In July and August, espnWs weekly essay series will focus on body image.I was 13 the first time a doctor asked me about my family history of just dropping dead.Less than two decades later, I cant begin to count how many times Ive heard the question. ?Its been twice this week.I was the kid who played every sport and never turned down a chance to run around the park, soccer field or basketball court. Anywhere, really. But it all came to a halt on a hazy September day. The unfamiliar doctor was concerned after hearing a pronounced murmur in my heart through a stethoscope, and then he asked me matter-of-factly: Do you have a family history of just dropping dead?Thus began a journey with my body that continues to this day.I was quickly taken to the local childrens hospital and was initially misdiagnosed with a valve abnormality. Despite the error, my pediatric cardiologist was still correct in his assertion that something was negatively impacting the blood flow in my heart and that it would worsen. He warned of eventual symptoms and side effects and even surgery, but the news didnt feel real to me.At the time, I was lucky, and largely asymptomatic. I knew I had to be careful and what the consequences could be if I wasnt, but I didnt let it faze me. I earned 12 varsity letters in high school, and ran a five-minute mile with ease. I say that not to brag, but to explain just how hard it was to hear that I would not be allowed to play sports in college because of my ailment. It was heartbreaking. While I think I hid it well to most people around me, inside I was angry. I felt like my body had let me down.However, my condition did noticeably deteriorate in the ensuing years, and I had some scary experiences while working out. I collapsed one day after running and knew it was more serious than I had previously acknowledged.After seeing several cardiologists and hearing a slew of opinions over a multiyear span, I was finally diagnosed with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) in 2014. I was placed on extensive exercise restrictions and put on a twice-daily medication. I was in a constant state of fatigue and frequently got lightheaded and dizzy after performing activities as simple as standing up from my office chair or walking up the steps.I remember looking at myself in the mirror and wondering how I could have gone from such an athletic person to someone who couldnt do much of anything. It was a devastating feeling. In the fall of last year, I went to the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center clinic at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. For the first time, it felt like the medical staff was listening to what I was saying and actually having explanations for it. And not only that, but they had a possible solution to alleviate many of my symptoms.Open-heart surgery. Specifically, a septal myectomy. And while hearing that initially felt like all of the air had been sucked out of the room, I quickly grew open to the idea. I was being given an opportunity to potentially do so many of the things I loved to do again. I couldnt say no.In April, I underwent the lengthy procedure and awoke to my new-and-improved unobstructed heart. While the pain was intense, I almost immediately -- or after the heavy medication wore off -- felt such a sense of pride. I remember thinking: I did this. I made it through this. My body did this.I used to begrudge my body for what it couldnt do, feeling shame every time I had to make up an excuse for why I couldnt join friends at various exercise classes or anger when a one-flight walk up the stairs became debilitating. Now, since the surgery, I look at my body not for what it cant do, but for what it can.Just one day after being operated on, I was able to walk around the hospital corridors -- slowly, to be sure, but I was still moving. While I ultimately required two additional surgeries before going home -- to insert a pacemaker as an unfortunate consequence of the first procedure -- I still continued to get up and walk around. The halls of the ICU were my track, and I faced them just as I faced the actual track during my time as a competitive runner.After nine long days in the hospital, I finally went home, and the next day I walked a mile. Im sure it wasnt pretty, but I did it. I hope I never forget the appreciation I felt for being able to move on my own, breathe the fresh spring air and feel the warmth of the sun on my skin.Now three months removed, I am working out six days a week -- sometimes under the guidance of nurses in a rehab setting, and other times on my own at the gym. In my past life, I was comparing myself to those around me -- wondering why others got to run faster or longer or even why someone was skinnier than I was. But now I have an overwhelming sense of acceptance. Im just happy to be there.Sometimes, I stop and marvel at what I have accomplished over the past few months. I clearly wasnt born with the best heart, but every step I take and every new accomplishment in my journey feels like a victory.Sure, Ive had my setbacks. Running has still proved too tough a task (for now, anyway) and multiple failed attempts brought back some temporary resentment. But overall, I cant believe what Im capable of.I look at the scars on my chest not with disgust, but with pride. They may not exactly land me on the cover of Vogue, but theyre mine -- a constant reminder of what Ive been through and how strong I really am. Maybe I cant do everything I once did, and maybe I never will, but I appreciate everything I can do.And thats good enough for me.DArcy Maine is a writer and reporter for espnW. Follow her on Twitter @darcymaine_espn.? Cody Allen Jersey .2 billion agreement with Rogers Communications for the leagues broadcast and multimedia rights. Michael Brantley Jersey .Y. -- Jayna Hefford scored the winning goal Friday as Canada survived a scare with a 4-3 win over Sweden at the Four Nations womens hockey tournament. http://www.indiansteamproshop.com/Indians-Corey-Kluber-Kids-Jersey/ . It was the kind of score that might make everyone else wonder which course he was playing. Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days. Danny Salazar Jersey . LOUIS -- St. Kenny Lofton Jersey . