Be-YOU-tiful Adaptive Warrior

Let’s Get Real     You’ve been through a lot. You had an amputation, you’ve healed, you’ve gotten fitted for your first socket. Today you go in to put it all together and walk out the door and on with your life, right? Easy Peasy! Yes! It’s the most exciting, most freeing day in an amputee’s life, for most people, however it doesn’t end there, an...

Taking Action During “Construction”     We are all a work in progress. That’s life, right? We all have those moments where you feel you are working on something in your life. Your health, a career, or relationships, you name it. But what do you do in these moments? How do you continue to grow and better yourself during the construction? It all starts within you. We begi...

A Journey of a Thousand Miles Must Begin With a Single Step -Lao Tzu.   Traveling is exciting but can also be stressful. Packing the right clothing for the weather, the events, and what makes you feel amazing. You try to pack neatly and concisely so you can pack everything you want and need. As an amputee, things become a little more confusing and worrisome. What will you need? What MUST come...

Setting Goals & Thinking Positively to Live The Life of Your Dreams     Successful people know how to succeed and what it takes to succeed. So what is it? What do they know that you don’t? Everyone knows that hard work pays off and that practice makes permanence. But what separates you from someone who is doing the very thing you want to do, too? Now, of course there is DNA inv...

Healing Physically, Adapting Mentally and Emotionally   Amputation isn’t just the act of amputating a limb. It isn’t just surgery, heal, and walk. This is a process. It takes time, money, patience, and a whole lot of grit! Unfortunately, most patients that knowingly go into amputation surgery can’t comprehend the struggles to come. For those who didn’t choose or prep f...

Knowing Who and What To Ask About Amputation     Becoming an amputee is so surreal. Electing to have it done is a choice I never thought I would have to make. It brings about fears, anxieties, questions, and so much uncertainty. How do you know life will be better? What if I can’t wear a prosthesis? Will I walk again or will I be in a wheelchair the rest of my life? How long does i...

  This has been a weekend! Everything was set up perfectly. A family getaway for a long weekend, before our youngest goes back to college, and bringing the dogs to see the ocean for the first time. I couldn’t be happier! We got to Carlsbad, California Friday late afternoon and took our pups for a walk. Dinner came and we fed them as normal but around 9:00 pm my year and half old pup sta...

That is the Question Amputation is a difficult road, one that can change direction quickly, even after you heal. For many amputees the surgical side of their life isn’t over. Many of us end up needing a TMR surgery or even a revision, while others will have to amputate even higher! Going from a below knee to an above knee amputation is life changing because one amputation is completely different f...

Amputation is a tough road. If you make the decision to amputate or if your limb is taken from you by accident or disease it’s a bumpy ride, right from the get go. Most people assume that once you get through the surgical part and physically heal that you are back to life as usual. that couldn’t be farther from the truth. As an amputee with 6 1/2 years of experience I can tell you that...

Letting Go and Leaning In   I have been an amputee for 6 1/2 years, but before that I had a taekwondo injury that took me through 5 years, 10 surgeons and 10 surgeries, plus a blood clot to decide it was time to start living again and make the biggest decision of my life. Alone in the decision, I was not. I had an amazing support system with my husband, two boys and my family back home. I had...

We Need Each Other     We are creatures built to live in community. This gives us a safe place to celebrate in great times, gain support in the bad ones, and everything in between. Talking with people, sharing our journeys and stories, our ups and downs with others, plus listening to our friends and community during their moments is a beautiful symphony of give and take that allows us to...

The AMI Procedure and Magneto Micrometry   This week I was honored to have back on my podcast, Dr Hugh Herr. Hugh is a bilateral below knee amputee and a professor of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT. He directs the MIT Biomechatronics Group and Co-directs the K. Lisa Yang Center for Bionics. Time Magazine coined Hugh the ‘Leader of the Bionic Age’. He has also authored and co-autho...

Life after Revision Surgery for an Amputee     I must have been crazy, right? To CHOOSE to revise my amputation! To go from being uber active to starting over?!?! Golfing on Kauai   Having fun catching waves   At the beginning of this interview process, to be eligible for the AMI procedure, I was very interested in the idea of being a part of something so “cutting edge&#8...

Starting Over Isn’t Easy   Who would choose to take a harder road, isn’t life hard enough? And who would decide to start over after working hard to be high functioning? What would possess someone to put that sort of challenge in front of them? Last October I was approached by Dr. Carty’s office, in Boston, if I was interested in doing a study with them. I decided to learn mo...

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...