Month: July 2025

The Secret Sauce

The Secret Sauce

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:40 — 39.7MB)

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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 friends rallying around me and a church I belonged to. However, I was exhausted.

I had put so much energy into saving my leg that I had depleted all of my positivity and resolve. How was I ever going to come terms with cutting off my leg?

Today I want to share with you all my story of Faith. I feel it is time to be true to myself and honor my beliefs.

I could NOT have done this without my “Secret Sauce”.

I get asked a lot how I handled making this big decision and how I keep going despite the pains and trials of being one leg down. I did NOT do it alone, but it takes something more than cheerleaders in my life. No, my “secret sauce” is greater than anything else, greater than my own drive or perfectionism. I needed to find peace and purpose in my decision.

If you are struggling my hope is that this brings some answers and help for you. Maybe you are curious as to where my positivity comes from or my resolve. Today I share my profound experience with my Faith that changed EVERYTHING in a moment…and I have never looked back.

I hope my experience helps you and opens a door you never knocked on. Let me know. Reach out to me with your own profound experience with faith over fear, or just let me know how you struggle. I would love to help you through my own challenges. There is no need to go it alone or to feel abandoned. You have a great cheer;eager in your corner that wants you to live a great life. Trust and look up, Warriors!

 

I hope you all have a blessed day and as always,

‘Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be You!!

 

Much love,

Hand Me That Weight

Hand Me That Weight

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:46 — 27.7MB)

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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 feel valued and to give value to others.

I feel that when I hear people struggling that the one thing they are missing is connections with others and the outside world. I notice that about me too.

This past week after sutures were removed I decided I was in need of MY community,  the gym.

 

First day back at the gym since surgery on June 20

 

Despite the nerves I was feeling about walking thru the doors, missing my leg and clomping around on crutches, I felt at home and ready to push myself again.

People who knew me “showed up” for me with thumbs up, smiles, and positive comments that made me feel valued and supported. I was on cloud nine and pumped to be back again!

Those endorphines were ROCKIN’!

How about you?

Are you feeling alone and stuck?

Check below for some tips:

 

 

You were meant to deal with life in a community.

It doesn’t have to be huge, just people who love you, support you, are real with you, and hear you.

It is also. place where you can reciprocate those values through being a great listener.

Remember; Give and Take.

So this week, FIND YOUR COMMUNITY!

Women amputees, join my virtual meet ups through Facebook Events on Zoom, every Wednesday at either 4:00 pm or 8:00 pm EDT.

Pick up the phone and connect with a friend.

Get back to what you love, even if you’re on crutches or in a wheelchair. Time to ditch the vanity, and embrace the moment you are in right now, it won’t be forever. And if it is, even more reason to embrace it NOW! This is you, time to move forward.

If you like the gym, find a way to get there.

If you love book clubs, join one and create a new community for yourself.

Maybe you have a neighbor who would love some company, wouldn’t you?

It’s time!

Community also means you have people from whom you can ask help. I know for many of us, asking for help looks like we are conceding and are weak, but I am learning that asking for help is a sign of growth and knowing that in this moment, I can’t do everything I want to be able to do. You aren’t giving up or quitting, just accepting limits right now.

So get out there, connect, make new friends, reach out to old ones and live your life where you are at right now! Don’t wait for things to be perfect, that time will never come.

Make your life what you want, start now.

Rise up, dear Warriors, you are worthy!

 

Have a blessed week.

And as always,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!

 

Much love,

 

 

 

Dr Hugh Herr: Bionics and Beyond

Dr Hugh Herr: Bionics and Beyond

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:22 — 27.9MB)

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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-authored over 350 peer-reviewed manuscripts and patents, chronicling the science and technology behind his many innovations.

Dr. Hugh Herr is, in short, making huge contributions in the amputee community, giving amputees a hopeful future in living active and healthy lives.

Today, we discuss the AMI procedure (agonist-antagonist myoneural interface) which is the surgery I just had done in Boston with Dr Matthew Carty (co-creator of this surgery with Hugh) on June 20.

I was back in the MIT Media Lab over a year and a half ago, when I first met Hugh while I was a control group to test their bionic knee based on my traditional amputation.

Little did I know that less than two years later I would undergo groundbreaking surgery to improve my limb and prepare my body to use the myoneural knee that is soon to be made commercial.

This is exciting and unbelievable technology that brings hope and excitement to me, as an amputee, because we are going to see a huge change in our mobility based on this type of procedure plus the bionics, 3D printed sockets, and the Magneto Micrometry that is coming out of MIT!

 

Hugh working with a PhD student on the “bionic” knee. Photo credit. Jimmy Day/MIT Media Lab

 

Amputees, get excited for what is coming!

Our future looks so bright and we are going to have technology on our side so we can reach our goals and dream big dreams!

 

Listen in as Hugh takes us through everything coming down the MIT Media Lab pipeline and how it’ll work together to make us stronger, healthier, and more capable than ever before!

Warriors, this is incredible and inspiring!

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, Hugh, for taking time out of your very busy schedule to speak with me and bring more visibility to our future as amputees and for all the innovations and dedication to making us more complete and more than capable than we ever thought possible.

We appreciate you and all of your students and colleagues at MIT and MassGeneral.

 

For more information on the AMI procedure check out my June 9, 2025 episode with Dr. Matthew Carty HERE

And for a more in depth conversation with Dr. Hugh Herr about his journey, you can listen HERE

 

If you have any questions or thoughts on these technological advancements, please reach out to me and let’s have a conversation!

Hope you all have a beautiful week ahead.

And as always,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!!

