Norine Thomason
Norine Thomason has been caregiver to her husband Bill since he was diagnosed in 1969 with multiple sclerosis, which progressed significantly over time. They are very supportive of each other. She says that the family has worked around the challenges of MS and tried to carry on as normally as possible, although caring proved difficult at times. The breadwinner in the family, she worked as an elementary school administrative assistant until she retired several years ago. Her workplace offered her the flexibility to attend to him when needed. She realized that she couldn’t advance her career because she needed to be able to go home to him at a moment’s notice. She raised two children and acted as both mother and father at times. The family faced financial dilemmas, such as paying for the children’s university education, as well as home renovations and vehicle modifications for him to live as comfortable as possible. She is an active volunteer at the MS Society, http://mssociety.ca/en/.
