I just started physical therapy for the first time four years after having my right leg amputated above the knee, and It has me wondering why the heck I waited so long. The short answer is I was told most physical therapists don't have experience with amputees, so it wouldn't be much help - and I listened to that without questioning it or pushing back the way I have every other time…

While our planet is reaching record-high temperatures, lower limb amputees everywhere are SWEATY. I don't mean dress in breathable fabrics and wear deodorant sweaty. I mean losing prosthetic suction and daily heat rash kind of sweaty. Walk as swiftly as possible from the house to the air-conditioned car before your fake leg slides off sweaty…

If you haven't already watched - The Barbie Movie - you might be surprised to learn that it touches on how deeply ingrained stereotypes create insecurities for women. Amputee Barbie isn't the only one feeling that society holds so many conflicting standards upon her. Even Stereotypical Barbie struggles with finding her identity in a world full of impossible expectations and unconscious bias…

As humans, we are constantly growing and changing. What defines us can shift as we experience all that life throws at us and how we choose to deal with the lemons. Amputation challenges not only the physical body but also the very essence of one's identity…

There is always that one kid on the playground who likes to throw rocks at you as you're trying to make it across the monkey bars. They hit you in your weak spot to see if you fall, and they laugh as you squirm. And I hate to tell you, but the bully is still there when you grow up…

For someone who is living with a disability, there isn't a month or day that goes by when they forget or don't feel disabled. The awareness is always there, but what hopefully happens over time is a sense of pride. And since the term Disability Pride can confuse a lot of people, I'm here to clarify what it means to me three and a half years into my limb loss journey…

Something magical happened today. I started thinking about everything that used to be so much harder when I was a brand new baby amputee. Instead of thinking about all the things I struggle to do since losing my right leg above the knee, I made a list of what I've gotten better at over the last 3+ years. And I think I've made quite the lemon drop martini out of a sour lemon, if I do say so myself…

Some days, I feel like a brand new coffee mug, caffeinated, polished, and full of the good stuff, ready to pour onto others. Some days I feel like a rusty old teacup with cracked edges. Empty and damaged…

If you lost your Father, start here. If you never got to know him, start here. If you never got to be one... start here.

Today, we celebrate Father's Day. I can already smell the grills firing up as the neighborhood fills with families riding bikes or playing catch in their front yards…

I wear a microprocessor knee prosthesis. A device that is computerized and helps make walking overall safer and makes hills, ramps, and steps more manageable. I often wear a protective cover over, and I ALWAYS keep it away from water. That's right, it's not waterproof. Most computerized knees are slightly water resistant but don't hold up to being submerged in water. This has caused me to panic a hand full of times…

m laying in bed on the eve of my 39th birthday with a sinus infection I probably would have partied through in my twenties, and I'm Wondering when I started to appreciate all the little life lessons that brought me to this point. Thirty-nine trips around the sun, Thirty-nine candles blown out, each wish wiser than the last. Somewhere in time, I realized that I will always be my Mom's baby, no matter how much gray hair I grow, and It doesn't matter how much you think you know. Sometimes, you are just flat-out wrong. Perhaps my favorite life lesson that took ages to learn is that of self-love…

Cancer isn't just something that happens to you, It attacks each and every part of your life until you can hardly remember what being healthy feels like. Despite that, every day I hear stories of people who have taken a terrible situation and made something beautiful from it. My hope is renewed as I read about charities started by the very same individuals that could have benefited from them years ago, now paying it forward for future generations of cancer patients needing support and resources. Paralympic athletes are snowboarding their way to gold medals after losing a leg to cancer, as children with limb differences watch on, eyes wide and sparkling. The biggest lesson cancer teaches all of us is that every morning we get the luxury of opening our eyes is a chance to make an impact. Time to rise up from the ashes of our tumor and live a life not defined by the beast but instead by how we helped others and soaked up every ounce of life we were blessed with…