Smile Like a Pirate!: Finding Hope in Loss

"Is it too soon for pirate jokes?"

On December 5th, 2018, my life changed.

After my fourth surgery in eighteen months, I had to make a decision: go through another extensive knee surgery for a ten percent chance of keeping my leg, or amputate my leg above the knee. Choosing to have my right leg amputated, I was devastated.

After shedding tears for a couple days, I no longer wanted to cry. I wanted to laugh. I needed to laugh. So I made a post on social media that said: "Thank you so much for the prayers and support... I've decided that I can either cry or laugh. So my social media is going to be funny. Sometimes really dark, but funny."

A dear friend, Jannell responded, "Is it too soon for pirate jokes?"

This book is not about my amputation experience. It is not about the decade of pain, fear, and grief from medical issues prior to the amputation.

Quite simply, this book is about hope. Amongst ten years of medical struggles and the accompanying grief and loss, I figured out where to find hope and how to hold onto that hope.