Living

When friends learn I have an autoimmune disease they often ask when and how I was diagnosed. My response: “Which time?” Getting a diagnosis for any autoimmune disease is hard...

Being diagnosed with NMO changes your life in so many ways, including how you live day-to-day. Something as simple as doing dishes can go from a quick chore to a...

Taking a shower when you live with NMO is a big deal. Few people understand why taking a shower could be an activity worth reporting since it’s their daily habit...

Oftentimes when going through a difficult transition, like adjusting to life with NMO, we tend to forget about ourselves. We forget that we, the diagnosed people, are the people living...

Being diagnosed with NMO has been quite the journey for me. It took 3 years after I initially began getting sick to officially be diagnosed with the correct illness and...

For those who have live with NMOSD for awhile, or for those who have been recently diagnosed, it can be hard to adjust to traveling long distances. Along with long...

Like many, I felt very alone when I received my NMO diagnosis. It was a disease that I had never heard of, so surely no one else could be living...

The hospital in my city does not have a NMO specialist, NMO nurses or an NMO team. My neurologist is an MS specialist but is still very supportive when it...

I come from a culture where alcohol is very present in everything we do. If there is a birthday, baby shower or any type of gathering, alcohol is almost always...

Do you ever wonder if that pain in your side is part of your condition? Or that itch? Or the migraine? How about those restless nights? Or that random fever?...

When I first started outpatient physical therapy in 2014 with Sarah, my physical therapist, I could not get out of my bed by myself let alone stand up. Over the...

Being a student alone is very difficult. On top of that, having a chronic illness and extreme brain fog makes things even more complicated. From what I can remember, even...

How many times have you gone to the doctor with a complaint, only to be told there is nothing wrong? I’m sure that it has happened to us all at...

Editorial Note: Nominations for 2024 are now closed. We are very excited to announce the launch of the 2024 Social Health Awards program! The Social Health Awards is an awards...

“The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) is a law that makes it illegal for airlines to discriminate against passengers because of their disability. The Department of Transportation is responsible for...

It's 2022 and somehow we're still having conversations about ableism. With all the technology and resources available today, I can't help but to feel like this conversation should be a...

I'd spent 7 months recovering from my first attack. It’s been two months since I've been off steroids and I had finally gained the tiniest bit of confidence back. I...

After spending three months in the hospital, I was discharged and sent to a nursing home. Thank God I was only there for a week, because I hated that place...

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic year and is considered very special within the Muslim community. During this month, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, which is known...

In 2017, after I had my first attack, I was left with a spinal cord injury that consists of lesions from my brainstem to my t12 spine, which is about...