New York Islanders forward missed the net on a one-timer

Just over 18 years ago, I had to have a liver transplant. I was only 22 at the time, but had been diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis, which caused my body to malfunction and attack my own liver because it recognized it as a foreign object. As a result, the doctor said I had the liver of an 80-year-old male alcoholic, and if I didnt get a transplant right away, I wasnt going to make it.I was in denial at first, thinking, Just give me a shot or some antibiotics to see how this plays itself out, but Im not going to die. I went home that night and started throwing up bile. I was completely dehydrated, swollen, and I was too weak to walk on my own. The livers function is to clean your blood, and mine had gotten to the point where it wasnt filtering any of the toxins out, so I was completely toxic and had to be stabilized. I wound up hospitalized for a week. Thats when I was like, Oh, this is for real.It took 18 months before a donor match was found, and my doctors prepared me for what surgery was going to be like. They never sugar-coated things and helped me manage the fear as well. They said, Imagine what it would feel like for a Mack truck to run over you, and whatever you think that could feel like, amplify it by 10 because thats how youre going to feel after the surgery.The liver is located toward the back of your body, so what they had to do was open my chest up like a book. Theres a vertical cut that starts in between my breasts that goes down six inches and then horizontally across on both sides. They peeled my skin back to expose my rib cage and broke a rib on my left side to have better access to my liver. After they replaced it with a new one, they had to reconnect the bile ducts and all the major veins, reset the bone and then closed me up with sutures and staples.?The whole process took eight hours.During the recovery process, its mandatory to give blood every week so your doctor can monitor whether or not the liver is functioning properly. The average hospital stay after surgery is about two to three weeks. I was so tired of being sick that I checked out in eight or nine days. The staples didnt come out for another week or two.Theres nothing you can do to prepare for the first time you see the scar. Its such a deep cut, and the lines are so huge that its not something that will ever completely close -- you will always see this huge upside-down T on me. All across the scar lines are the dots from the staples, which have faded over the years, but its still slightly pinker than my normal skin color, and the scar tissue makes it a little bit puffier than the rest of my skin. It looks very tribal.The scar felt foreign at first, and I had mixed emotions. Obviously, I was thankful to have it because it meant that I made it. I was one of the lucky people that was given the gift of a donor, and Im here to tell the story.But I can remember that first summer going to the beach and wearing a two-piece -- because I was a 20-something and thats what Ive always worn. I didnt even think about it until I noticed people staring.At first I thought, What are they looking at? Then I realized it was my scar. It was bittersweet because something that brought me life caused people to look at me with what felt like scorn. I dont think I processed it as curiosity or even concern; I processed it as if they were judging me for being imperfect.I dont notice the stares now, but that first year after surgery I was extremely aware of them. I was a young woman and was much more concerned about what others thought. It made me less confident around men and in dating because I was like, Oh, God, Im going to have to tell them about my experience. If things progress, hell see it and what will he think? Its not something that I ever get to walk away from.There were definitely times where I felt awful. I was so mad at my surgeon because the cut isnt a straight line. It sounds crazy now, but Id taken such good care of my body, and before the surgery I had no other scars. None. I never had an accident as a kid that required stitches or didnt heal completely. I dont even have tattoos. So I just felt ruined.Thankfully, my mom was there to talk me through it emotionally because she grounded me. Whenever I expressed concern about people thinking Im ugly because of the scar shed say, How can you worry about that when youre here and youre healthy? If a scar, which is something that was integral to making sure that you were even here becomes a deterrent, then that person has their own hang ups and is not the one for you.Im very proud of my scar now, and I have been for a very long time, but in the beginning it definitely helped me make a lot of smart decisions about people. If I was talking to someone who was very focused on physical perfection and what is and isnt beautiful I would remove myself because Im actually extremely imperfect. Im very comfortable with that, and my scar allowed me to be more aware of the kind of person I want to share my imperfections with.Another surprise bonus of my scar is that I can use it as a weight-gain