Happy St. Patrick's Day~! I don't have an ounce of Irish in me, but for those of you who do,  I could definitely use a little "Luck of the Irish" right about now. Of course, prayers are also welcome. 

In my last Caring Bridge journal entry, I declared it to be my last. After 3 months, I had made a full recovery from my very challenging open heart surgery to replace my aortic valve, aortic root and ascending aorta. At my checkup on Valentine's Day, I received a clean bill of health from my cardiologist, and just as important, I felt GREAT! But on March 6th, Mike woke up to me having a seizure. Poor guy. What a way to start the day.We hadn't even had our coffee yet. 😉 Because we were at our home in Scottsdale, I was rushed by ambulance to the Mayo Clinic. Kelly and David and the kids were also here on Spring Break. Mike woke them up, but luckily all three grandkids slept through the whole thing. Ambulance, firetruck, and all.

I spent a day and a half at Mayo, and had excellent care. Thank God, the scariest possible cause of a sudden seizure, a brain tumor, was ruled out by both the brain CT and MRI. The EEG testing showed that I had some abnormal brain waves happening. We were told by the neurologist that sometimes there is no clear explanation for the sudden onset of seizures. That does not sit well with me. I like to ask lots of questions, and more importantly, I like getting solid answers. Of course, this is especially true when it comes to my health and the health of my family and loved ones. After being sent home with seizure medication, which, knock on wood, seems to be doing its job, (and I have every reason to believe that it will continue to do so) I have put on my research cap and have been diving into the research on seizures, and specifically any possible correlation between seizures and open heart surgery. There are studies that are out there to support this. I have an appointment in Rochester with a neurologist on April 11th and we are expecting to see my cardiologist again as well. We have already compiled a long list of questions, thoughts, observations, and case studies. I hope the neurologist is ready for us! 😉

If I am being completely honest, this is such a bummer and it feels like a big setback. But, even with this setback, I know I am blessed. My family has rallied and is there for me now, just like they were back in November. Mike has been amazing, as always.He even slept on the floor of the hospital room to be close to me. ❤️ He also gets to be my chauffeur again, as I am not allowed to drive for the next 3 months. (We look at that as more time spent together.😊 ) I will continue to move forward, and I will be keeping up with my post surgery cardio workouts, and I am excited to start strength training again! I can't wait for the end of March when I return to volunteering with the Child Life department at Children's Hospital and at St. Vincent's NICU. I also can't wait for some upcoming newborn sessions in my photo studio, where I'll get to snuggle newborns and encourage new parents. I am really looking forward to our trip to Hawaii with our family to visit Nick and Alexa in June. I am not writing this unexpected update for sympathy, I am writing it because i believe even though this stinks, this is part of my journey. I hope that by telling not only the good news but the setbacks as well, that I can help someone else going through a similar journey. I also hope that by sharing this part of my story, that maybe there are some people out there that know of someone that this has happened to, and we can swap stories and information to help one another. I read somewhere once that the comeback is always greater than the setback, so if I keep saying that, and keep writing it, I will start to believe it, and hopefully, before too long, this setback will be a distant memory and I will overcome once again. Thanks for reading this update!
Love, Leanne