Imagine being happy, healthy and having your dream job as a teacher, only to have it cruelly snatched away by a debilitating neurological disorder which often makes day-to-day tasks impossible. This past year has been very challenging, to say the least. Each day has and will continue to challenge both myself and my family. Becoming ill and not knowing why my body was failing me was very scary.

After much persistence and determination to get answers, I was referred to a Neurologist who diagnosed me with FND at the age of 40. Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) is a brain network disorder which creates problems with how the brain receives and sends information to the rest of the body. You cannot control it, and symptoms include arm and leg weakness, seizures, tremors and stammers, to name a few. There is currently no cure, but I am extremely lucky that Durham is one of the areas in the UK that have a service dedicated to FND (The Persistent Physical Symptoms Service).

For such a long time, I quietly got on with things the best I could, only allowing close family and friends in, wishing that all of this would go away someday. It's so easy to hide pain with a smile if you have enough practice at doing it.

I unconsciously hid away, as I couldn't accept what was happening to my body and the adaptations that my body was screaming for me to make in order to make the most of life.

FND Hope UK and The Persistent Physical Symptoms Service have helped me to accept the ‘new me.’ Meeting people who also suffer, people who understand the condition, has allowed me to let people have an insight into what myself and my family experience daily. In turn, this has allowed me to begin to accept my future, stop fighting against my body and work with it.

Yes, I do have constant pain, difficulty speaking, tremors, seizures, and paralysis episodes, walk with a stick or use a wheelchair and have had to give up a career that I truly loved. But I have come to realise that I can still have a very enjoyable life; I just have to do it in a different way now.

When able, I am dedicating my time to fundraise for FND Action, whose mission is to promote awareness, support affected individuals, and advance research for prevention, treatment and recovery. The cause of FND is unknown, and even though it is listed as a rare disease, it is the second most common neurological condition to be treated in neurology departments, even more common than Parkinson’s disease.

I would be very grateful if you could help me to raise the profile of FND and help me in raising vital funds to support ongoing research and awareness.

Come on, let’s get FND known!