As my symptoms continued and the details in the following posts played out, I discovered the first important message I wanted to share along whatever journey I would end up taking. As colleagues and friends told me I had seemed “off”, was favoring my left side, and I was crashing into things inside my apartment that I had never even brushed against before, I thought “that was really deviant from my baseline existence up to that point”. And that is Soapbox #1 that I have stepped onto many times since: Know your personal baseline. If you diverge from it and things do not improve, check it out. And, do not assume you know what is going on with you. I was so convinced I had a sinus infection, I wouldn’t have listened to any other possibility. The sum of my experience and feedback and concern from my family, friends and colleagues, was completely lost on me. I heard what I wanted to hear. So, if you fall off track, be open to new possibilities. Also, please, know the baseline behavior and capacities of those you hold dear and/or interact with on a regular basis. Call them out on the change. Push them to get checked out, and if they report nothing was found and they remain off the rails, don’t stop pushing...push harder. I realize it is a delicate situation to tell a loved one, or a colleague or a leader in any organization that you are worried about them and then to stay on them until they have an answer as to why they are “off”. I had many excuses why I seemed “off” and I Appreciate everyone who did call me out. If they had pushed harder, I likely would have fallen back on my excuses. This may sound like I am blaming people around me for not pushing me. That is in no way the case.
Up next “The Craziest Week of my Life - Diagnosis”.
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