Be-YOU-tiful Adaptive Warrior

AMI Procedure and The Future of Amputations Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital   “For 200 years there has been no real difference in amputation; it’s technique and how it’s done.” Do you know anything in our world that hasn’t evolved in 200 years? No! This was a statement that Dr. Carty stated today in our conversation and I was in disbelief. How could t...

Setbacks to Comebacks   Life is full of ups and downs and as an amputee we must realize that we will face many more challenges, past the amputation itself, years later. For one, our sound side becomes extremely important to us. Taking care of our good joints while still trying to live a full and healthy life yet protecting what we have left becomes a balancing act and can be very scaring when...

Dealing With Stress to Alleviate Phantom Pain   Ahhh, stress! It wouldn’t be a day or a week without something triggering stress. A bid decision, a deadline, a fight with a friend, or even traffic! As amputees we also face the uphill battles of healing, socket fittings, sores and painful steps, and phantom pains. Sometimes it feels like we never get a break. It feels like the weight of...

The Latest Research Behind Phantom Pain   You may have heard the saying, “Mind over Matter” a few times in your life. I know I have, but did you know that it is more than just a saying? Did you know that our brains are capable of helping us cope when we struggle, especially when we deal with pain? Today I learned how the brain can actually help us changing the way we think and per...

Loss/Limb Difference Awareness Month 2025   Garrison Hayes and Eric Gutierrez-Camacho Colorado State University John McCollough: MIT Ophelie Herve: UCLA Mira Mutnick, Jake Kanetis, and Marty Kilbane Colorado State University Dan Levine: MIT As April comes to a close we say a huge thank you to all of the university students ts who came on to share what they have been working on, in the fields...

MIT Dan Levine   As we wrap up this Limb Loss/Limb Difference Awareness month I am also interviewing my final university student who has been working towards his PhD at MIT. Dan started his journey at Cornell with a degree in Mechanical engineering and Computer Science and is about to graduate from MIT with his doctorate in Media Arts and Sciences. Dan had a fascinating beginning as he was ab...

University of Michigan Mira Mutnik, Jake Kanetis, and Marty Kilbane     Amazing conversation with not 1, not 2, but 3 PhD students at the University of Michigan this week! A true, authentic conversation about the innovation and design of future prosthesis and the growth and research of creating a surgical procedures to aid in using these newly designed prosthesis all with the purpose of...

Limb Loss Awareness Month UCLA: Ophelie Herve   As we come into our third week of April Limb Loss/Limb Difference Awareness month I am so excited to have a female voice in the engineering program from UCLA on our podcast today. Ophelie was  born in France and came with her family here to the United States at an early age. In high school she reflects on watching the news when the Boston Marath...

Limb Loss Awareness Month MIT: John McCollough   John is a student at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts working towards his Masters and PhD in Medical Engineering. I met him a year and half ago when he reached out to see if I was interested in coming to MIT for a Gait Study that he was assisting a student working toward his PhD. Of course I said Yes!   This is what it looks like when you a...

Limb Loss Awareness Month 2025 Colorado State University: MediFlex Prosthetics LLC   CSU MediFlex Prosthetics team   Here we are again for the month of April and bringing awareness to the Limb Loss/Limb Difference community. Every year, in the month of April, I shift gears on my podcast and create a theme centered on the amputee community and interview people versus talking from my perso...

The Reality of the Numbers and What We Can Do About It   The stats on amputees is staggering. In the US 1 in 200 people have undergone amputation! Over 2.1 million people live with an amputated limb. Worldwide, 1 million ampuatations happen annually, that’s 1 amputation every 30 seconds!!!   1 EVERY 30 SECONDS! Amputee Coalition’s diagram of statistics taken from Promedeast.c...

Knowing Your Identity and Accepting It   We, as a society, place a lot of value on how we look. A first impression, sort of thing. A “judge a book by the cover” value. But we all know that the physical makeup of a person doesn’t give us the whole picture. As women, we are bombarded by makeup ads, weightless products, fashion trends for petite sizes and magazine covers showin...

