Category: Amputee Health and Wellness

The Road Forward May Look Different

The Road Forward May Look Different

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Finding Hope Beyond the Pivot

 

Part Five of My Pivoting Series

In this final episode of my Pivoting series, I’m sharing the reminder I’ve had to learn again and again: the road forward may look different, but it can still be meaningful, beautiful, and full of possibility.

Life changes for all of us. We can make the best plans, prepare for every scenario, and still find ourselves facing a curveball we never saw coming. As an above-knee amputee, one of my biggest pivots was learning to live in a body that had changed forever. While people may see a smile, they do not always see the grief, fear, mental load, exhaustion, and rebuilding that live underneath it.

But pivoting is not quitting. I can still hold onto a goal while allowing the path to that goal to change.

 

Do some research to find a new way forward

 

Skiing is one of the clearest examples in my own life. I had always imagined skiing more with my husband and family as we got older. After years of surgeries and then losing my leg, I wondered whether I would ever ski again. I had to grieve what I thought it would look like, learn a new way to do it with one leg and outriggers, rebuild my strength, and face a lot of fear. Yet standing at the top of a snowy mountain with my family again brought me to tears. The goal was still there, it just looked different.

 

Together again!

 

That is why I believe hope is not forced positivity. Hope does not deny that this chapter is hard. It is choosing to believe that hard does not mean meaningless. My faith has helped me trust that God can bring purpose from the parts of my story I never would have chosen.

One of the biggest traps I had to overcome was comparing my old self to my new self—and comparing myself to other amputees. Whether it is watching someone run effortlessly on social media or remembering what I used to lift at the gym, comparison steals the joy of noticing what I am accomplishing today. I recently got on a treadmill with my new running blade, scared and holding tightly to the rails. It may not have looked graceful, but I faced a fear, showed up, and tried. That matters.

 

Facing fears but pushing through them.

 

Different does not mean less. Losing a limb does not make any of us less capable, less valuable, less beautiful, or less worthy of joy. We are more than our bodies and more than our parts.

Eight years into this journey, I can see that I did not have to understand the whole plan at the beginning. I only had to take the next right step. One step led to a 10K, skiing, this podcast, Warrior Ground, and a community of women who understand this journey. Your next step may be researching a new doctor, calling a PT, learning about adaptive sports, or simply choosing to believe there is more ahead for you.

 

 

Take a few minutes this week and ask yourself: What am I ready to leave behind? What dream am I ready to carry forward? And what is one next step I can take with hope?

Share your next step with me, and if this series encouraged you, please like, subscribe, share it with someone who needs it, and listen back to the first four episodes of Pivoting. Keep moving forward, Warrior.

And as always,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!!

Much love,

 

 

Pivoting and Grief

Pivoting and Grief

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Honoring What Was, Before Reimagining What’s Next

 

What if moving forward requires us to first acknowledge what we have lost?

In Part Four of my five-part series on pivoting, I’m exploring a side of change that we don’t talk about enough: grief. We often celebrate the courage it takes to pivot, rebuild, and begin again, but every new direction may also require us to release the life, body, identity, or future we once imagined.

As I approach eight years since electing to amputate my leg, I’ve been asking myself whether I ever truly grieved my limb loss. Looking back, I realize much of my grieving happened during the four months between deciding to amputate and undergoing surgery. I cried, wrestled with my fears, and tried to understand how my future might change. When I finally released it to God, I felt a peace that helped me move forward.

 

 

Every amputee’s experience is different. Some of us have time to prepare, while others wake up after an accident or medical emergency and discover that their body has changed. There is no correct way or timeline for grieving.

Grief is not limited to death. We can grieve our independence, body image, physical abilities, relationships, identity, trust, or the path we thought our lives would follow. We can also be deeply grateful for our prosthesis, medical team, family, and progress while still grieving what was lost.

 

 

 

Grief does not make me ungrateful, and gratitude does not require me to pretend that nothing was lost.

When grief remains unacknowledged, it can surface as anger, resentment, emotional numbness, comparison, overworking, or constantly pushing through pain. I recognize my own tendency to connect my value with productivity. Sometimes staying busy feels easier than slowing down long enough to feel what is happening inside me.

