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Be-YOU-tiful Adaptive Warrior

Be-YOU-tiful Adaptive Warrior

By: Angie Heuser
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 Breaking through mental and physical barriers to becoming your best self, living your best life.©2021 Be-YOU-tiful Adaptive Warrior Podcasting Hygiene & Healthy Living
Episodes
  • Manifesting Your Dreams

    Manifesting Your Dreams
    Sep 10 2025
    Setting Goals & Thinking Positively to Live The Life of Your Dreams Successful people know how to succeed and what it takes to succeed. So what is it? What do they know that you don't? Everyone knows that hard work pays off and that practice makes permanence. But what separates you from someone who is doing the very thing you want to do, too? Now, of course there is DNA involved in some of that, talent can be passed down from generation to generation, however, I'm talking about post amputation, and how one person adjusts to this new life better than others. What separates THOSE people? I would agree that mindset and visualization is a huge factor. I know we all come to amputation differently, and our circumstances are all totally different. Even our support system looks different from one person to the next, but those aren't what make it or break it for us. You have seen stories of people overcoming the worst odds and overcoming horrendous circumstances to find success. What is their secret sauce to breaking free? It is their grit and their determination for their situation NOT to define them, and not to inhibit them and their desires. That comes from having an intense desire to achieve, to prove people wrong, to dream despite where they are right now. They don't allow their circumstance to define their future and their life. they rise above those circumstances, DESPITE them! HOW? They have a desire and a yearning to prove the world wrong. They want to live. They want to reach their goals. They want to LIVE the life they still want. It truly comes down to the fight within and then making a plan and then executing that plan. Mindset matters! When things start to get hard what do you do? Do you buckle down and press in harder or do you cave in to the pressure? Do you write down your goals and no matter what, keep forging forward despite how today feels or do you cry "Uncle" and say it just isn't meant to be? That is the difference. Each of us will have great days, those are the days we can easily see us reaching our goals and the days that feed us happy thoughts and optimism. But, the really champions are made on the hard days! The hard days are when sickness knocks you down, or when your leg hurts too much to want to put on your socket. It's the days when a setback happens like an infection or a revision surgery and dreams get deferred. Where are you on THOSE days? Did you give up or adjust your timeline? Did you see this moment as the roadblock to giving up, or just the next challenge you are ready to hit head on? Everyone has those days, but those that want to succeed find a way to get through them. Mindset matters! Self talk matters. I believe we all have the fight within us, but our priorities are different. We all have a desire to succeed, but only some want it bad enough to keep getting up when they get knocked down. When we have our bad days, or days of struggles, that is when we choose the path. Do we want our goals and dreams bad enough to fight through the hard days, or does that just exhaust us and we raise the white flag in surrender? Same goes with how we see ourselves. When we feel great about how we look, how clothes fit, and feel good about who looks back at us in the mirror, we feel on top of the world, but the moment we have an uncomfortable feeling or a change in perspective we become harsh with ourselves and show zero grace. That's when I find negativity can destroy all we have been working towards. In the end, we all have ebbs and flows in our views of ourselves, our looks, our accomplishments at the moment. One moment we feel amazing about what we've accomplished, like walking a mile in our prosthesis, to all of a sudden feeling inferior because we allowed comparison and negativity into our minds. This is self destructive behavior, and we can all fall into it.
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    31 mins
  • The Process

