I forgot to mention that I had my annual physical about two weeks ago. As she was trying to call up my records on her reluctant computer, she asked me some general questions about my health. I answered to each one that I was having no problems. "I'm the healthiest cancer patient in town," I told her. She enjoyed that. Always good to break the ice that way before a physical gets...physical.
(I got that cartoon from Daryl Cagle's blog.)
But having a sense of humor during the process -- being able to laugh at the absurdity of it all -- can be an essential part of staying sane. When I was in the treatment room, I made it a point to ask the onc nurse to put the TV on Comedy Central. There were usually horrible "comedy" movies at 10:00am as I was starting treatment, but if I took a nap, I could sleep through them and be awake for, say, The Daily Show or something else funny. And I'd laugh. Out loud. A lot. The nurses told me they didn't much laughter in the treatment room. They seemed to appreciate it.
This week, NHL survivor Sue Schroder compiled some stories from cancer patients about laughing during the difficult times, for a piece in the Grand Rapids Press. It doesn't involve much of that dark cancer humor that I enjoy, but it does provide some nice reminders that we all need to find the laughter in the worst situation. It's always there; it just needs to be found.
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