Tessa Nielsen

I've lived with this condition for over ten years now, largely without major issues. In 2023 I gave birth to my son. I had a great pregnancy but a traumatic birth. They say that the effects of stress come out after an event, and the trauma of my experience followed by the physical and emotional challenge of becoming a new mum showed physically in me around four months after giving birth. 

I woke one morning to some numbness and tingling in my extremeties, and this rapidly got worse until another morning a few days late I woke up and my whole body was numb from the neck down, bar a few patches. I found it hard to balance and walk, my legs cramped up when I did walk, and I lost the use of my left arm and fingers. I could no longer hold cutlery, a glass of water or do anything that requires precision or dexterity with my left hand. I could not feel my little boy's fingers wrapped around mine. It was devastating and terrifying. My right hand was numb too but thankfully not to the same extreme. Now, over a year later I have thankfully made a huge recovery from this relapse, but I still and will probably always have a loss of sensation in my left hand. 

Thankfully I was able to start a new medication to help manage my symptoms and prevent future attacks in their severity. There is no cure, it is unpredictable and it affects your life in ways you cannot imagine. You wouldn't know there is anything wrong with me to look at me, but I assure you, every little thing I do takes twice as much effort now than it used to do. 

I hope raising funds for research and support will help people like me to retain their mobility, and lifestyle. 

So if you can, I would really appreciate any donation. If you can I would love some company on a walk, because walking and exercise really is the best thing for all of us. 

Thanks for taking the time.