    The Process
    Sep 3 2025
    Healing Physically, Adapting Mentally and Emotionally Amputation isn't just the act of amputating a limb. It isn't just surgery, heal, and walk. This is a process. It takes time, money, patience, and a whole lot of grit! Unfortunately, most patients that knowingly go into amputation surgery can't comprehend the struggles to come. For those who didn't choose or prep for amputation, they have no idea of the life that's ahead of them. For them, their emotional and mental state need to heal first, while they wait for their physical healing. They had their life torn apart by disease or war or an accident. Whichever category you fall into know that you will get through this but it takes time, and commitment. You will need to work on, what I feel are, the four major components of successfully navigating amputee life: Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Financial. Physical: Obviously, you will take time to heal. You will need to learn to rebalance with less weight on one side of your body and also how to get around with crutches, a walker, or a wheelchair. You need to heal your incision but also the bone, muscle, and tissue. It was told to me that true healing takes up to 12 months. Within that time you will also experience new sensations and possibly phantom pains, all of which you will learn to adapt and work through. The whole wearing of a shrinker and then being cleared for a socket is a whole other side of the physical aspect you will need to come to grips with. Mental: As an elected amputee I had four months to prepare my mind for what was to come. I could ask questions, meet people, find peace with my decision, and set my future goals and dreams. Setting goals and daring to dream of a brighter future post-amputation is invaluable and can set you up for success. Manifesting your own destiny with a powerful and positive mindset is key! Get your mental game lined up as soon as you can. Emotional: Being ready to face your new life and new look is extremely important. Understanding how to deal with some of the struggles and hurdles you will face is hard to prepare for ahead of time, just know that when you do face a hardship that you need to take a step back, take a deep breathe and understand that these moments will end and good times will happen again. This journey is filled with ups and downs, highs and lows, pains and peace. If you have dealt with an amputation due to someone else's negligence, like an accident you were involved in, then you may have some extra baggage to address with your emotions, anger and hate. These emotions are poison to your healing. They can create some major problems for you and ultimately stifle your level of success as an amputee. Letting go of negativity will allow for healing and growth. Insurance/Money: My general practitioner gave me great advice ahead of my surgery, to contact my insurance company so I knew and understood my coverage and the rules of external prosthesis, but even then I got the short end of the stick (listen in to hear what happened!). Remember that prosthetics are your new 'forever', being able to afford them or having coverage for them is highly important. Be prepared for what's to come so you don't feel like you've been duped. The reality is that you may be looking to get a new one every 3 years (most prosthetics have a 3 year warranty-at least that's what I deal with as an above knee amputee with MPKs). I wished more people had some of these basic facts before their surgery, but you learn as you go, that's how my journey happened, and is still happening. Everyone's experience is different, and you need to do what you need to do to embrace your new life as an amputee. The best teacher is time and experience. This week is simple in detail but tough to execute. Look yourself in the mirror and address what weakness you have and where you struggle the ...
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    33 mins
  • What Is Really Important

    What Is Really Important
    Aug 27 2025
    Knowing Who and What To Ask About Amputation Becoming an amputee is so surreal. Electing to have it done is a choice I never thought I would have to make. It brings about fears, anxieties, questions, and so much uncertainty. How do you know life will be better? What if I can't wear a prosthesis? Will I walk again or will I be in a wheelchair the rest of my life? How long does it take to heal from an amputation Do I get a leg right away? Is walking like riding a bike, easy once you do it again? How do I find a prosthetist? Do I need to go to PT while I'm healing or after I get a leg? So many questions, yet so many more that you may not even be thinking of. How do you know what to ask your doctor? What type of doctor is best for this surgery? Who is the most important person in your life right now, or how about in 5-10 years? Most of these questions I, myself, didn't even know that I had because I didn't know I needed to ask them. But I got lucky, or maybe it was fate. My surgeon was amazing. He sent me to the best prosthetist in town at The Limb Center. The Limb Center sent me to an amazing, caring physical therapist at Touchstone Rehabilitation. They were my team, and besides my family, they were my biggest supporters and fighters for my life, dreams, and goals. Listen in today, and please share this episode with someone you know is going through, or about to go through, amputation. It may give them a better than fighting chance of knowing more about what is to come and allow them to find greater success as an amputee. We all have a warrior spirit within us just waiting to be called out. You need to educate yourself, and learn to fight for the life you want. Now is the time to be that warrior, so rise up, dear Warrior, and pave the path to your successes. I hope you find something that helps you, motivates you, and supports you in this episode. Don't forget to like and subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Have a blessed week ahead. And as always, Be Healthy, Be Happy, Be YOU!!! Much love,
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    28 mins
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