life too. I built an amazing connection with so many of these individuals that it made me realise we should appreciate what we have while we have it. Our health, family, and friends around us play such a big part in our life. We don’t realise it until it’s too late sometimes.

What caregiving taught me

Working as a carer taught me how to be empathetic towards people, more kind and caring, and to remember details about others to make their day. I would work hard just to see a smile on their faces. I wasn’t a totally self-centered person before, but I did focus on myself a lot. A job in care taught me to care for others as much as I cared for myself.

Other people have it tough as well, not just ourselves. A lot of individuals have no family, or their children don’t speak to them. It made me appreciate my family more. Being alone and unwell is really hard. I could not have gone through my attack and recovered without the help of my family. Especially my mother.

I would always be in my head about my illness and my future. But being busy at work helped me forget about my NMO and focus on bettering other peoples lives by working hard.

Those six months working as a carer truly showed me life in a different light and I will always be grateful for meeting my lovely clients and their families. People are wonderful and being kind and caring makes life easier for those around us.