Hefting that extra 40 lbs on only one leg

The daredevil cites philosopher Martin Heidegger as his inspiration. "Falling has its meaning for so many people," Skarbakka said. "Once you let yourself go, there may be more space in there to be open to other possibilities."

Before I go any further I would like to clarify one thing. I am not a spokesperson for Jenny Craig. I chose Jenny because I used the program successfully about 20 years. More about that later.

On Friday April 3 I flew back to San Diego with the help of my daughter, Katie and her husband, Bruce. It was a carefully orchestrated trip with me in a wheel chair and my boot. We had to go through the security check separately because of the wheel chair and all the hardware in my ankle. The flight home was easy, once we figured out how to elevate my foot on Katie's lap. At this stage of the healing process it was very important to keep my foot elevated. If it was hanging down for any period of time it got swollen and painful. In spite of the severity of the injury, my pain was minimal.

Once I arrived home, I was ensconced in my room with pillows and ice to my ankle. Katie spent the day cleaning and straightening my room. (Im not the best housekeeper in the world.) Now came the fun part. How do I get around our small house without putting any weight on my ankle?

Three means of mobility:

1) wheel chair. Problem: the wheel chair wouldnt go into the bathroom

2) Knee scooter: this is a relatively new invention that is worth it's weight in gold. It is like a kid's scooter except that it has a padded seat where you can rest your knee and scoot around on the good leg. It does fit in the bathroom. With the help of a toilet that is designed for people with disabilities (higher than a regular toilet) and hand rails on the toilet.(Frank, my husband set this up while I was in Northern California) I was able to transfer to the toilet. Problem: if I am in the kitchen and make something to eat on the scooter, I cant carry the food to the table because I have to have both hands on the scooter to steer. Therefore I had to use the wheelchair in the kitchen.

3)walker.. this was used later in my rehabilitation when I was able to put a little weight on my ankle.

The next post will tell how I decided to lose weight.