Hi, my name is Dionne Cooper i am a Hairstylist/CNA. I was a healthy 38 year old woman until March 2009, I was diagnosed in September 2009 with NMO. I had just got a form working at a local Hospitsl the night before, I had awaken the next morning with a pain so bad in my left eye and also I couldn’t see out of my left eye as well, i went to a local Hospital in my home town of New Orleans named Tulane Hospital.

They had told me my nerves in my left eye was so inflammed, they admited me in the hospital for several days with the doses of 1000mg of steroids then i was told i had ON, but that wasn’t it. A month and a half later it happened again, so a doctor there asked if I ever heard or NMO, I told him no so he ask can he test me for i told him yes because i needed to know what was going on with me, I never was a sick person i was always health, they kept asking me did anyone in my family have MS or Lupus, i told them no, no one. so then 2months after that i woked up with pain in that eye again also blind and lost feelings from my waist down to my knees OMG i was going crazy i was like this cannot be happening to me i am still young with 2 awesome sons going to college and the other going to high school. so that Sept. my results came back , the doctors was like you have a rare disease call NMO(neuromyelitis optica) also known as Devic’s I was like what!! what is that, i started getting on the web/internet thats when a story came on discovery health channel and i saw the story of the Ms. Grace Mitchell we all came to love, from there I learned a lot by meeting Ms. Grace on PLM then she told me about Guthy Jackson Foundation..I have been on facebook where I have met others with the disease and learned more about this illness.

Today 2012 I have been relapse free for 2 going on 3 yrs, been taking AZA and steroids, it has work wonders for me so good so bless!!