I also share five steps for moving through a life-changing pivot: name what you lost, allow yourself to feel it, honor why it mattered, release the original shape of the dream, and reimagine what remains possible.

 

 

I may not ski exactly as I once imagined, but I found another way. I learned to ski on one leg with outriggers, and that reimagined future has brought courage and joy back into my life.

 

 

This week, name one thing you have been trying to move past. What changed? What do you miss? Why did it matter? Then ask yourself: How can I carry the heart of that dream forward in a new form?

Give yourself permission to grieve without judgment—but don’t stop there. Honor what was, release the path you expected, and begin reimagining what could still be possible. Share this episode with someone facing an unexpected change, and follow the BAWarrior Podcast as we continue learning how to rebuild on the other side of the pivot.

 

And as always,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!!

Much love,

 

Prepare and Pivot

Prepare and Pivot

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How to Adapt When Life, and Travel, Don’t Go as Planned

 

 

What do you do when you have prepared for everything, and life still throws you a curveball?

In this episode of BAWarrior Podcast, I’m continuing our Pivoting series with one of the most personal lessons I learned from international travel as an above-knee amputee: preparation matters, but adaptability is what carries us through the unexpected.

Travel after limb loss can feel overwhelming. There are prosthetic supplies to pack, accessibility to consider, energy to manage, socket fit changes, weather, long airport days, and the fear of being far from the things that make everyday life feel safe. On my recent trip to Paris, I had converters, a surge protector, and my prosthetic charging system ready, yet I still lost power and burned out my surge protector before I could charge my leg.

In that moment, I had a choice: panic and stay stuck, or pivot.

I share how I worked through the fear, asked for help, reached out to my prosthetist and prosthetic team, searched for local resources, and took the next step in front of me. That experience reminded me that confidence is not built by waiting until we have every answer. Confidence is built in the middle of the trial, when we learn that we can adjust, recover, and find another way.

We also talk about the energy budget behind adaptive travel and prosthetic life. Money may make a trip possible, but energy is a currency too. Airport delays, changing gates, standing in lines, carrying luggage, heat, humidity, fatigue, phantom pain, and the demands of walking with a prosthesis all add up. Choosing a wheelchair or asking for support before you hit your breaking point is not losing your independence—it is protecting it.

I also share the hard lesson my body taught me after returning home: recovery cannot be rushed. Sometimes the strongest pivot is slowing down before pain, exhaustion, or injury forces you to stop.

 

 

Before you go, I want you to name one thing fear has been keeping you from doing. It may be traveling, walking outside in your prosthesis, trying something new, asking for help, or giving yourself the recovery you truly need.

Prepare what you can, stay open to the pivot, and take one small step this week.

Confidence does not arrive before you begin, it grows as you keep going.

If this episode encouraged you, please share it with someone who needs the reminder that they can adapt, recover, and find another way.

Leave a comment and tell me: What is one fear you are ready to face with a little more flexibility and faith?

And as always, Warriors,

Be Healthy.

Be Happy.

Be YOU!!!

Much love,

 

 

Pivoting Isn’t Quitting: Changing the Path Without Losing the Purpose

Pivoting Isn’t Quitting: Changing the Path Without Losing the Purpose

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Power of the Pivot: Part 2 of 5

 

Sometimes the hardest part of a setback is not the pain itself, it is realizing that the plan you were so ready to chase suddenly cannot happen the way you imagined. In Part Two of my pivoting series on the BAWarrior Podcast, I share what I am learning in real time after pulling a muscle in my residual limb just as I set a new fall goal: one million steps by December 21.

 

Step it up!!

 

As an above-knee amputee, I am familiar with hard days. But this setback humbled me. Every step into my socket was painful, and I had to use a crutch, rest, and pull back from the walking routine I was excited to begin. My instinct has always been to push through. I have pushed through surgeries, recovery, pain, and the many obstacles that can come with amputee life. Yet I am learning that strength is not always about forcing your way forward. Sometimes strength looks like self-preservation. It looks like sitting down, asking for help, and letting your body heal.

 

Pause, Reassess, and Redefine yourself and your goals during times of setbacks and trials.

