HOW WE GOT HERE
What Does Grow Thru it Mean?
I am looking for opportunities to grow through this experience. Its not happening TO us - we are living our lives and now this is a part of it. How do we take this as an opportunity for growth. As Kris Carr (Crazy,Sexy, Cancer) says,"I won't call it a gift, because I wouldn't give it to you." But, I am comfortable calling it an opportunity for growth.
How we got here….
On June 24th, I woke up in the ER with doctors and nurses asking if I’d ever had a seizure before… “I had a seizure?! Does my husband know?”
“Yes. He called the ambulance”
Because of covid, they didn’t let him come back with me right away… the ER doc was able to call and get him back with me. An MRI later, Dr.Berger says, there is something on the MRI – a tumor. Do you need a minute? We look at each other (what is a minute going to do? We need more information, next steps…)
Backing up a bit - were there signs/symptoms? Now, looking back - I had some weakness on my left side (hand/arm) that I thought maybe I had tweaked something in my shoulder while working out but also some hand dexterity issues - trouble braiding my hair, putting on an earring, difficulty typing. And learning about my behavior during the major seizure (excessive sweating, violent shaking - I broke our bed), it seems that the week before, I likely had a minor seizure in the night( woke up to go to the bathroom and broke out in excessive sweat and fell on the bathroom floor). went back to bed and fell asleep, was fine the next morning. I did a tele-med visit due to Covid and saw a primary care physician the next week - they scheduled me for nerve testing. Who puts that together and thinks brain tumor?!
I also was having a few cognitive issues, now that we are reflecting but with Covid and working from home, I had attributed them to losing professional confidence via constant zoom meetings - had even reached out to my mentor about the zoom nervousness.
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Rough Timeline: https://www.growingthruit.com/post/timeline
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About me:
I’m Katie - a 38 year old major gift fundraiser working in collegiate athletics and a strengths-based personal coach and reside in Charlotte, NC. I’ve been lucky to be in good health prior to this - I eat mostly healthy (minus the occasional wing night). Brad and I met doing Crossfit and we bike and run regularly.
Katie holds an MA in Higher, Adult and Lifelong Education (HALE) from Michigan State University and a BA from Ohio Northern University in communications. She holds graduate certificates in Organization Development and Change from Penn State World Campus and Strengths-Based Coaching from the College of Executive Coaching (CEC). Katie is currently the director of major gifts for the Charlotte 49ers Athletics Foundation at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Previously, she served as the employer developer for Penn State Career Services and director of major gifts for Penn State’s Smeal College of Business. She has spent the past 13 years working in higher education, having also served in major gift fundraising and alumni relations roles at Michigan State University. Prior to her work in higher education, Katie worked in nonprofit management as the chapter vice president of ABC Las Vegas. She was also co-advisor of Penn State’s Women in Business chapter. Katie is currently a member of Charlotte’s Women’s Impact Fund. Learning about personal well-being in our daily lives gets Katie out of bed in the morning. She derives her joy from learning new and innovative ways to apply positive psychology-based principles to our professional and personal lives. Her top 5 strengths are Activator, Adaptability, Maximizer, Strategic, and WOO.
