Originally from a small parish town in Louisiana, Amanda “AJ” Johns moved to Biloxi in 2001 and has worked in property management with the same company for seven years. She now serves as the assistant property manager at The Landing at D’Iberville Apartments and was honored as the Greater Gulf Coast Apartment Association’s Assistant Property Manager of the Year for 2024. Johns also is a single mother of three: MiKayley, 19; Alexander, 14; and Elijah, 10.
MY HEALTH CHALLENGES
In many ways, I’ve always felt like a small-town girl learning how to survive through some very lonely seasons of life. After years of severe endometriosis and fibroids, I underwent a full hysterectomy in 2020 that unexpectedly threw me into menopause at age 33. Around the same time, my chronic back issues progressively worsened, eventually leading to emergency spinal surgery at age 36 on Feb. 23, 2024 — the day before my birthday — after losing function and mobility. I spent my birthday relearning how to walk again through intense pain and rehabilitation — the most painful birthday of my life.
In 2025, I learned my spinal fusion had failed due to a nonunion and loose pedicle screw, leaving me bone-on-bone with continued S1 nerve compression that resulted in permanent nerve damage. I later needed hip surgery at just 37 years old and now continue pain management while preparing for spinal revision surgery in January 2027.
After my hysterectomy, I struggled deeply with losing a sense of my womanhood and learning how to recognize myself again through physical pain, hormonal changes, grief and emotional loss. At the same time, I was trying to stay strong while losing my sister to stage 4 terminal cancer in 2022. Movies often show inspirational moments, but they rarely prepare you for hearing your first best friend repeatedly ask if they are dying while you fight back tears and try to hold onto hope for them.
Through everything, I continued raising my three children largely on my own while balancing work, recovery, grief, chronic pain and the emotional and financial responsibilities that come with it all.
THE HARDEST PART
One of the hardest parts has been grieving the life I once had while still trying to remain strong for my children through pain, surgeries and loss. Chronic pain can feel incredibly invisible and lonely, especially when you continue smiling and showing up for others while silently struggling underneath the surface. There were moments I found myself on the floor crying in pain, trying to muffle it so my children would not hear me, only to somehow force myself back up because I still had to keep going.
At the same time, some of the most rewarding moments have been seeing my children come together in ways I never expected. Whether it was cooking for me, helping around the house, or simply saying, “Don’t worry Momma, I’ll take care of you,” those moments reminded me that even through pain, love still shows up in the most powerful ways.
MY APPROACH
My mindset has simply been to keep going, even when life felt impossible. Faith, resilience and my children carried me through my darkest moments and reminded me not to let my circumstances define me. I often remind myself that I did not crawl through shards of glass just to settle for a mediocre life or give up on myself now.
MY TREATMENT
I have undergone multiple surgeries, rehabilitation, injections, pain management treatments and ongoing therapy. I now live with permanent nerve damage and chronic pain daily while preparing for spinal revision surgery in January 2027. After the outcome of my first surgery, facing another major surgery brings a great deal of fear and uncertainty, but I continue balancing motherhood, work, recovery and hope one day at a time.
WHAT LIFE IS LIKE NOW
Life looks different now, and adapting has not been easy. I cannot physically do many of the things I once could, including running and playing sports with my boys the way I want to. I have learned to slow down, listen to my body, give myself more grace and appreciate life and meaningful moments in a much deeper way.
HOW THIS EXPERIENCE HAS CHANGED ME
This experience taught me that strength is not always loud. One of my proudest moments was being named Assistant Property Manager of the Year for 2024 less than a year after emergency spinal surgery. I’m proud I was finally able to take my boys on our first real family vacation after having to postpone it due to my surgery the year before. I also stepped out of my comfort zone by competing alongside amazing and resilient women from across the United States in the 2026 Super Mom competition.
MY ADVICE TO OTHERS
To anyone facing darkness, pain or uncertainty: please do not give up on yourself. There were moments the darkness felt heavier than the hope, but somehow, one small step at a time, I kept going.
Healing is not linear, and strength does not always look how we expect. Sometimes strength looks like simply surviving the day or continuing to fight battles nobody else can see. Keep fighting the good fight, hold onto hope and remember: Your hardest chapter does not have to be the end of your story.