Meet Dee

My Story

Have you ever felt like you had to start over?

I had a great life. I was a professor at a university, I wore designer suits, had an office with a window. I was engaged to a guy who “got me”. We bought my dream house. High ceilings, wooden floors, a treelined street. We had a beautiful summer wedding in the mountains of North Carolina and honeymooned in a lighthouse on an island off the coast of Maine. On the honeymoon I kept thinking my glasses were dirty. Eventually I realized it wasn’t my glasses. I was losing the sight in my right eye. Scott and I went to play tennis? I just dropped the racket. I couldn’t see the ball.

When we got home the optometrist sent me to the opthamologist who, after having me look at bunch of flashing bright lights, diagnosed optic neuritis. He handed me a pamphlet and said, no one knows why people get it and there’s nothing I can do…

But it wasn’t just my eye, the whole right side of my face hurt, like I had the flu on one side of my head. I just felt awful. So, so tired. I had to find out what was wrong.

My primary care physician sent me to an ENT. The ENT sent me to the neurologist–using the back door approach. He couldn’t fit me in to the regular schedule and apparently they were considering me an emergency so it was off to the hospital. I still remember the sunrise when Scott drove me and how neither of us commented on its beauty.

7 hours after check-in the neurologist swept into the room with his metal clipboard. He proceeded to give me tests. “Roll your arms this way. Now that way. Stand on one foot. Put your finger on your nose. Lay down. I’m going to scrape the bottom of your foot with this plastic card…”

Not bad! I thought, wow! I’m doing really well. I’ll probably get an A on this one. He scribbled on his pad and asked, has anything ever happened you couldn’t explain? I sat straight. Yeah. “Seven years ago I went numb on my left side. I was in school and the infirmary had no clue.”

He snapped the clipboard shut. “When you rolled your arms? You never used your left arm. When I scraped your foot? You had a Babinski response. Your toe pulled back instead of moving forward. You’ve got Multiple Sclerosis.”

It felt like the ground disappeared. With nothing left to hold me up. The disease could attack any part of me at any time. I thought to myself, oh my god,will my arms stop working while I’m driving? Will I go blind? Will I be paralyzed?

Before the diagnosis I had all my plans lined up, like a stack of dominoes. I’d get married, have children, live in my dream house, be a strong independent woman. I’d be a great wife, mother, professor. I’d entertain, have lots of friends, stay in great shape, play tennis…I had so many dominoes lined up I could’ve tiled the kitchen floor.

And in slow motion, each domino crashed into the next. I’d get so tired, if I were starving and a plate of food sat across the room? I wouldn’t be able to get it. Crash. A domino fell. No energy meant no children, no travel, no job, no dinner parties, my herb garden shriveled. Crash. No more tennis I couldn’t see the ball. Crash. Stay in shape? I was so depressed I ate myself into stretch pants and Scott’s t-shirts. Crash. Not such a great wife, family member or any other role I’d envisioned. I just tried to stay sane and protect my energy level. It wasn’t pretty. Crash.

I needed help. And it took me years to find the right kind. I tried a special MS diet, vitamin B-12 shots, yoga, therapy, volunteer work, little jobs…nothing freed me from my dog-tired, defeated self.

Nothing, that is, until I found the right kind of help. A Life Coach. She helped me realize I had to SWEEP every single domino off the table. All my dreams, all my expectations, all the ideas of normal. I had to THROW THEM AWAY…and start over.

And it has been… a bizarre, uninvited second shot. A “do-over”. And this time, with the help of my coach, I wrote my own playbook. It’s not a hand-me-down. It’s mine. And I’ve never been more connected to who I really am. Never more engaged with the world. Never more confident I’m using my time and living…authentically.

What about you? Is there something inside whispering…shouting “I want another shot! I’m tired of this, I want to write my own playbook.” If there is, it’s so important to listen to yourself. Are you ready for a do-over? I’ll walk with you through the process. Step by step. We’ll send your dominos flying. We’ll reinvent your life, your way.

Dee’s Background

With over 25 years experience in corporate, entrepreneurial and academic settings and living with Multiple Sclerosis for more than 22 years, Dr. Dee truly understands the various barriers anyone can face in life. She quickly and clearly enables her clients to identify obstacles and learn valuable take-away tools to work through life’s toughest challenges to clarity, goal fulfillment and life success.

As a Personal Success Coach, Speaker and Author she has helped hundreds find the answers to their most troubling questions…within themselves.

Dee holds a PhD, MBA and is a CPA. Her coach training is through CoachU, the leading, internationally recognized institution for professional coaching. She is credentialed by the International Coach Federation and is a member of the San Antonio Professional Coaches Association

Dee lives in San Antonio with her husband, Scott, and their two dogs. Dee and Scott and are a “Big Couple” at Big Brothers, Big Sisters and Dee regularly donates her services to nonprofit organizations.