My story started when in the hospital I told my family that this wouldn't define me but redefine me. I will find purpose in this and become a blessing to others.
I was experiencing numbness in my toe intermittently and did not know why. In a matter of days, I went from having numbness in my toes to pain in my calf to emergency surgery for removal of blood clots. When infection set in, above-the-knee amputation was the only option left. By the time I returned home, I had spent nearly six weeks in the hospital.
While I was in the hospital, I watched tons of YouTube videos of amputees doing things I wanted to do: playing golf, lifting weights, working out, living life. I was programming my mind to know that this wasn’t the end. By the time I got my prosthesis and started physical therapy, I was already in the mindset to get it done.
My prosthetist asked if I’d be interested in working as a peer advocate, and it has been absolutely amazing. I didn’t get to talk to a peer advocate, so I’m grateful for the chance to help people see that they’ve got a lot of life left. It’s therapeutic for me as well as for the people I see.
It’s easy to get stuck in victim mode or focus on things you can’t control. I don’t know why I got all these blood clots. The doctors don’t know. But I can’t focus on that, because that’s gonna get me stuck in a dark place. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had moments of being in dark places. But I’ve come back to being grateful that my story wasn’t as bad as it might have been. My biggest emotional obstacle was losing my love of 15 yrs after I lost my leg.
It’s important to have a goal and be consistent. It doesn’t matter where you are starting from, you need to set a goal and gradually move forward, one step at a time. Small, incremental gains can be rewarding.
Some people are strong enough to move forward, but they don’t because their mindset is not there. My prosthetist and physical therapist have worked with people who could do the work physically, but held themselves back mentally and emotionally. If you create a stronger mental state, that allows you to move forward physically.
I had to be strong so other people could handle what happened to me. Especially my younger brother. I told him, “I will not allow this to define who I am. I will work through this.”
When I first came back to work, I didn’t have my prosthesis, and my clients were all very concerned about taking care of me. But after about 30 days, it was no big deal. I was cutting their hair, we were having conversations, and everything was like it was before.
When I'm rockin' my Amplife hat, I feel like I'm a part of a group of resilient humans. The mental part of this is really huge. It’s even more important than the physical part. Anything is possible with the right mindset.
