When Life Changes the Plan: My Story of a Life Pause

“In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” - Robert Frost

I am a mom. 

I am a wife. 

I am a runner.

I am a small business owner. 

And I am most definitely a planner. 

I love the start of a New Year. A 'clean slate,' as I like to call it.

2026 started with prepping for my son's graduation

The start of January is a look ahead at the new 12 months, making plans for new adventures, business goals, family time, trying new things, and more. It is when I get out my new paper calendar (yep, I do love a pencil and paper), add what I already have planned for the year, and create lists of goals and adventure ideas.

And 2026 started with an exciting change. My son was entering the last part of his Senior year and graduating in May. Talk about excitement with tears all in one. But I was excited for this journey and planning for a fun May, celebrating graduation, and starting to get him ready for college. I couldn’t wait to plan it all! Graduation was set for May 16th. 

But at the start of the year, I found myself not feeling 100%. Something was ‘off’ with me, but I wasn’t sure what. I felt more exhausted than in past years, but it was January, and for me, that is the month of ‘catch-up’ from all the holiday fun. The month to get back into your normal routine, get the house back together, return to the office, and work on planning the year … but maybe just a bit slower this time. 

In February, the exhaustion caught up to me

I started falling asleep every night at 8 PM, whether I wanted to or not. Sometimes I found myself taking a ‘cat nap’ at my desk, unaware until I was startled awake. I even fell asleep for a bit at a basketball game. Huh? And all I could think was, ‘Is this what happens as you get older?’ 

I continued falling asleep at 8 PM but was then suddenly awake between 1 and 3 AM with terrible headaches. I was used to headaches, but not these. They were not migraines, but something totally different and so painful. My headaches lasted most of the night but were much lighter during the day, so while I was exhausted, my days weren’t as bad.

March became dizzying

Come March, I started to feel off balance and struggled to walk in the morning. Had to stop running. I noticed changes in my face, with a half-smile and odd lines around my eye. It felt like my sight was ‘off’.

I was struggling to write and hang onto heavy items with my right hand, and the ringing in my left ear was getting louder. Every day I would ask myself,  “What is going on?”

I called for an appointment with my primary care doctor, but the earliest I could get in was July. July?!? The issues continued, and the headaches were getting much worse, so I knew there was no way I could wait.  I settled for an appointment with a doctor I had never seen before.

So, after several tests and more bloodwork with the new doctor, I was told I had Vertigo. I sat there thinking, Vertigo? I had never had it and didn’t know all the symptoms of it, but I didn’t think that was what I had. My doctor could see my facial features were off, and I was off balance and struggling to walk. If my bloodwork came back normal, I would start a 10-day prescription of prednisone to help the Vertigo. I told the doctor my headaches were so bad and asked about an X-ray of my head, but was told the prednisone would help with that. My bloodwork all came back fine, so I started the prescription.

At this point, I felt I was living in a fog, unsure what was going on and trying to comprehend that it was Vertigo. Over those 10 days, I felt my headaches take a slight step down in pain, but I was still struggling to walk, and the ringing in my ear was only getting louder. I started moving around a bit better, but once I finished the steroid, it all came back at full strength. I was unsteady, experiencing the bad headaches and loud ringing in my ear more. I reported back to the doctor and was told I should see an ENT.  He put in a referral, and I was told it takes 10 to 12 days to ‘organize ’–maybe they need a VA. 😂

April was hard to be present

As I waited for that referral, I was approaching the end of April. This was when my son had Senior Recognition at school, and graduation parties were being held. I was trying hard to plan and be present for it all, but it wasn't easy. I went to Senior Recognition night at the school, trying to take it all in through what felt like this continued fog. I was struggling to walk; the stairs in the auditorium were really hard, and even holding onto the rail was difficult as my strength was fading. I was happy to make it through that night. It was a special one, filled with great memories.

As I talked with some friends and family about what was going on, I received a suggestion to see a physical therapist. I got an appointment right away and went to see if I could get help with my walking and balance while I waited for the ENT appointment. This appointment included balance and walking tests, along with checking for loose crystals in my ears, but they could not pinpoint the cause of all my problems. A couple of possibilities were brought up, including vestibular migraines and Ménière’s syndrome. Sadly, there was no help for me that day.

I then thought of my chiropractor. Maybe he could help with my headaches. If my neck was ‘out of whack,’ perhaps an adjustment would help. I had been seeing my chiropractor regularly since 2020 to keep me aligned for my love of running. Maybe an adjustment could even help my balance. I made the appointment with Brock Vosberg, D.C.

What I love is that Dr. Brock knows me. Even with those half-hour appointments from month to month, he knew me as a person. And when I walked into that office, he knew I wasn’t me. I didn’t have to explain much for him to know there was something wrong. As he felt my neck for a possible adjustment, it hurt, and my head was in pain. His opinion was that I should get a scan of my head to see if there was a problem. He started calling around to some doctors to see if he could get me an appointment.

It was a Monday afternoon, and when he struggled to reach anyone directly, he encouraged me to go to the ER right away and get a scan of my head. He was concerned about the increasing issues I was experiencing and didn't think I should wait any longer to be checked.



I’m so thankful he didn’t just try to treat the symptoms and send me on my way. He knew something was wrong and did more to help me find out what was going on.

My son drove me to this appointment because I couldn’t drive, and it was his Senior Skip Day. What a way for him to spend it!

So on Monday, May 4, I headed to the ER.

I was there for seven hours getting CT scans and MRIs, and they FINALLY found the cause of all my problems – a giant (yep, giant, not large), tennis ball-sized, 6 cm, non-cancerous, slow-growing tumor called a meningioma.

The tumor had hit my brain and was pushing the brain up and over as it grew, causing me all the issues I had been experiencing. 

