COUNTING EVERY MOMENT AS A BLESSING

"I'd do it all over again if I had to," says Danna, who lost her leg to cancer two year ago. "You see, I've learned at 26, what some people don't learn until they are 75." There were times she thought she might not make it. Danna recalls lying in the hospital and intensely looking out the window at a blossoming tree. "I could hear spring, smell it, and I wondered if I would ever see spring again—now I live in the moment, I'm always in the now."

More than springtime, it was Danna's 6-month old son, Cade, that made her determined to be present in both their lives. She even insisted on doing chemotherapy on an "out-patient" basis—the first person to do this—so she could see her son everyday; her mother essentially became her nurse. "This way, everyday, I saw what I was fighting for."

Cade is now a rambunctious 3-year old and keeps Danna, a full-time mom, on the move. "It's a whole new world learning to do normal mom things with a toddler," says Danna with a laugh. "Things as simple as getting down on the floor and playing with my son, is a whole different move, when it isn't my natural leg." She adds going up stairs, wrestling, sliding and climbing with Cade in the park are other examples that require her to think about how she is going to maneuver herself with her C-Leg prosthesis. She used to do a lot of snowboarding, hiking, and running and now appreciates just how easy it was for her; "I want to get back into it, but it is a process," admits Danna.

"I'm not upset about what has happened," says Danna. "I just accept it." She attributes some of her adjustment to the support she has received from SPOT's staff. "When I walk through that office door, I don't feel like a patient, but a friend—they want to know what is going on with me and my son," says Danna. Craig Armstrong, a SPOT prosthetist and above-the-knee amputee and the father of four sons, gives her advice on how to be an active parent with her own son. He also offers Danna gentle encouragement with his own mantra: "Never say you can't do something, but rather try and if you still can't do it, then figure out a way so you can do it."

Danna's own philosophy toward life now is summed up in three words: Go get it. "There's no time to waste. I no longer wait around for things to happen, I make them happen," says Danna, with unquestionable determination in her voice.

Each morning Cade brings his mom her crutches and is enchanted with the wolf image on her socket. Danna proudly displays her wolf, admitting that it is quite the conversation piece. The lone wolf symbolizes strength and courage to Danna, who says it reminds her daily of these needs.

Danna's attitude is one of openness when talking about her life. She never downplays that she is an amputee; On the contrary, Danna shows it off—after all it was a turning point in her life. "Becoming an amputee and battling cancer makes me appreciate life—everyday problems remain little."

[Danna has an Ischeal containment narrow M-L design socket with a flexible upper brim. She uses a Silicone liner from Ossur with pin suspension and an auxiliary waist belt for control. She enjoys the reliability of a C-leg computerized knee from Otto Bock, which analyzes data at 50 times per second.]

By Peta Owens-Liston
February 2005

BACK