If I can put my socks (heck–if I can put my pants) on standing up again I will nominate Seth for Ruler of the World.

The brain injury people need to be looking at this protocol to use as a part of rehab.

I was born with a very slightly deformed left foot, nothing crippling, but noticeable if I was barefoot or wearing sandals and uncomfortable, right on the edge of painful, pretty much all the time. I had had three surgeries to correct the bunions that resulted from the anomaly, but they did no good; the bunions just came back and the foot became more and more trapezoidal. Then in 1997 I learned about a new surgery to correct the underlying problem; my new foot doc said I should decide whether to have it pretty soon because they won’t do it on people over 60. I hemmed and hawed and finally, in January of 2003, six months before I turned 60, I had the new procedure, which was actually four surgeries, two in January and two the next September. Yadda yadda, months in bed, foot six inches above heart, blah blah blah. The upshot was I got a new foot, and it’s great. It never hurts even a tiny bit, and I can walk from here to Sunday with a big smile on my face.

What I couldn’t do was balance on one foot. Balancing on the old left foot would have been impossible, and since I couldn’t do it on the left foot I never did it on the right foot either. There’s nothing wrong with my inner ear or my vision — I can ride a bike, no sweat — but my feet had never learned how to balance independent of each other. I would try to stand on my right foot; the folks in rehab always tell you, “Do the good one first; then the good one can teach the other one.” But my right foot had no more idea how to stand alone than the left one did.

So since September of 2003 I’ve had it as a goal to put my socks on standing up. Teeter-teeter, teeter-teeter … BANG. Teeter-teeter … SMASH. I didn’t give up, but I also never seemed to make much progress. Both feet were equally bad. It was like a funny little game I’d play with myself every morning. Kind of funny, kind of sad.

Last Thursday, having read the first of Seth’s Brain Food posts, I chucked some flax and borage oil in my first Crazy Shake. Friday, Saturday, the same. Sunday I took some fish-oil capsules too. Monday, again, the flaxseed oil, again some fish-oil capsules.

Tuesday morning I put my socks on standing up.

This morning I put my socks on standing up. Then I got all cocky and put my */shoes/* on standing up — something that had never been a part of my wildest ambitions for myself. I tied the knots standing up, not needing to steady myself against my dresser. I stood on one foot waiting for the bus, then on the other. Downtown I walked up an escalator no hands — wow! Then I walked */down/* an escalator no hands. Wow! Wow! Oh man, this foot-balancing thing is fantastic.

Now of course, it’s easy for the dubious viewer to see that I am a dupe of the Seth Roberts Evil Empire. The Omega-3s are nothing but magic feathers, and I could have put my socks on standing up all along if I weren’t such a wimp. So the dubious will say. But as for me, I’m switching from canola oil and ELOO to walnut oil, swishing the flax oil into my Crazy Shakes, chucking down the fish oil pills, and eating massive quantities of salmon and sardines. You’ll recognize me easy, I’m the little old lady at the bus stop, standing meditatively, first on one foot and then on the other, smiling my secret smile.

I would submit that for you folks, the impact of omega-3 on the brain may be creating the improvement.

I’m envious–all three of those areas are impaired for me. I have not seen any improvement in my balance even with the omega-3 from the flaxseed. It hasn’t gotten worse either, so that’s something.

I do plan on trying fish oil, since there are elements of omega-3 that are not available in large quanities in flaxseed oil that are available in fish oils. Perhaps that will impact my balance for the good.

Thanks for all of your work.