Self-Care Navigation for Professionals

With me as your hired speaker you will get raw human emotions. You will get subject matter that is sensitive surrounding suicide, cancer, mental health and other major life changing circumstances. I will use well-timed and appropriate humor throughout because that is the person that I am. There will be references to the mental health system and critiques and praises of our health care system in general.

There will also be times where I reference the work that I do and things about my personal life to relate to the audience. The target audience is for professionals who work in the healthcare field; specifically group home, adult foster care, nursing home, and other CRS setting staff. Directors, Managers, and Leaders of any kind will be able to learn about what resources I was able to use and what I have learned about through my experiences in hopes it will help any professionals that take care of others to take the steps to take better care for themselves.

I am a 35 year old former Director and Administrator for AFC homes throughout the state. I worked my way up to my position through education and experience beginning at direct care. I grew up in Northern Minnesota before moving to central MN in 2010. I played for 3 different rugby teams through my adult life after 10 years of being a catcher in baseball and softball. Teamwork has been embedded into mind from a young age, which has helped me to become the leader that I am today!

April 5th, 2020 was the day that changed my life forever. After a year of severe illness and new diagnoses with a variety of chronic ailments, my depression and anxiety began to take it's toll. With COVID and quarantines I spent much of my time outside of work alone in my apartment. I could not have visitors because I was sick and at high risk of getting sick. The loneliness, the lack of human connection, and not having an end in sight left me hopeless. My job was the only thing giving me a sense of purpose, and even that had me working from home so often due to illness that my depression only got worse. April 5th I walked myself out of an inpatient adult mental health unit after a failed suicide attempt left me needing medical care. With the help of great friends I decided I needed to check myself in. It was time to take care of myself and start my new life with a long "to-do" list.

Once I was out, I got a pet and began a 6 week outpatient hospitalization program where I learned DBT skills and worked with a psychiatrist to assist with my mental health and medication management. I was able to take some time on leave to repair my personal self from the person I allowed myself to become. Which ended up helping my career and myself as a professional flourish even more. I began being more optimistic and motivated not only at work, but in my life again as well.

With a good sense of humor and quick wit I gain friendships and working relationships that add so much vibrancy to my life. My emotional support animal, Arthur Lewis, is my best friend and has been one of the most important players in my recovery. He was also a mascot of sorts in the office. When I was in recovery I was able to reconnect with a friend I had made through my previous employer. We shared similar experiences and had an understanding of each other that was so peaceful for both of us. We ended up falling in love and getting married. I’ve since ended up homeless with divorce creeping up because of my cancer’s toll it took on us and my abilities.

In November of 2020, I went to a fertility doctor to see what things were like for me as my spouse and I wanted to have a child together. This is where it was discovered that I had an abnormal cyst on my ovary that needed to be removed. The pathology came back with malignancies. I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I needed to recover to have another surgery to remove that ovary and tube. I then needed to recover so I could begin a rigorous chemotherapy regimen. I just recently began getting cleared for my 4th year in remission. I am passionate about my story and truly believe that my story could help change someone's life someday. That is the story that I would like to share with the world.

I like to stand in front of people and talk. If you throw a microphone in my hand I can talk to a lot more people. If you put me on a stage, they will see me better. I am very adaptable to the environments that are given to me. Seating for the audience, and a tall chair for me to take seats at when my legs or back decide they want to take a break due to my current cancer treatment side effects.