Read the Blog

 

I’m an open book. I hope you can connect with even just one of the many pages.

 
Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

Busy not being sick

Last week, I had my first oncology follow-up that involved zero anxiety. It felt so damn good, I had to take a moment to remind myself that I might be busy, but I'm not busy being sick or thinking that I'm sick or recovering from anything, and that feels freaking fantastic…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

The Logical Cancer Survivor

It’s almost scan week. This used to happen every three months, but recently, I graduated to every six months, which technically gives me more time to panic when I feel a strange pain. But yet, something magical happened recently. I felt a deep pain in my residual limb, and, well, I didn’t panic…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

There is always something to worry about

There is a global IT outage currently affecting airlines, banks, and airports. A tragic humanitarian crisis is playing out in Gaza. I just scheduled my next oncology scans, and as I write this, we are still unsure if we actually have a democratic candidate for the 2024 US elections. There are plenty of things one could be worried about or even stressed about…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

Unpacking Disability Pride Month

July is Disability Pride Month, and as an amputee who not only lives with a disability daily but blogs about it, makes connections with others because of it, and does her best to rise above the struggles that come along with it, I feel qualified to unpack what it means to me…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

Why you shouldn't ask what happened to my leg

Many of my favorite online creators have recently voiced their frustration with strangers asking for their limb loss stories. You've heard me say it before, but I'm going to say it again because some people in the back haven't heard us yelling and still think it's OK to have us relive our trauma to satisfy their morbid curiosity…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

All the small things

Today, I was reminded that when you pretend a problem isn't a problem, it grows roots and ruins your plumbing. What I mean is that we're often so busy dealing with the most obvious, in-our-face issues that we neglect the smaller things by not acknowledging them as something of concern…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

Patience is a virtue I wish I didn’t have to use so often

As I find myself once again waiting for a doctor to sign a document so my prosthetist can begin to make me a test socket that may or may not fit me correctly, I cannot help but think of how often I've had to be patient over the last ten years. I am easily irritated by red street lights, and I cannot stand how long a frozen lasagna takes to cook in the oven, but here is a list of things I waited ages for that would drive most people insane…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

This is 40

In true Gemini fashion, I started celebrating my birthday over a month ago with a girl's trip to Scottsdale, which mainly consisted of belly laughs, salty margaritas, and too many outfit changes to count. Back in early May, under the Arizona sun, I felt grateful to be surrounded by my closest friends and for the ability to walk down Whiskey Row without my prosthetic leg failing me- although it did beep low battery on the dance floor of a rowdy club one night. Here I was, turning forty, an age that most women are taught to dread. But I'm still alive and "kicking," so who am I to complain about reaching middle age? …

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

What scares me, and how I cope

Like most people, global warming, a world war, and alien abduction rank pretty high among my fears. In addition to the most basic of fears, there is the ever-looming possibility of my cancer coming back for a third time. It sounds weird to call something as dreadful as cancer mine, but being that it was so rare, there was only one known way to treat it, and I was the one whose leg it decided to strangle; I'd say I deserve to refer to it however I want.

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

The Best Mom

One early morning in June, my Mom, who looked like she'd just swallowed a watermelon (I've seen the photos), was rushing my father to the car for a reckless drive over the Miami Beach bridge to reach Mercy Hospital in Coconut Grove. She didn't know if I'd be a boy or a girl, but she knew she'd love me despite being beyond surprised to learn I existed…

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Alexandra Boutte Alexandra Boutte

The Taylor Swift Album Therapy Phenomenon explained

I interrupt your regular scheduled disability and cancer survivorship programming to bring you this timely explanation of a recently discovered form of therapy, consisting of listening to a Taylor Swift Album from start to finish and repeating as needed…

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