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. GLASGOW, Scotland -- The World Anti-Doping Agency calls its ongoing project to revamp its structure and load up with increased regulatory punch The Way Forward, but that path will continue to meander through the past for at least a little while longer.?At Sundays WADA Foundation Board meeting, deputy director general Rob Koehler called for Russian sports officials to acknowledge the countrys pervasive, government-enabled doping culture, calling that acceptance vital to being fully welcomed back to global competition.Vitaly Smirnov, appointed by Russian president Vladimir Putin to bring the countrys sports establishment back into good graces, said that admission would never come. We know the [doping] system did not exist, he said. Detailing his 35 years in high-level positions in elite sport dating back to the Soviet era, he said nothing nefarious could have happened without his approval.So there. That non-meeting of the minds sums up where Olympic sport has been stalled for years, without public accountability or consequences for anyone other than the athletes themselves.?Individual athletes were held to the highest standard, punished even if they inadvertently ingested a banned substance. Yet the systems that surrounded them could be dysfunctional or corroded and avoid paying much of a price. WADA limited itself to suspending labs and flunking national anti-doping agencies for incompetence, but as athletes from those countries kept showing up at the start line, it became increasingly clear that a system created 16 years ago to harmonize rules across borders harbored deep inequities in testing and enforcement.?WADA has launched a salvo to try to break the stalemate, saying it can and should regulate any entities that sign its code, including national Olympic committees and international sports federations. In a new, graduated set of sanctions presented publicly Sunday for the first time, WADA would impose oversight, fines and -- as a last, drastic resort -- the threat of an Olympic ban in cases where it finds sustained, deliberate sabotage of its rules.?Canadas Rene Bouchard, the veteran government administrator who led the WADA committee that came up with the new standards, called them the opposite of political, as far as Im concerned -- its open, its known. The draft will now undergo legal review, but Bouchard and others made it clear they want to put it into practice as soon as possible.?Sterner sanctions could gain impetus next month if, as expected, the conclusion of law professor Richard McLarens investigation adds to the already considerable evidence that Russian doping was state-sponsored. Part II of his report is slated to be released Dec. 9.?Joseph de Pencier, CEO of the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations, predicted the report would uncover more skulduggery in a way thats very detailed and cant be dismissed as allegations. ?It sure would be nice to see some contrition, he said of Russias sports establishment.?But scrutiny of WADAs plans will be intense and resistance is inevitable. Potential collateral damage to innocent athletes will be a hard needle to thread.dddddddddddd The International Olympic Committee, which has commissioned its own investigation of Russia, will almost certainly resist encroachment on its turf and its traditional role as sole gatekeeper for its flagship event. That was amply demonstrated last summer when it steamrolled WADAs objections and made most Russian athletes eligible for the Rio 2016 Games.?In recent months, the IOC has oscillated between pledging support to WADA and attacking it. Beckie Scott, the retired Olympic champion cross-country skier and chair of WADAs Athlete Committee, labeled those broadsides an effort to destabilize and undermine WADA ... the only fight that should be taking place is the fight for clean sport.?The feud is complex because its familial. The overlap between the two bureaucracies is written into WADAs structure and embodied in its current president, IOC member Craig Reedie, who was elected unopposed for another three-year term Sunday. If WADA succeeds in extending its regulatory reach, the potential conflicts of interest could multiply. Sunday, the agency committed to forming a working group that will review governance and ethical standards.?Max Cobb, president and CEO of the U.S. Biathlon Association, said he would prefer to see IOC members excluded from WADA executive positions. Like many whose sports have been dented by doping, Cobb, who attended Sundays meeting as an observer, is impatient with the infighting and wants to see concrete progress. You wonder whether theres a desire to really resolve this, or if its just turf wars and pleasantries being exchanged, he said.?WADA is bidding to expand its jurisdiction and authority at perhaps the most demanding and transitional time in its history. Many of the governments that fund it, the national anti-doping agencies that implement its rules, and the athletes who submit to them have raised their voices and are putting pressure on the agency to assert itself.?The agencys to-do list includes figuring out how to grow its budget to match its bigger ambitions, including a beefed-up investigative unit; drawing up a template for an independent global testing entity; and implementing a new policy for encouraging and rewarding whistleblowers. Cyberattacks by Russian hackers exposed athletes medical information by leaking therapeutic use exemption documents this year -- payback for WADAs stance that Russia should be banned from Rio -- and forced a $200,000 IT upgrade.?The events that propelled WADA to this juncture may seem to hark back to the Cold War, but Edwin Moses, the double Olympic hurdles champion and chairman of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency board, balks at too simplistic a narrative for the sides that have been taken.?Me being an American has nothing to do with it, he said of his support for a stronger WADA. I dont want your daughter, your son, under the impression they have to take drugs to compete. Thats corrupt. And that right is not just for American athletes. 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