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Humbly Courageous
Hi, I’m Amy. I live life with a condition called Bethlem Myopathy which is a rare form of Muscular Dystrophy. I like to help others by showing how I live well with a debilitating condition. I was born with this disease, so it’s the only way I know life. I continue to work on embracing myself and using that to help others.

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Comic Relief

Hello and welcome to humbly courageous! I’m glad you are here. Most of my readers wouldn’t know this about me, but those who have spent any amount of time with me know I am known to do some really awkward things. Awkward and hilarious, after it’s all said and done.  Seriously, I could write a handbook on how to be awkward. My first memory of a horribly awkward moment was when I was in the 3rd grade. I had been chosen as line leader for the day. After a class bathroom break, I proudly made my way to the front of the line to lead my peers. I heard giggles behind me, which usually meant someone was making fun of my walk, but that day it wasn’t about that at all. I had tucked my dress into the back of my shorts (thank goodness my mom made me wear shorts under my dresses, thanks mom!). Today, I can laugh as I remember that scene. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me that yesterday was yet another awkward moment for the books. Honestly, it was very timely comedic relief. I was feel...
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Recent posts

Hope Infusion #12

Hello and welcome to Humbly Courageous! I am glad you are here. Today I had my 12th SVF stem cell infusion. It’s hard to believe that I’m on #12! I started this process about 4 years ago.  Of course, people often ask, “do you think it’s helping?” Seems like a simple question, but it’s really not. It’s something I go back and forth on in my mind. I usually land on the answer of, I’ll probably never know exactly how much it’s helped me. It’s hard to measure small changes that aren’t visible on the outside. As I’ve said in previous posts about these infusions, I didn’t go into this thinking it would cure me or drastically change anything. Even the smallest changes matter so much when fighting a muscle wasting disease. Any change for the better is obviously welcome. Here’s what I’ve noticed in the last 4 months after treatment #11… The biggest thing I’ve noticed is that after a hard day, where I’ve overexerted myself, it normally takes me several days to recover or bounce back. I have ...
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I Wasn’t Ready

I heard a quote this week that really resonated with me. It said, “I asked God for flowers, and He gave me rain.” I wasn’t ready to get what I was asking for. I needed to grow in many ways to be prepared to take on what I needed to, in order to fulfill my purpose. If He had just given me the flowers, I would have missed the growing season. I wouldn’t have understood the purpose. I wasn’t ready for my path. I had a lot to learn to understand what I needed to do in my life. To be educated to help the people I need to.  For so long, I prayed and prayed, “please heal me.” I felt like I was placed in the wrong body. It just didn’t feel right. I felt trapped. The lack of answers was really God telling me to wait. I had to prepare. 44 years of preparation is a long time.  As the puzzle pieces finally came together, the last one finally clicked into place, the bigger picture was revealed. In those early days post diagnosis, there would be times where all the incoming realizations were...
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Glimpse of heaven?

Hello and welcome to a new week at Humbly Courageous. I’m so glad you are here! Do you dream at night? Do you remember your dreams? I am a very vivid dreamer. Often, I remember my dreams when I wake in the morning. It is so fascinating to me the stories that greet me in my dreams.  There was a time in my life when I went through a period of having terrible nightmares. Strangely enough, I could never remember anything about those dreams. I would wake, wet with sweat, to my mom or dad at my bedside saying my name and telling me I was ok, asking me why I was screaming. I would feel exhausted and was often crying, but I assured them I was ok. I’m thankful I don’t remember what those dreams were that were causing me so much distress.  Sometimes, in my dreams, I am not disabled. I’m doing physical activities, such as running or just walking with ease. I hate waking up from those dreams. I always wish they could last forever. As a person of faith, I believe that someday, my body will...
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Dear Fear

Hello, welcome to another week at Humbly Courageous. I am so glad you are here.  Some of you may remember my "Dear Muscular Dystrophy" blog post I wrote a while back. I was finally able to put into words the complicated feelings that living with Muscular Dystrophy cultivates. It took me so long to finally do that. Today, I am writing about my fear living with Muscular Dystrophy. Something I don't talk openly about too often, because again, it has been hard to put into words what living with that fear my entire life has been like. Here is my attempt to put that into words.  Dear Fear, You certainly are not a stranger. You have always been there, lurking, waiting to destroy me. Even as a little girl, you were there. I wasn't able to begin to process you at that point. I wasn’t even sure what I was afraid of at the time. I was just left feeling uneasy and often scared. You were far too much for my young mind to comprehend. A beast is frightening to a child, and that you ...
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Letting Go

Hello and welcome to Humbly Courageous. Happy New Year! I am so glad you are here.  I took a couple weeks off from my writing gigs, and I was honestly looking forward to the time off going into it. I felt like my brain needed a break from processing so many life experiences and sharing them. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love what I do, but everyone needs a pause every once in a while.  The first couple of days, I was so busy preparing for the holidays I hardly noticed I wasn’t working on a writing assignment. Normally, I am writing something everyday, whether it be for my newspaper column, blog or freelance assignment. After a few days, I started to feel like something was missing. I started feeling anxious, and overwhelmed. I think I started to realize how much writing helps me to process things. It has become an outlet for me, and all of a sudden it stopped. Combining that with the holiday stress and extra physical demands, it took a toll. I came out of the holiday seaso...
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A Year of Old and New

Hello, and welcome to the final blog post of 2024 with Humbly Courageous! I am so glad you stopped by. What a year it has been. I feel like there was a little bit of everything sprinkled in this year. There were highs and lows as with any year of life. Days when I felt on top of a mountain, and days when I felt deep in the dark valley. After 50 years, I am still learning the fine art of balancing life. Maybe we never fully grasp that concept. One thing is for sure, a look back on this year has me feeling grateful for many things in my life.  This year I received 3 stem cell treatments. # 9, 10 and 11. I am grateful for the opportunity to receive these treatments, and for the time being plan to continue to receive them. I do think they keep me going in a way that I wouldn’t be without them.  I have so enjoyed writing my column, “Disability in the City” for my hometown newspaper, The Hamilton County Reporter. I have now been writing my column for a year.  It has been such a...
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