02/18/2026
Surgery update: I did it. ✨
Hip replaced. Hardware installed. Officially part bionic.
I’m recovering well and deeply grateful - for modern medicine, for strength built over years of training, and for a body that continues to show up for me even when it needs a little extra support.
While I rest, I’ve been looking back at these photos from before surgery - crossing swords with a few different fighters. I won most of those bouts. I lost two. But that’s not the part that matters.
What matters is what I learned about myself.
I learned to stop walking onto the field with expectations - good or bad. No assuming I’ll dominate. No assuming I’ll struggle. Just being present. Just responding to what’s actually happening in front of me.
My biggest surprise was winning against the fighter in black and white. He fought in a style I had never encountered before. I couldn’t rely on habit. I couldn’t predict. I had to slow down, be strategic, and fully be in the moment.
And that’s the lesson, isn’t it?
Whether it’s fencing, healing, surgery, or life - when we drop expectation and anchor into presence, we move differently. We respond instead of react. We grow instead of brace.
Recovery right now is teaching me the same thing.
No rushing.
No assumptions.
Just this moment. 💜⚔️