
I broke my ankle in 2017 and spent nearly 3 months
in rehab, which I assure you was no picnic. I became
very familiar with Matlock, and Hallmark movies.
I nearly lost my leg in the ordeal, due to infection, but gratefully I was spared having to go hippity-hopping everywhere. I didn’t do well on one leg for 9 weeks, I assure you.
I learned to tell stories (true ones) that kept the hired help entertained, and I learned to laugh at myself to keep from crying. Laughter is the best medicine.
I am Diabetic and have Narcolepsy. so there was plenty to

talk about. The Nurse, CNA’s, and PT’s would often remark that I was so “interesting”. I found myself falling asleep during physical therapy and the therapist would say “Linda, wake up” Yeah, they probably thought I was crazy.
Most of the other patients there were morose and mostly lifeless. Some wouldn’t even get out of bed all day long. I’m sure the hired help thought none of those stories I told were true. How could anyone be so upbeat and positive in a place like that?
That first night in rehab I sunk so low, I didn’t think there was any possibility of surviving this ordeal. It was impossible! I couldn’t put any weight on my broken leg – no weight-bearing! -0–
Talk about being handicapped! (see HERE) I had to relearn how to do everything on one leg.

Everything!! How to get out of bed, turn and sit in the wheelchair, all on one leg.
That was called “a transfer.” Now I wasn’t a small person, mind you, at 255 lbs. My legs were little spindles with most of the weight from the hips up.
You try standing on only one leg and pivoting around to sit down in a chair at the side of the bed. You are half drugged out of your mind (so you don’t feel the pain that your diabetic legs can’t feel anyway) LOL
It was almost a joke. And even funnier to watch if it wasn’t so pathetic.
Then getting into the bathroom was easy. They just “wheeled you in there”, but now you have to stand up again on one leg. pivot on that one leg, 3 or four times, now sit down. Oh no, you moved the portable stool as you sat down. Ooops. Well, I guess housekeeping can take care of the spills.
Finished? OK stand up again, pivot (oh the handicap bar helped a lot there). Now sit down again. “NO WAIT till I get the chair under you” Always feel with your hand around behind you and find the wheel chair handle to make sure the chair is there before you sit down”!!
WOW, I decided to remain in that chair the rest of the day.

Broken ankle Diabetes Survive Rehab Open Wound that had to heal Possibility of infection due to contamination from the pool water that I broke my ankle in
And last, but foremost in my mind was, “You’ll most likely lose your leg Sign here to say you understand the risk.”
If I cried, my head would stuff up and I couldn’t breathe, so DON’T CRY. and the final problem, you’ve got to sleep on your back (which I couldn’t do because mucus would drop down my throat and I couldn’t breathe) PERFECT!!
And there you have it. The horrible solution to an imperfect day.
- Hopelessness,
- impossibility,
- I’m going to die.
- I couldn’t sleep.
- I was weighed down feeling like the jaws of death were opened wide, ready to swallow me up.
When I finally came to my senses, I realized I wasn’t ready to die, and I decided I was never going to go to that place again during this ordeal. I had to look to the light!
I turned on the light and kept it on at night and even during the day. From then on, I played music at night, I recorded memories of my life on my iPhone, listened to Podcasts, I sometimes watched “I Love Lucy” or whatever was on TV to take my mind off myself. And from that moment on I never looked back, nor cried (until now)
Being in rehab seemed like forever, but with the help of a medical wound vac and my nutritional supplements, my wound eventually started healing
To recap: to get through rehab, you must
- Stay away from despair,
- Laugh,
- Get out of bed and stay up
- Attend physical therapy
- Tell your attendants stories from your life. Your life has been full of events that need to be told.
- Get a smart phone and start recording YOUR LIFE stories as you remember them.
- Record THIS experience, ALL of it, the good, the bad, and the ugly
And now LAUGH at the humor that you see in the memory. After all, “Laughter is the best medicine.”
- Do you wish you could spend more time at home with the family?
- Are you sick and tired of the boss making the good bucks while you do all the work?
Now you can laugh all the way to the bank while making money 24/7.
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Laughter is definitely the best medicine. I’ve had my fair share of injuries in my years as well, and this I agree with.
Only you, and those who have gone through a broken ankle can even begin to understand how it is to be unable to put any weight on one leg. Thanks for reading and your comments.
Good job, Linda. You can look back and smile now. But you just showed how important a good attitude is. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your understanding words. You spent your time in Rehab too, so you do understand how difficult it was. Yes the only way I got thru that ordeal was to Laugh!!!
Linda . . . you have a marvelous way of expressing yourself. You draw your reader in because it is so interesting and captivating. I sincerely admire you for pulling yourself “up by your bootstraps” during that dark period. Keep it up!!! ET
Thank you for the kind words. I wrote that all while in Rehab and hardly changed anything. I was given those words is all I can say. Writing is one of those hidden talents I’m now discovering.
Nice article! What an awful situation you had to go through.
Glad you made it through the storms Linda
Nothing like humour to get us where we need to be
Go well and keep on building
Thank you for the well wishes. You are too kind. It is true, if we can’t find humor in the experience, we might cry and be very miserable. I find great strength from sharing my feelings and receiving encouragement from people like you. Blessings to you!
Yes, I’m glad too! That first night however, I really wondered how I could possibly weather the storm. I suffered from panic attacks in the hospital and nearly got up to tear down the hospital corridor, on my one leg. I think it was the hydro-codien speaking loud and clear, however. Once that med was eliminated from my drugs, my anxiety reduced greatly.
/the storms people go through need incredible strength and you are doing so great Linda
Go well
Thanks Vicki. You are right about life being stormy. We never know when our next challenge will come, but it will come for sure!
…and you’re still on the green side of the grass!!! Way to go Cuz!
Thank you, Curt. Yes, and I’m still alive and kickin’. That was a very dark experience I don’t want to ever experience again. The important thing to get out of it is that I decided to come out of that dark place and look to the light for my peace of mind. I could have given up, and I would have been no different than those other patients at rehab who never got out of bed and just wasted away.