 

This is the heart of the episode: pivoting is not failure. A pivot means the method changes, not necessarily the purpose. My goal was never just a number on a step counter. I wanted to stay consistent, feel healthier and stronger, and protect the ability to ski, hike, travel, and make memories with my family. That purpose is still there even if my original plan has to change. Maybe I row instead of walk. Maybe I focus on healing first. Maybe I release this particular goal for now and come back to it in a different season.

I also talk honestly about the grief that can come with a setback. We are allowed to be frustrated, disappointed, angry, and still keep moving forward. We can grieve what we thought this season would look like while holding onto hope for what is still possible. For those of us living with limb loss, a difficult socket, injury, skin issues, or a loss of trust after a fall, these pivots can feel deeply personal. But our prosthesis, our goals, and our current limitations are not our identity.

 

Adjusting the pathway that leads to your goal is Pivoting. There is more than one way to achieve them. If you want it- PIVOT!

 

When life stops you in your tracks, step back from the magnifying glass. Ask what truly matters, why it matters, and whether there is another path that honors both your goal and your healing. And remember: sometimes releasing something for now is not giving up. It is choosing the right timing.

 

 

Take five quiet minutes this week and write down: What is my goal? Why does it matter to me? Can I reach it by changing the method, or is this a season to release it and heal? Choose one small next step that supports your purpose today, whether it is calling a professional, taking a rest day, asking for support, or creating a new plan. Then share this episode with a warrior who needs permission to pivot, not quit.

You are more than your goals!

You are stronger than your setbacks!

Keep reaching for the stars, dear Warriors, and RISE UP, any way you can!

As always,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!

Much love,

 

 

The Power of the Pivot: A Five Part Series

The Power of the Pivot: A Five Part Series

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:24 — 29.6MB)

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When Your Body Changes the Plan

 

 

What if pulling back is not weakness, but the very thing that keeps you moving forward?

In this episode of BAWarrior Podcast, I’m opening a new five-part series called The Power of the Pivot. This first conversation is about one of the hardest pivots for me personally: when my body says, “I’m done,” even when my mind still wants to push ahead.

After returning home from international travel, I was ready to get back into my normal rhythm. I wanted to eat well, get back to the gym, move my body, and feel strong again. But after a simple walk in the Arizona heat and humidity, I experienced a deep, unfamiliar pain inside my residual limb. It was not phantom pain or skin irritation-it felt like a physical muscle injury, and it made every first step into my prosthesis painful.

 

 

The timing felt almost ironic. Just days later, I was headed to Boston for my one-year follow-up after my AMI revision with Dr. Carty, along with visits to my PT and the incredible researchers at MIT working on future prosthetic innovations. I was scared that I had damaged something significant. Instead, my appointment brought a possible silver lining: because my muscles are now working differently after AMI, I may have simply pulled a muscle after moving too quickly while my body was cooling down.

Even with that reassurance, I had to face a truth I do not always like: I needed to pivot.

 

 

For me, that meant stepping away from the gym, putting hikes and long walks on hold, and allowing myself to slow down. I do not pivot gracefully. I like momentum, routine, movement, and proving to myself that I can keep going. But this experience reminded me that strength is not always found in pushing harder. Sometimes strength is found in listening, adjusting, protecting what matters, and trusting that recovery is not the same thing as giving up.

As amputees, our bodies often communicate in whispers before they scream. We have to learn the difference between something we can work through and something that deserves attention, rest, or professional care. Our prosthesis is part of how we move through life, so protecting our residual limb and physical health is not weakness, it is wisdom.

Whether your pivot lasts a day, a week, or several months, it does not mean your goals are gone. It does not mean you have failed. It simply means your path needs a temporary adjustment. The momentum will return when your body is ready.

 

Take a moment this week to listen to your body. Is there something you have been trying to push through that may require a pivot? Give yourself permission to adjust without guilt. Share this episode with someone who needs the reminder that rest, recovery, and changing direction can be powerful parts of the warrior journey.

 

If you have to pivot this week, remember this is NOT failure but wisdom, when it comes to reaching your goals. Use your experiences and protect yourself from further injury. This way you’ll be ready to fight another day!

 

Rise up Warriors, and Pivot who you need to.

And as always,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!!

 

Much love,

 

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