I begged my mother to not allow them to take it. We did our best, but unfortunately, I had to lose my right leg.
They say that it's rare, and for the longest time, I felt alone being a victim of TSS. It not only left physical wounds but mental ones. I battled PTSD and fell into a dark depression after what happened. I melted into my bed, and life just sort of stopped.
I have a golden leg that I am completely proud of, but my left foot that has an open ulcer, no heel, and no toes. Over the years, my body has produced a lot of calcium, which causes my bones to grow on that foot.
The letters TSS that I once read in the fine print buried on the bottom of tampon boxes soon came to define me. TSS - Toxic Shock Syndrome: a potentially fatal complication of certain types of bacterial infections.
Every time I turn on the TV, it infuriates me. You'll see an ad for Advil or Viagra and hear some monotonous voice warn you about even the smaller side effects like headaches or nausea. When you see a tampon commercial, it's all happy teenage girls running along the beach in bikinis. The dangers are beyond minimized.
Toxic Shock Syndrome cost me my leg, but, years later, I have since dedicated myself to raising awareness about TSS prevention. I am comfortable in my new role as an advocate against an affliction that affects thousands.
My left foot is severely damaged from TSS, and I'm probably going to have to amputate my left leg. I could be super depressed about it, but I have been given a second chance. I'm here, and I'm living.
It wasn't until my girlfriend, photographer Jennifer Rovero, took hundreds of pictures of me as I recovered from my amputations that things started to change. The process was a sort of therapy for me, which Jennifer coined as 'photo therapy.' I grew to see the beauty and strength in myself and my journey through the lens of her camera.
I'm more beautiful than I've ever been because I've experienced so many things, and I can relate to so many different people. And you know, it's just made me a better person.
For five years of my life, I was just getting by - every day was painful. I couldn't wear heels, I couldn't run, and I could only walk for, like, 20 minutes. That's not living.