I went to see Marie Forleo in Seattle during her book tour for Everything is Figureoutable. The format involved Amy Purdy, who, among other accomplishments, has two Olympic medals in the paralympics for snowboarding. She is a double amputee below the knee.

Amy was asking questions of Marie about the book, but she shared stories of her own as well. While she is a double-amputee, she has some her upper legs left and her leg muscles help (perhaps make it possible) for her to compete. Within the last year, she had a diagnosis, the specifics of which I do not recall, but many doctors thought she would lose the use she had left in one of her legs.

Despite all she has gone through in life so far this was absolutely devastating to her. (It was also painful and she shared stories of her experience with chronic pain).

But she didn’t take the initial report as THE answer. She called and traveled and utilized her network, seeking the best medical help she could find. She has not yet regained the function that she once had, but she now anticipates that she will regain the function she had before this scare.

Even though we don’t all have the network and resources that Amy Purdy has, we have the power to fight back, and to find other opinions. When receive bad medical news, particularly related to physical injury, we don’t necessarily have to go with the first opinion without searching around. Amy is now anticipating more years of snowboarding because she did just that.

It’s also a good reminder to enjoy what our bodies can do while they can. We can’t always find a way to the result we want.