Help me get to LA to learn about NMO - the condition that changed my life!

When I was healthy I trained to participate in long-distance walking events to raise money for charity. I loved walking and tramping - the fresh air, the scenery, the people I would meet, and the lifelong friends I made along the way. The first two 100km walks I completed were hard, but the third walk at half the distance was so much harder and I couldn't understand why! I sweated alot, felt weaker than normal, and it seemed to take so much more effort to climb mountains!

Three months after I finished my third big walk I started to lose my vision. It was fuzzy - I could only see half of people's face (I had left field vision loss), and when I exercised, I could hardly see at all. The doctor initially thought it was dry eyes, but after months of testing, and more symptoms arising (bladder issues, numbness, tingling, weakness), I was diagnosed with NMOSD in December 2018.

NMOSD (Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder) is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in different locations in the central nervous system. The disease manifests itself through relapses and the most common relapses are of optic neuritis (inflammation of the optic nerve), myelitis (inflammation of the spinal cord) or syndrome of the area postrema (inflammation of the an small area in the brain that causes nausea, vomiting and hiccups).

It's been a tough year adjusting to medications (Immune suppressants, steroids), the big changes in my life (I couldn't drive for six months, i couldn't read well (I love to read!), I can now only walk 6km maximum, and I had to really learn how to slow down and de-stress (I'm still learning this!).

The hardest thing is knowing that what I have is rare, it's not a well known disorder. It's treatable, but it isn't curable.

There is an conference on NMO in Los Angeles in March 2020 and I would absolutely love to attend - to meet fellow NMO patients from around the world, to learn more about this disease and ways in which it can be managed, and with the hope that I'll one day I'll be well enough to walk long distances again - to raise money for research into rare Neurological and Autoimmune disorders, and to walk for the people with this condition that can no longer walk at all <3!

If I don't reach my goal, any money raised will be put aside to cover medical costs - doctors appointments, ongoing prescriptions and leave I need to take for hospital appointments.

Please help me get there! :-)