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Finding Humor Through the Sadness
Lately, I have been going through a really difficult time physically and mentally. While waiting for my surgery I have been feeling weak, defeated, and just extremely uncomfortable. Something that really helps me cope with the sadness and difficult days is to find humor. Whether it’s making the “most” out of a bad situation or making inappropriately dark jokes about my health. Laughing and making other people laugh with things I say really is something that has helped me get through some difficult times. There are so many memes on the internet about chronic illness and mental illness that make me LAUGH OUT LOUD even though both topics are very serious. Some are morbidly funny and others are just “hahahaha I totally get it!” funny.
To find ways to laugh at myself I think of things I can say that will make someone laugh if they were in a similar situation. I usually create my own memes and post them on my Instagram account @recharged.rewired . I also find humor in the little things like wearing t-shirts that are appropriate for procedures I’ve had. For example, yesterday when I had my bronchoscopy I wore a shirt that said “It’s about to go down” hahahahaha! Get it !? The scope going down my throat LOL! It was funny for me and was a way to “take the edge off” of a stressful situation and it brought some laughs to the room.
What are some ways you find humor through the difficulty? Do you make funny remarks or statements about your conditions? Can you relate to some of the funny memes and posts that are out there about chronic illness/ mental illness?
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7 Replies
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I think a lot of us are careful to pick out our outfits before a procedure or appointment. For one thing, you want something that’s easy to get out of and back into (especially shoes). But I’ve seen other friends make statements with the tops they wear, and I do the same thing. When I applied to college I was admitted to Berkeley and rejected from Stanford, Berkeley’s biggest rival. Naturally every time I went to Stanford hospital I would wear my blue and gold Cal branded gear. My mom scolded me for inciting the rivalry, but I shrugged and said, “Where did they expect me to go.” They made their choice, ha!
My friend Maddie would wear a shirt that said “Sorry I’m late. I didn’t want to come.”
I enjoy your memes so much! Let me know when you make an original one so I can share it to our Instagram feed. Since it’s connected to BioNews, I’m trying to be super by the book on not reusing content that might be copyrighted somewhere. <3
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Kathleen, I’ll send you my original ones LOL! And I LOOOOVE that shirt that your friend had. I wore a shirt to a test once that said “Everything hurts and I’m dying” it was a gym tank top hahahahahaha!!! The doctor said, “I was gonna laugh at your shirt but after looking at your medical records I don’t know if that’s appropriate for me to laugh at !” but we had a good laugh anyways LOL! #morbid
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This is such a great post! Most of my humor is pretty morbid because that’s the only way I can make sense of my life’s insanity…
(Recycled from an earlier post): “How has PH changed your life in a positive way?” – “My life’s shorter!”
(During lung tests/PFTs): “Thanks for your encouragement shouting PUSHPUSHPUSHPUSHPUSH, but I’m not giving birth right now. In fact, I can’t due to obvious biological reasons.”
(When my advisor tried telling me I should choose an academic career path and be patient): “Six feet under isn’t a good place to lecture from.”
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LOL VK I totally get the morbid sense of humor !!!! I do this too and some people are like “oh my god I love how morbid you are” and some take offense to it. But to each his own. It helps me “cope” so I continue to use it. Most comedians out there that make fun of their illnesses usually do some pretty harsh jokes LOL! I could do stand up comedy with the experiences I’ve had in the hospital. Just my bronchoscopy alone would be a HIT of a show !
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“You’re not invited to my wedding. OR MY FUNERAL FOR THAT MATTER!”
(I feel bad, I did say this to a family member once, although granted, she really deserved it.)
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I sent my friend a meme once that said “I just want my best friend to stand at my funeral like this next to the casket” and it was someone dressed as the Grim Reaper all in black with the hood and everything hahahahaha . We both laughed way too inappropriately !
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I was about to start this topic but something told me to do a search first. Great minds think alike @brittany-foster! As @kathleen-sheffer will attest to, my son has a great sense of humor that is a combination of dry, sometimes dark and at times, silly. It has been his greatest asset in getting through the ups and downs of PH and transplant. To an outsider his jokes about his health might seem shocking. Sometimes people don’t know how to react which makes Cullen laugh that much harder. One of my favorite moments was when a little boy wouldn’t leave my son alone about the backpack he was carrying with the central line tubing sticking out of it. He was patient and explained multiple times but eventually he tired of it and with a straight face said, “I didn’t eat enough vegetables when I was your age so now I need this to make up for the vitamins I didn’t get when I was little.” That little boys eyes went huge and he slowly backed away and didn’t ask any more questions about the backpack. I bet his mother never had problems getting him to eat his veggies after that!
Another favorite was how he friended a rather strict nurse. She seldom smiled and had a harsh tone to her voice when talking to him about what he needed to be doing if he wanted to get out of the hospital anytime soon. One day she was after him about needing to eat more and as she walked away he snapped back with a dry but humorous comment. I gasped as she whipped around, but with a huge smile on her face said, “Well, you can give as good as you get!” Just for that she took his Snickers bar and walked away,which cracked him up and from that point on they thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company.
I could go on and on but the point is, humor is the best medicine! I know Kathleen has a great sense of humor too which is probably one of the reasons why her and my son became fast friends. Brittany, you are a delight! “It’s about to go down,” that really had me laughing!
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