While I was kinda happy they found something that was causing all my problems, I did not come to the ER for a brain tumor. A brain tumor? I couldn’t believe that I had been living with a giant brain tumor.

Talk about a sudden life pause. 

Those words weren't what I expected to hear, and I sat there in shock, unsure where life was going. 

I left the ER still in my daily fog, but now with an even more overwhelming feeling. I was put on seizure and stroke medication as a precaution while I waited for surgery. 

That Wednesday, I met with what I now call the best doctor/surgeon ever, Dr. David Christianson, to go over the plan to remove the tumor and get another scan. 

My mind was racing with so many thoughts, but at that appointment, I had two important (yes, very important) questions for Dr. Christianson:

1. Can this wait until after my son’s graduation next week so I can attend?

2. When will I get to run again? (I mean, I had to know about the running.)

Dr. Christianson understood my concern with graduation approaching, but his answer was clear: no, I should not wait. The tumor needed to be removed before more damage was done. There was also a risk of having a seizure or stroke if we waited. We would take recovery day by day and see how I was doing for graduation. As for running? “I’ll talk to you about that at the 6-week mark.”

And just like that, these became my two new goals.

The ‘no wait’ for surgery was true; it was scheduled for that Friday. That gave me Thursday—ONE DAY—to tell people and clients I would be gone, shut down some work, support my son as he was entering his last week of high school, and get myself ready, all while feeling pretty crappy.

Life was going on, and I was in a zone. (You can imagine how my inner planner was freaking out!)

That Friday, May 8th, I checked in for surgery at 5 AM for a 12-hour brain surgery. Twelve hours—it didn’t seem real. I was wheeled back for surgery by 7:30 AM, and I saw my family in the ICU at 10:30 PM that night.

That was one long day.

And one crazy week I did not plan for.

I remember thinking, I am going to wake up with one big headache. But when I woke up after surgery, I was in a different room, groggy, foggy, and a bit loopy from pain meds, but with no headache. And somehow, my mind was already thinking about life— where I had left off when this crazy week began and what I had to look forward to.

It was almost as if I had picked right back up where I left off, even though I clearly wasn’t back to normal just yet.

The surgery went well. They were able to remove most of the giant tumor, except for a small portion that was too attached to my brain. It is a stage 1 meningioma that is slow-growing. I will have regular appointments with scans and MRIs to monitor everything, and if it grows, we will look at radiation. My brain has been settling back into position and healing.

I was in the hospital for four days, which included Mother’s Day. Not exactly how I planned to spend my Mother’s Day, but I did have a room full of wonderful visitors that day. 🤍

The day they said I could be discharged, my first question was, “Can I go to the graduation?”  I was so thankful that, with a few ‘rules’ to follow, I had permission to go.

And I can say that was the best day of the year. I may have had 36 staples in my head, been wearing a hat, and been hanging on as I walked, but I was not in a fog. I was awake. I was present in the day—and there, in person, at my son’s graduation, just one week after a 12-hour brain surgery. It kinda felt like a miracle. And maybe I was also on some high-powered pain meds. 😉

But I was more present than I had been all year—and without a headache. I was so blessed and thankful that my surgeon pushed me not to wait. Graduation would have been hard if I had waited.

And yes, I did begin short runs at the six-week mark.

Two goals achieved. ✔️

The doctor said the tumor may have been there and growing for years, which explains so much to me now. I feel like I woke up from surgery as a new person.

I still have a long recovery ahead, and I’m getting used to some changes (and I am not a big fan of change), including:

• A tender head incision scar and a new hair part. ((Ugh, not my FAV, but dealable. It makes washing and drying my hair a little harder now, but as a runner, I’ve always worn hats, and now that is a very good thing.)
• Some new noise in my ears.
• A sore jawline. (Never biting into a tall sandwich again.)
• Pieces of February–May coming back to me—things I don’t even remember doing. Somehow, I was still making things happen the best I could during those months.
  
• Sleep that no longer comes at 8 PM—but now takes a little more work to get.
• Trying to mentally wrap my head around the fact that I had brain surgery. I mean, I had BRAIN SURGERY?!? Definitely not something I ever planned to say.

And then there is my routine. If you know me, you know I love a routine. I’ve written about routines before, so having mine completely changed has been a big adjustment. I’m learning that getting back into a new routine takes time, too.

Overall, time will help with the healing, and I’m happy with the progress I’ve been making.

So that brings me to now: October 2026. This year clearly didn’t go the way I had planned back in January, but honestly, that’s probably a good thing.

As Robert Frost once said, “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.”

He’s not wrong – life does for sure go on, but sometimes it goes on in a completely different direction than you planned, and that’s how 2026 has been for me. 

I wanted to share this story with you for two reasons:

1. For starters, I wasn’t sure how to jump back into business, and it felt odd not to address my situation at all. I mean, I was truly forced to ghost everything for months with no warning, and I wanted a chance to explain why – not because I have to have an explanation, but because I wanted to.
2. But most importantly, I wanted to share my story to encourage you to listen to your body and advocate for yourself. I knew for YEARS that something didn’t feel right; it just wasn’t until this year that I was really faced with begging for real help. And I’m so glad, and thankful, that I did!

All of that to say, Virtually Brady is back(ish). It will take some time to get the business back up and running exactly how it was, and if I’m being totally honest, it feels like I’m starting from scratch. I feel like a beginner again, and I’m learning to be okay with that. 

But I’m SO excited to be back doing what I love, which is supporting other small business owners. I’m living proof that you literally never know what life is going to hand you, and having support in your corner as a business owner is one of the best ways to handle the curveballs.

And I would love to be that support for you! You can CLICK HERE to learn more about the services I offer as a virtual assistant. 

Here’s to making the last few months of 2026 truly the best they can be!