After a decade-long battle with my health, I finally received a diagnosis of Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO) in December 2023. Despite all the fear and anger I felt, I found a new purpose through writing, and I’m happy to promote my story through my poetry book, A Journey to Peace.

I was never really a healthy kid, but my struggles with health truly began when I was 14. I had many vision problems and had to wear special glasses. Despite numerous tests, my doctors never found anything seriously wrong with my eyes, yet my greatest fear was always losing my vision.

In the five years leading up to my diagnosis, I underwent countless scans and tests, but nothing was ever conclusive. Finally, in 2022, a spinal tap revealed something was wrong with my central nervous system, marking the breakthrough I desperately needed. Even then, my neurologist said there was nothing wrong. It wasn’t until I found a new eye doctor, who could compare that spinal tap with the results from 27 vials of blood, that I was diagnosed with NMO.

The diagnosis filled me with a conflicting array of emotions. I was absolutely terrified, furious with everyone—including God—and I hated my life. After ten long years of uncertainty, all I wanted was a simple diagnosis, something that could be treated with a few weeks of medication. Instead, I found myself facing a rare disease that threatened my vision, my mobility, and my will to keep fighting. I was utterly exhausted.

But after years of praying and begging God for help, He finally answered me one night as I lay in bed crying, wondering what to do next. He told me to write a book about my journey. That moment gave me a new sense of hope, unlike anything I had felt in the previous ten years. Although I was still scared and angry, I finally had a purpose.

I’ve been writing since I was 14, and while I had never considered writing a book before, I knew I had to try—otherwise, I’d never forgive myself. Despite my years of writing, I had no idea how to begin telling my story, and I spent months trying to figure it out. Then, out of the blue, I came across a poetry challenge: write a poem every day for 21 days, and it would be published. At that point, I had only written two poems in my life and had never been particularly interested in poetry. But I felt it was an answer to prayer, so I embarked on my very first writing challenge—and it is now published.

I’m very excited to share my story with you and I hope you’ll consider purchasing it so you can experience this amazing journey with me.

It's available in both paperback and eBook (Amazon) or paperback (Barnes and Noble)