By RYAN HOPE - Sports Writer
Friday, July 11, 2008 11:21 PM PDT
 

ELKO - The ball hits the floor. Rolling. Rolling. Hooking. Into the gutter.

The next attempt scoots diagonally across the lane and manages to clip a single pin on the outside corner.

Not a great frame by bowling standards. But Arlene Coffman doesn't care.

It's a remarkable feat just for her to stand upright, let alone balance herself on a cane and put a spin on the ball in an honest effort to knock down pins at the end of the lane.

Coffman has the luxury of only one leg. She's getting used to a custom-fit prosthetic leg, but her two lower limbs aren't in perfect synchronization just yet.

That will come, but in the meantime, Coffman isn't missing out on any of her favorite pastimes. Including bowling.

“I need to learn how to walk by myself again, and I figured bowling is going to help me do that,” Coffman said. “I use one cane. I have it there for my security blanket. All I do is stand up there and (my husband) Howard brings me the ball. I'm learning to throw it and keep my balance. Just like everything else. One tiny step at a time until I can walk up there, get my ball and bowl.”

Two and a half years ago, Coffman received the horrible news she was stricken with colon cancer and it was spreading.

Aggressive treatment couldn't keep the cancer from spreading to her right leg and it slowly began to die while the rest of her body was fighting so hard to live. The leg turned all different colors before Howard said it was as dark as night.

Arlene went into septic shock and doctors determined it was time to amputate. The cut was made halfway between the knee and hip.

The pain associated with the cancer was nothing compared to the anxiety she felt after the operation. Sitting still was not for her.

“(Before being diagnosed with cancer) I bowled three times a week,” Coffman said. “I volunteered at the hospital. I was a member of the Lamoille Women's Club. I was always on the go. I never sat down.”

Six months of sitting about drove her mad, but she got through it, thanks in part to good support from family and friends and an array of activities.

As soon as she was well enough, Coffman began working in the yard. She would scoot along the flower beds, kneel and use a pillow to prop up her shortened leg.

Then it was back to volunteering at the hospital. Then bowling.

The latter is the most complicated undertaking yet. Just getting situated is a chore.

“Let me see your foot,” Howard says during the interview. He rests the prosthetic leg on his knee, and wrestles with a shoehorn to get the largest bowling shoe he can find onto her foot.

Arlene slowly makes her way to the lane and finds a good place to stand to complete her round. A granddaughter, Darby, is in town and helps Howard retrieve the ball after every bowl.

Arlene's pre-cancer average was in the 130s. Her top score since the operation - 36. Some skills don't return as quickly as they're lost.

One day Arlene hopes to have the same lifestyle she enjoyed before cancer hit, although she'll have a vastly different perspective.

“People don't appreciate their legs until you don't have one,” Arlene said. “Instead of making 14 trips up the stairs, you stop and put everything together and make one.”

The Coffmans came to Elko in 1989 when Howard took a job with Barrick as a computer engineer. Arlene worked for Elko Garden, but both are now retired and focused on her recovery.

“It was pretty hard to watch,” Howard said. “She's pretty tough. I don't do everything she used to do, but I do a lot. But she's still alive.”