Faith and Connections   Just the other day I met a lovely woman in a wheelchair. My first instinct was to smile  but then I looked down, only to see that this kindly older lady was missing part of her limb. She was a below knee amputee. She was being pushed around the store by a younger man, a caretaker, in her wheelchair when she noticed me and my prosthesis.  She asked him to back up and pu...

Goal Setting and Climbing Your “Mountain”   Nothing in life that’s worth achieving is going to come easy. Working toward a goal, putting your best foot forward and sweating through it makes achieving it all the more sweet. Why would becoming an amputee be anything different? If you were active before your amputation, then you know what can be done with a lot of work, grit, a...

Building Strength For a Better Future     If you are a new amputee or an amputee who hasn’t been wearing their prosthesis for one reason or another we need to talk. What are you doing to prepare your body for movement? Balance is so important in preventing falls, even when being silly!   After becoming an amputee you spend weeks healing only to find yourself getting use the we...

Making Mobility Great Again, One Prosthesis at a Time   When I walked into The Limb Center office prior to amputation I met Randy West and David Banks for the first time.   They are a Phoenix based company   From that moment on, they were there for me, reassuring me that I could do this, that they would make sure I had the best fit and they asked about my hopes and dreams as I enter...

Morning Routines to Get Motivated   Life as an amputee is already hard enough just learning to live without a limb that, for most of us, we were born with.  However, what you don’t know is the little things, the minutia of everyday tasks that can sometimes be enough to halt you in your tracks. I got an interesting question the other day, one I haven’t been asked before: “How...

It’s Always “No” If You Don’t Ask When it comes to the world around you, the old adage, “You catch more flies with honey, than vinegar”, still holds true. As an amputee, I have seen this firsthand. When I smile at someone, they smile back. If I say Hello with a smile, I start a conversation and usually educate someone who is curious. And when I ask questions, th...

Healing and Finding Purpose   This Illinois, born and raised, girl never knew she had a connection to the ocean. It’s a beautiful thing to find in yourself so late in life. It was surprising, and breathtaking when it happened. Many years ago my family moved to Florida for a job. I never thought I would leave Illinois, EVER! All of my family and my husband’s family live there. That...

Do You Have These Two Ingredients?   My people, My “Why” Chicago Family: My roots and the people who believe in me   You need People and you need a positive mindset! It’s that simple… OK, maybe it’s not simple but the solution to getting the most out of life usually comes from these two things and you can make the changes for yourself, not having to rely on...

Getting Through the Tough Times   Oh the nights are so tough! Have you been there? Have you laid in the utter darkness and the quiet is deafening, the pain is unbearable, and you feel like you will ever get through this moment of phantom pain? Yep, the reality is, we all go through it at some point or another, to varying degrees. The last two nights, for me, have started great, I feel asleep...

Time to Challenge Yourself     As 2024 fades away and 2025 takes control let’s take time to look back and reflect on the ups and downs of the past year. We all have had those moments we achieved some sort of milestone, we have also had those moments we never want to relive. I’m hopeful that you had some time at the end of last year and the first week of this year to relax, re...

Start Today!   Start Now! Today! What are you waiting for?   I know, I know, it’s the holidays. You are busy and can’t find the time. Me too! But, if you are serious about your goals, and know your ‘WHY’ then get to it. I am not, nor have I ever been, a fan of “New Years Resolutions”. For a majority of people it is a procrastination technique to get th...

Tis the Season     As we enter the holiday season: Special gatherings and parties, Gift giving and making, Cooking and baking, And traveling and to see friends and family create a very busy month or two.   As amputees it can have a toll on our bodies as we try to do it all. If you are new to being an amputee, try to remember that it’s ok to ask and accept help, it’s ok to not have e...

Moving Into the Right Mindset This Holiday   As an amputee I have so much to be grateful for in my life. I am blessed to be alive.   My horses make me be present   I am thankful for my husband, two healthy sons, and a family who loves me.             I am grateful to be able to walk again, just to name a few.     Do I ever look back on the day...