"I lost my leg but gained more than I ever dreamed.”

How a life-saving amputation changed my path...for the better.

- By Caylee Blosenski

BE BRAVE

The first sign that I had cancer was pain. As a competitive gymnast, was always getting injured-pulled muscles are just a part of the sport. One day, I thought I sprained my ankle, but it was slow to heal. After a week, I came home from school and bawled my eyes out to my mom. The pain was unbearable...and I just knew this wasn't a gymnastics injury.

After several hospital visits and rounds of tests, we got the news: It was osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer.

Slowly it sunk in. A painful tumor had grown on my bones. I was crying. My parents were crying. I was only 10 at the time, so I didn't fully understand what it meant-or what to expect. The doctors explained our options, one of which was amputation below the knee.