Hello everyone-

I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since my last open heart surgery. A lot has happened in that time and I’m thankful for every minute of good health.

I am now retired for medical reasons (more on that) and am blessed to have a loving family and circle of friends. In late 2020, after several consults based upon a suspicion by my then incredible PCP, I received a diagnosis of mitochondrial myopathy after a muscle biopsy and several specialized labs. In short, this is a progressive disease of energy metabolism that impacts multiple body systems.

In true fashion I tackled this head on with the goal of enjoying good health and exercise capacity as long as possible. However, year by year, that capacity has been whittled away. The muscle soreness I’ve experienced after exercise despite being fit in my late teens progressed to 24/7 pain and stiffness. I gradually have had to adjust things I enjoy doing such as golf, paddle boarding, hiking, etc. I still continued to work full time as an RN but gradually work became all I could do without serious penalty on my time off.

I proudly served as the assistant coach for my son’s high school volleyball team from 2020-2023, an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. I’m still not sure how I managed the 15 hour days but I dug deep.

On Easter Sunday, 2025, my son and I decided to go paddle boarding as my husband had to sleep to get ready for his next shift at work (he’s a nurse as well). It was a hot day and it had been years since we were on the water. We packed up but I clearly underestimated the energy too on that plus getting our inflatable boards on the water. We finally got on our local reservoir after 11:30 am and set out. My son, now 19, was clearly much stronger at it than before. I paddled across the lake, without falling, but was exhausted. I rested a bit and despite feeling shaky I paddled back to the dock. I quickly retrieved a snack from the car but soon after started vomiting and couldn’t stand or open my eyes. We called 911 and I was taken to Stanford hospital where they confirmed I was in a mito crash with elevated lactic acid levels. I was admitted and received multiple liters of IV fluid. I was able to go home approximately 9 hours later. I recovered quickly and only missed a day of work.

For the rest of 2025 I continued working full time, but as the year wound down, I was in a nasty car accident in November. I was rear ended shortly after leaving work while stopped in traffic and hit so hard that my car was totaled and air bags deployed. I believe this cascaded into a worsening of postural muscle symptoms that made sitting/standing/driving extremely painful. There were days I would drive home in tears from the pain.

Then, in mid-February 2026, I had two more smaller mito crashes with nausea/vomiting/weakness after just doing everyday things like a Target trip followed by laundry. It was at this time that my wonderful husband told me to stop killing myself for work and to just retire.

I went out on disability immediately and retired in late March after a 30 year career as an RN. I was devastated to leave my wonderful job and team but knew it was the best thing for my health and wellness.

I spent the next couple of months enjoying lunches with friends, family outings, and my son’s concerts. Until last week…