tool. I dont have the luxury of saying Im going to put on 10 pounds, because whenever I put on weight the scar tissue stretches and it hurts. I immediately feel physically uncomfortable. It just feels like your skin is being pulled taut -- but from the inside -- so it itches. Because of that, its important for me to stay physically fit, so I work out regularly. Im only 5 foot tall, so my sweet spot is 118 pounds. At that weight I still have my curves and my tummy is flat. Thats when I feel my sexiest because a toned up Mitzi is a happy Mitzi.Although my surgery and illness is not the type of experience that I would wish on my worst enemy, I wouldnt take it back because its such a tremendous part of my life journey. It informed who I am today. Im a survivor, and my scar is a daily reminder that life is for the living. I was literally just two cuts away from dying. Theres not a day that I dont get up and recognize how blessed I am to be getting up, period.Anslem Samuel Rocque is Brooklyn-based writer whose has appeared everywhere from Essence and The Root to Complex and Penthouse. When hes not shopping for memorable socks, hes procrastinating about finishing his debut novel. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @iamARocque. Maurice Harkless Clippers Jersey . 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TORONTO -- Canada was not the best team on the ice until it mattered.Down two goals with three minutes left, the high-powered Canadians kicked it up a notch and Team Europe simply couldnt stop them.Brad Marchand scored a short-handed goal with 43.1 seconds left after Patrice Bergeron tied it with 2:53 to go on a power play, lifting Canada to a 2-1 victory and the World Cup of Hockey title Thursday night.Sidney Crosbys line with the Boston Bruins pair of Marchand and Bergeron dominated in the final minutes as the trio did throughout the two-week tournament.Theyre addicted to winning, and they just make it happen, Canada coach Mike Babcock said.The Canadians won the best-of-three finals 2-0.Theyve won 16 straight games, including Olympic gold medals at the Sochi and Vancouver Games, since losing to the U.S. in the 2010 Olympics.Its pretty special, Crosby said. Its not easy to do, and for a good chunk of us, a lot of us were there in Russia.Europe seemed as if it had a chance to score a go-ahead goal late when Drew Doughty was called for high-sticking with just under two minutes left, but Canada was the team that took advantage when Marchand got the puck into open space and beat Jaroslav Halak with a shot from the slot to win the first World Cup since 2004.Its just crazy the way everything worked out, said Crosby, selected the MVP of the tournament after scoring three goals and finishing with a World Cup-high 10 points. When you get a penalty that late in the game, youre just trying to force overtime.After Crosby got his latest personal reward, he was presented with a silver World Cup of Hockey trophy and skated with it around the ice just months after hosting the Stanley Cup for the second time in his career.He set up the tying goal, passing the puck off the boards to Brent Burns, whose shot just inside the blue line was redirected by Bergerons raised stick.In the biggest moments, he turns it up, Babcock said.Carey Price made 32 savess for the Canadians, who started slow before ending the tournament with a furious rally that fired up a once-quiet crowd.dddddddddddddeno Chara scored early for Europe, and Halak made 32 saves for the eight-nation team .Its a tough loss because we were able to push them all the way to the limits, Chara said.In front of an unenthusiastic crowd and a lot of empty seats in the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Canadians started flat and the Europeans made them pay for their apparent apathy.Unlike the previous two times Canada trailed briefly to the U.S. and Russia, it could not come back against Europe quickly.It looked as if it wasnt going to be Canadas night when John Tavares had a wide-open net to shoot into but hit the right post from the bottom of the right circle. Earlier in the same shift, the New York Islanders forward missed the net on a one-timer opportunity.Canada averaged 4.4 goals over the first five games of the tournament, giving Price plenty of support. It didnt score as much in the final game of the tournament, but two goals were enough to win thanks to Price.Europe outshot the Canadians 12-8 after the first period and 27-21 after the second before they closed well enough to finish with one more shot.Canada had a man advantage again early in the third period, but got only one shot on Halak, a Slovak and Islanders standout, on the power play.Crosby had a chance to score with seven-plus minutes left, but Halak kicked the shot away with his right skate.In the end, Halak could not keep the puck out of his net twice.The way it turned out at the end is very painful, Europe coach Ralph Krueger said. But you need to open eye to big picture and the journey. How we played was amazing. They played their hearts out. ... We beat the odds and we turned this into a hell of final, which nobody expected. ' ' '