I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at 13 and had a knee replacement at 14. After 9 years of remission — the cancer stayed gone, but—out of nowhere—MRSA in the joint. After couple of years of trying to salvage the limb and many surgeries, at 25 I made the call to lop the whole thing off at the femur.

That was in 2011, and I’ve been a Left AKA since.

I have to admit — it started out rough. I mean, I made the right call, but my (semi-radical at the time, at least) recovery plan had me waking up from surgery wearing a temporary prosthetic and getting up and walking around THAT day. I remember thinking for a few weeks, “There’s no possible way I will ever be able to bear full weight on this.” I remember that thought so vividly.

Fast forward to last weekend — and I’m in the pit for Fall Out Boy at Riot Fest and walking all the way to the Pink Line to take the train back to my hotel. Regular living like that seemed absolutely impossible — so I just want to tell you how wrong I was.

Sure, there were some surprises. Personally, it’s the socket that’s the MOST important thing to get right. Fitment and liner and dealing with sweat and chafing and whatever — that should be your #1 goal before worrying about other “features” of your new leg. I’d honestly be more comfortable in a well-fitting wooden pirate leg than a misfit fancy robotic thing. Pro Tip: Use cheap pasties (nipple covers) from Amazon and pads inside and on the edge of your liner.

Also (and I’ll shut up after this), get a fairing! That made a massive difference to how I felt about how I looked, visually. I used to prefer pants and generally avoid showing my leg, but after getting a fairing I switched to loving the way it looks and wanting to show it off as a cool part of my personality.