 

Much love,

 

Starting Over and Facing Fears

Starting Over and Facing Fears

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:36 — 28.6MB)

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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” (pun intended) and chose to continue through the several interview steps to see if I was even eligible.

When it came down to having to go out to Boston for a face to face interview I knew that it was getting very real and that the decision to have it done was going to be all mine. That’s when I started to second guess myself and the reason why I would want to go through that again.

Decisions need to be made, but with a good, clear reason and with no doubts. I couldn’t do something like that again, and have my family be put out because of it… and what if? What if I was as good as I could get? What if I feel more phantom pains? What if, this time I get an infection and start down a harder road than ever before?

I will tell you that I never put those questions in my head or spoke of them before the surgery, but the reality is, those are the concerns that hide in the dark, when you are anxious, vulnerable, weak. These are the doubts that create fear, and then stop us from charging forward and achieving greatness.

Needless to say, my CT scan showed something that had to be dealt with that had nothing to do with the AMI and everything to do with the pains I had been dealing with for 6 years! THAT was what made my decision one I was at peace with. Now here I am 3 weeks post-op.

Starting PT the day after surgery and having those flooding pains upon walking

 

My biggest support and the guy who has always had my back! <3

 

Back at the hotel and trying to rest

 

Fear is such a disabling emotion. It stops us from trying new things, meeting new people, and reaching our goals.

I don’t know about you but I don’t want to live a life where I’m not reaching out and living a full and amazing life because fear holds me back.

What fears are stopping you? What goals are you not hitting because you worry about the “What ifs”?

 

 

This week and each day in it I want you to face a fear!

It doesn’t have to be huge, like jumping from a plane, but what’s holding you back from living a full and happy life?

What scares you?

What goals have you been sitting on because something keeps you from achieving them, that YOU control?

Let’s face those fears together and start living!

You are a warrior, you need to believe it and know you have that within you!

You are strong, powerful, and capable!

Now get out there and SLAY YOUR FEARS!!!!

F-ace

E-verything

A-nd

R-ise

 

And as always,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!!

 

Much love,

 

 

 

Choosing the Hard Road

Choosing the Hard Road

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:02 — 26.5MB)

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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 more and had an hour long phone interview with his assistant. This interview led to a second interview with Dr. Carty himself, which inevitably led to a final face-to-face appointment with Dr. Carty, and a decision had to be made.

 

Dr. Matthew Carty

 

Ironically, before having the initial interview I was doing just fine where I was. Yes, I had pains, but I thought they were pretty normal and unavoidable for an amputee. However, from October to January I started having more pains and some really strong break through pains, finally ending with a huge blister on the end of my residual limb. That’s what led to my prosthetist making me a new socket.

My thoughts were leaning more towards doing this study, which entailed reopening my original amputation and having some reconstruction done. I knew something wasn’t totally right in my limb so I asked to be checked for a possible neuroma when I went in for my face-to-face appointment. If something showed up then I was ready to have the surgery, and sure enough we found something….

There was a foreign object hanging out of my femur with a bursa surrounding it!!! I was stunned and decided right there that I was going through with this surgery.

 

Post surgery walk with PT

 

It seems pretty obvious to have a surgery, but the fact is, it was a big decision.

This not only affects me but also my family.

It also sets me back several months and begins the process again as if I am a new amputee. That is quite the undertaking, for a second time, and I’m not getting any younger.

So why?

Released from the hospital-the smile says it all!

 

My belief is that we can learn so much about ourselves when we face adversity. We also grow so much more when we are up against hard times. Since becoming an amputee back in 2018 I have met some amazing people, found a deeper and more meaningful purpose in helping people, started this podcast and created a women’s chat group. My life became richer and changed me, and I saw what I was meant to do in this life. With this mindset I couldn’t help but see God’s hand in this setup this time around and I truly am sitting here ready to accept the challenge, grow stronger and spiritually deeper, and accept what is to come, knowing that there is a greater plan for me than I could ever imagine. I wait excitedly for who will come into my life and how this new path will mold and change me.

 

Life on one leg again… this will be at least an 8 week lifestyle.

 

I accept this challenge with the hopes of becoming a better person and gain more experiences to help others.

This is why I chose a harder path, the path that includes pain, setbacks, change and uncertainty.

I believe that growth happens when we step out of our comfort zone and take chances.

I believe God has a plan that is far greater than I could ever create or imagine.

I choose to believe that I am a warrior, ready for the fight and ready to rise up again, stronger and even better than before.

How about you? Are you ready to accept the challenge that is in front of you?

 

Are you in a place that you have a setback? Are you struggling to find the motivation to rise up and unleash the warrior within you?

This week I want you to focus on 2 things:

Your nighttime and morning rituals.

If you are like me you probably check your phone before bed and also when you get up in the morning. I am going to challenge both you and I to adjust this.

At night before you fall asleep look at your calendar for tomorrow. See what’s on your schedule and then what you want to accomplish, whether it is running errands or reading a book. Visualizing completing your goals for tomorrow. Now get some good rest.

As you wake in the morning, don’t reach for that phone until you’ve done two things: taken several long, deep breathes and then run through your goals and visualizing how you’ll get them done.

Make this a daily practice and begin chasing your mindset to accomplishing everything you want to accomplish.

I hope this Call to Action helps you begin a new and productive practice that allows you to grow and feel accomplished.

Remember, you were born to do great things and you have a warrior spirit in you, you just need to find that inner strength.

So Rise Up, Warrior, Rise Up!

 

Have a beautiful week,

Know that you are beautifully and wonderfully made,

And as always,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!!

 

Much Love,

 

 

 

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