Scrambled Leggs: A Snarky Tale of Hospital Hooey, a fictionalized memoir by Sally Franz, is a serious, yet humorous book in which Ms. Franz facetiously tells about the series of events she went through after being attacked by Acute Transverse Myelitis (ATM). ATM is inflammation of the spinal cord that blocks transmission of nerve impulses that should travel up and down the cord.*

While on a ski trip with her youth group, Ms. Franz noticed a tingling in her toes, then legs, then hips. Within 30 minutes, this tingling had transformed into something much more serious than the sensation of pins and needles felt when a limb is going to sleep - she was paralyzed.

Back at the ski lodge, no one seemed to believe that anything was really wrong with her, at least nothing that a cup of hot cocoa wouldn’t cure. Then the guy comes back with the cocoa and finds her on the floor, unable to move. Finally, an ambulance is called.

From her stay in the hospital to her time in rehab to her release, Ms. Franz relates some pretty serious events in a humorous way, a way that only someone who has survived such traumatic situations could relate. Several near death experiences, as well as other experiences that would have been so totally embarrassing for me that I would never told others about them, are talked about in such a way that your sides ache from laughing so much. These experiences range from learning to walk with a cane to learning how to use the bathroom to being put on the toilet by a nurse who walks out and leaves the bathroom door open, thus leaving Ms. Franz open to the view of anyone going down the hallway.

Several challenges were faced along the way, such as learning how to maneuver a wheelchair. Maybe if everywhere one had to travel was level, smooth, and free of bumps, it would have been easier. Once she was recovered enough to come out of the wheelchair, she had to relearn how to walk. From someone who has been in a wheelchair, learning how to use your legs again isn't for wimps.

She met some interesting people along the way. For a roommate, she had a once successful artist who was acquainted with Ms. Franz’s husband, but did not like him at all. Ms. Franz was determined to make this cantankerous woman smile and succeeded in doing so just days before the once successful artist dies.

While stranded on the toilet with the bathroom door left open, she met the ecumenical lay counselor who was helping out at the hospital. Once he brought her a blanket to cover up with, they talked and reminisced about NYC.

She was finally transferred to a local hospital near where she lived. Her arrival on a Friday may not have been such a great idea, as she found the majority of staff leaving for the weekend. They would do absolutely nothing for her until they returned to work on Monday.

She met the nutritionist and requested a diet of fresh, wholesome food. You would thought the staff would jump for joy. Not so. Her request fell on deaf ears. No one seemed to take her seriously.

She almost brought revolution to the rehab center when she showed up for breakfast fully dressed, not in a bathrobe, and with make-up on. She started a breakfast club with other residents - they actually wore something besides pajamas to the dining room. She brought them pride. Joy now filled a once dismal room.

Her troubles did not end when she was deemed well enough to be released. A visit to the social security office was akin to being an inmate in prison. She was interrogated by a lady convinced Ms. Franz was doing more work and making more money than she reported.

A bunch of funerals, her daughter’s marriage in Argentina, her book being turned down for publication, the discovery that her husband was cheating on her and a subsequent divorce - those were just a few of the dramas that came her way at a time when she was told to avoid stress by her doctor because more tress could bring on another attack.

Ms. Franz is not out to badmouth the medical profession; she does say that some of her best friends are doctors and nurses. There are those in the medical profession, though, who obviously need to find another career choice.

At the end of the book, Ms. Franz suggests some rules when visiting those who are in the hospital. Take it from one who has been on the receiving end of visitations for injuries sustained in a pretty serious car wreck, the suggestions are awesome and would be greatly appreciated by whoever you are visiting.

If you have ever been in the hospital, whether or not your doctors and nurses were as inept as those of Ms. Franz seemed to be, this book will bring laughter to your day. Even if you have never been in the hospital, this book will have you rolling in the floor laughing. Her ability to find humor during one of the most trying times in her life is most definitely a gift from God.

The healing properties of laughter change your perspective on what is going on around you and bring light to an otherwise dismal situation. Anyone going through a rough time in life definitely needs to read this book, written to bring hope and healing to others through laughter.

I received a copy of this book free of charge from the author. If you wish, you may purchase a copy of Scrambled Leggs: A Snarky Tale of Hospital Hooey through Amazon. For your convenience, I have provided a link below.

*http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec06/ch093/ch093g.html