My Adventures In Neuroscience: Part 2

Last year I posted about my very personal adventures with neuroscience in the hunt for a diagnosis and treatment for some neuro ailment I was dealing with. Since we’re heading into conference season and folks are asking me my plans for attending events, it seems appropriate to give an update.

The short version is that after many tests and consultations with great doctors we have gotten close to at least narrowing down the suspects and tracing some possibly causative (and certainly correlative) relationships between my symptoms, and made huge strides in dealing with some of those issues, but a definitive diagnosis and effective treatment remain elusive.

What that means is that although the frequency and severity of my little episodes have decreased dramatically from their peak, they are still occurring with irritating frequency. I’m exceedingly grateful for the progress that has been made so far, but there is still a ways to go to put this fully behind me. I’ll be working hard this year with some great specialists to figure this out and deal with it. In the meantime, we know it’s not anything too scary, so although the symptoms stink, in the big scheme of things it isn’t that bad and will be OK.

The single biggest professional impact of this situation is on my travel schedule: seizure-like episodes and planes make for poor traveling companions, nor am I anxious to experience one of these events on stage or even in a crowd of folks, despite the obvious entertainment aspects for some. So, for the time being it will be rare for me to travel to events. That is incredibly disappointing because not only will I be missing some events I was planning to participate in by Qualtrics, UTA, Confirmit, Toluna, NMSBA, ARF & MRIA, but I will be missing my own IIeX events in Amsterdam in Santiago. That is a bummer. However, through Gen2 Advisors we’ve built a world-class team of folks who bring more to the table than I do, so in many cases my colleagues will attend in my stead. Welcome to the vicarious life!

On the bright side, IIeX North America is here in Atlanta this year, so although I may not be up on stage as much as normal (a small blessing for attendees), I will absolutely be there and we’re planning the event to make it “Lenny-proof”.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to leverage technology to be an active virtual presence when and where I can in order to give back to the industry that has given me so much over the last 14 years.

I also want to use this post as an opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has offered their encouragement, support, flexibility and patience as I’ve dealt with this little issue. I am truly blessed to be a part of this wonderful industry and to have so many colleagues that I am also honored to call friends. It means a lot.