Cuernavaca is a city located an hour south of Mexico City. I moved here in 2005 after my MS left me quadriplegic at the age of 46 in 2002. It was then that I had to retire from my profession as a veterinarian.
In everything I do, in realising my projects and dreams, I depend on my wife, Ana Silvia, almost 100 percent of the time. She is my caregiver and companion and together MS has become “our job”.

How did you feel giving up your job as a veterinarian?
Recalling the moment that I had to leave my veterinary work behind me still brings tears to my eyes. When I first started using a wheelchair it took me a long time to carry out the work but I operated on animals by sitting on a bench with the assistance of my colleagues. On one occasion, however, I was left alone and my hands, which had been gradually losing their strength, were unable to manage the surgical equipment. The dog on which I was operating began to bleed but the spasticity and tremor in my hands, combined with the lack of strength, meant that I had to fight to stop the bleeding, without success, for some time. Finally, with great focus and patience I managed to stop it.
That was the day that my colleagues and I realised that I was a risk to the animals’ lives rather than a help. The most painful moment of my 46 years was when I had to put down the medical instruments, close the files on my patients, sell my equipment and leave the consulting room, to which I have not returned in eight years.

What did you do next?
After my veterinary career ended, the employment I found was unrelated to my profession. A friend gave me minimum wage work in telemarketing. Without leaving the house (the first floor apartment where I had always lived with my mother and siblings), I communicated with customers and suppliers but the income was low. It did give me the right to social security and medical attention – albeit it only just maintained my symptoms – but I began to depend entirely on my family.
However, I continued to devise ways to earn money: selling ornamental fish, sandwiches and even jelly but all of the ideas failed. The immobility caused by MS led me to spend a lot of time on the internet – up to ten hours a day. Ana Silvia, who I met in 2005, thought a blog would be the ideal way to intellectually stimulate myself, find purpose and possibly generate new employment opportunities.
Three years ago, the testimony of my life with disability, without employment, without pension rights and without financial support from the state was presented at a public hearing of the Federal District Human Rights Commission, and from that moment on the doors have been opened for me as attention was drawn to the needs of people with disabilities in Mexico.
For several years, while my MS allowed me, I worked as an independent advisor on disability rights, but as my disease advanced I was no longer able to carry out my work.

What do you think the main work-related challenges are for people with MS in Mexico and what needs to be done?
In Mexico there are Augustus laws (highly moral laws), which are accurate and complete in terms of acknowledging the rights of people with disabilities and providing assistance; there are national and local level laws and regulations regarding their implementation; and there are councils and commissions that monitor compliance, and yet in reality, Mexico remains an inaccessible country.
It was once said that Mexico was inaccessible for those with shoes, let alone for a person with a disability.
When I realised that my country does not offer employment opportunities for a person with MS, and, in general, to all those with disabilities, I wanted to share my story and claim my right to work.
I sought the legal basis that would support my argument and found the International Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (see page 21), which had not been signed or legally incorporated into national law in many parts of the world. I joined the struggle for ratification with the hope that someday it would be possible to have the equity in Mexico that people with disabilities demand, where we are able to work, to travel without limitations, to have adequate health services and live a full life with our families.
I believe that the primary challenge people with MS in Mexico currently face is the prejudice associated with chronic, incurable diseases, and it is because of these assumptions that people with MS lose their jobs. Given this situation, people hide the disease so that they do not lose their jobs, regardless of the degree of disability they may have.
Secondly, physical problems such as fatigue or other disabling symptoms are major challenges.
Employers often don’t understand fatigue and how it affects people, and having a disability means one can lose the opportunity to find a job in Mexico.
In my opinion, long-term solutions are needed to overcome the challenges. This requires a process of educating, raising awareness and informing people about MS, which, for many in Mexico, is still considered an ‘exotic’ disease.

What advice would you give others with MS?
Knowing the problems facing those with MS, I felt it necessary to seek out those who were newly diagnosed to try and help them to adjust more quickly to living with MS, without thinking that their life is over; and, on the contrary, to look for ways to find happiness in spite of the disease.

In terms of employment, my advice is to talk about MS with all of those around you, your relatives, friends, colleagues and employer. Only then will people know that we, with maybe a few changes made, can continue to be active, productive and useful.

Have you enjoyed the work you have done since leaving paid employment?
Together with my wife, Ana Silvia, I lead the association “ZOE”, supporting people with MS in our community, connecting with people via our online network and by telephone. I do not get paid for my current work; the focus is on helping association members through conferences, meetings and providing advice on learning to live with MS.

We also publicise the disease on the radio, informing the public of its existence. It is a rewarding job that I enjoy even though it is sometimes stressful and I often find myself in highly emotional situations. It is also a full-time job and Ana has to be with me all the time as I cannot be without assistance for long. Ana, who also cares for her son Mariano, gave up her role as a university lecturer in journalism to care for me.
She is also responsible for communications for the national MS society – Esclerosis Múltiple México.

I continue to write my blog, recounting anecdotes from my life and reflecting on the changes MS has made to my life and sharing my views on issues relating to the disease. This is my new job.